American Outdoor Products is an established food manufacturing company with internationally recognized house of brands , located in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. These iconic brands include Backpacker’s Pantry and Astronaut Ice Cream, and rapidly emerging brands, Chef Soraya, and Colorado Spice. American Outdoor Products was founded in 1971, with the mission of producing memorable food responsibly made. We specialize in freeze dried, innovative foods using unique and premium ingredients, which are distributed both nationally and internationally through natural products and outdoor retailer channels.

OVERVIEW:

We are searching for a unicorn who believes the world of sales should be an exciting adventure bent on world domination. The ideal candidate is an ambitious sales lead who will help and inspire us to continue building one of the world’s next great brands in even more creative ways: Astronaut Ice Cream. The Astro brand lives at the exciting crossroads of space food and pop culture. Our dream candidate is a creative sales visionary with a rabid-growth mindset. A talent who can work with big and small retailers, hang with famous artists, musicians, and Hollywood studios, and lift every rock to uncover more unique and unexpected collaborations for growth audiences. Someone electric. A buttoned-up prospector who can take ambitious ideas and goals on paper and make them real. You want to live, eat, and breath the Astro brand so your efforts turn an iconic food brand into a lifestyle brand everyone can get behind.

This position will be located in beautiful and epic Boulder, Colorado.

We’re a decidedly non-corporate culture and believe in hiring the best people - then getting out of their way. If this isn’t the most fun job you’ve ever had we’re all doing it wrong.

Position Description

Job Title: Astronaut Ice Cream Sales and Account Manager

Reports to: Chief Marketing Officer

Department: Corporate Exempt/Non-Exempt: Exempt

Roles and Responsibilities:

Category Management:

• Manage a range of existing key accounts and independent business relationships from top to bottom with outstanding customer service.  This includes management of distributor and broker relationships.
• Schedule and lead business line reviews.
• Strategize and expand case sales through line extensions, brand extensions, identifying gaps in business, SKU rationalization where needed, etc.
• Implement strategic marketing initiatives in conjunction with Marketing Team that elevate brand sales and awareness.
• Understand the P&L of each account and how it impacts overall company business.
• Experience in Foodservice, Concession, Museum and/or Candy preferred.

Business Development:

• Prospect for new key account and independent business that align with our brands(s).
• Appetite to explore new and exciting distribution channels that align with our brand(s).
• Schedule and lead meetings with new buyers.
• Own the process from product introduction to launch to how we move move product off the shelf.
• Implement business plans to meet and exceed sales targets.

Skills and Knowledge:

• Must be able to direct, nurture and develop accounts.
• Effective and proficient public speaking, writing, and presentation skills.
• Be highly organized and have excellent follow-through.
• Have an understanding of brand management, product innovation and life cycles.

• Excellent soft skills to build long-lasting relationships, rapport, and a culture that makes room for many different kinds of personalities and business needs.
• Comfortable calculating retail sales, gross margin and break-even points.
• Ability to analyze and integrate data into the sales process for a fact-based selling approach.
• Business reporting – stay on top of business to be able to manage and identify issues proactively.
• Assist with forecasts, trade spend budgets, etc.
• Document & Track sales process including calendars, planners and CRM.
• Manage administrative and account duties as required. 
• Willingness to travel to support the above sales functions  - meetings, events, trade shows, demos, etc.

Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in business highly preferred, and or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum 3-5 years prior experience of event and food-based sales/sales analysis.
• Proven track record of meeting key performance metrics in previous positions.