Vice President, Grocery

At Link Snacks , we show up hungry, roll up our sleeves, plaid or otherwise, and dive straight into the hard work. We don’t hide from challenges; we hunt them down. We push harder, move faster, and take the kinds of big swings that built this business in the North Woods of Wisconsin four decades ago. We’re everyday people who deliver extraordinary results. Innovation, creativity, and urgency aren’t buzzwords, they’re expectations. And just like the real protein snacks we make across our global house of brands: Jack Link’s® , Lorissa’s™ Organic  Snacks , Golden Island® , BiFi® , Peperami®  and KOOEE!®  to name a few, there’s nothing artificial about us. What you see is exactly what you get: humble, gritty, passionate people who show up every day ready to not just be a participate in the meat snack industry that the Link Family created, but to move faster, innovate harder and keep raising the bar so high, the rest of the world needs a ladder just to see it. Dominating this space across the world takes a team. A team that runs together, succeeds together, and celebrates together. A team that’s full of relentless energy and spirit that can only be fueled by one thing: a fist full of our delicious meat snacks. Real Meat Protein. Real People. Real Results. THAT is Link Snacks. The Vice President of Grocery, is a senior commercial leader responsible for the strategy, retailer relationships, and profitable growth of Link Snacks across the Grocery, Dollar, and Drug channels.  This role owns driving top and bottom-line results for this important portfolio – setting channel strategy, leading joint business planning, and building the team and capabilities required to win across the snacks, front-end, pet, deli, and shelf stable food categories. The ideal candidate is a proven people leader with a strong track record of building retailer partnerships, expanding distribution and share, and delivering revenue and margin commitments. They bring deep knowledge of grocery (national, regional, & independent), value/dollar, and drug channel dynamics and the ability to lead through both direct sales teams and broker networks. They will possess a strong financial acumen and fluency in Revenue Growth Management, Category Management, and forecasting. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Channel Strategy & Leadership Own and lead the enterprise commercial strategy for the Grocery, Dollar, and Drug channels, aligned to the Link Snacks growth agenda. Set annual and long-range channel plans that grow distribution, velocity, revenue, gross margin, and market share across all three channels. Define and continuously optimize the customer coverage model, including direct headquarter selling and broker-managed grocery independents. Serve as the senior leader and escalation point for the channel's most strategic retailers. Customer & Account Management Lead top-to-top relationships with Grocery accounts (e.g., Kroger, Publix, Hy-Vee, and regional chains), Dollar accounts (Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Five Below), and Drug accounts (CVS, Walgreens). Own and grow the Grocery Independents business through effective broker management, clear expectations, and performance accountability. Ensure each account team develops and executes winning joint business plans that deliver mutual, profitable growth. Represent Jack Link's at customer top-to-tops, industry events, and category reviews. P&L Ownership Own the channel P&L, delivering annual gross sales, net sales, and gross margin commitments. Partner with RGM on pricing, promotion, mix, and trade investment strategies tailored to grocery, dollar, and drug economics. Drive disciplined trade-spend management and ROI—minimizing leakage while funding profitable growth. Partner with Sales Planning to deliver accurate forecasts each period and lead the sales inputs into S&OP and demand planning. Joint Business Planning & Customer Strategy Lead the development of data-driven JBPs that integrate distribution, pricing, promotion, merchandising, and innovation. Partner with Category Management and Insights to build compelling, retailer-specific selling stories. Champion new item launches and distribution expansion across all three channels. Collaborate with Sales Strategy to align brand, innovation, and shopper strategies with channel plans. Coordinate with the Private Label team where store-brand programs intersect shared customers, presenting one aligned face to the retailer. Partner with the Digital Commerce team to build & execute strong retail media plans to drive digital penetration and share across key strategic retailers (e.g. Kroger). Team Leadership & Capability Building Build, lead, and develop a high-performing sales organization spanning across account leaders and broker partners. Set clear goals, coach for performance, and build bench strength and succession across the team. Foster a culture of customer obsession, analytical rigor, accountability, and continuous improvement. Perform other duties as assigned. Required Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, or a related field. 12+ years of progressive CPG sales experience, including significant headquarter account management in Grocery, Dollar, and/or Drug channels. 5+ years of people leadership, including leading managers and/or multi-level sales teams. Demonstrated success owning a channel or customer P&L and delivering net sales and margin growth. Experience managing broker networks and both direct and indirect routes to market. Strong command of syndicated data (Nielsen/IRI/Circana), POS data, and financial/JBP modeling. Proven ability to build executive-level retailer relationships and influence in a matrixed environment. Excellent communication, negotiation, and business storytelling skills. 50%+ travel Preferred Qualifications MBA or advanced degree. 15+ years of progressive CPG sales experience, including significant headquarter account man