Director of Sales and Business Development

About Golden Eagle Distributors

Golden Eagle Distributors is expanding as a wholesale distributor supporting independent retailers, convenience stores, chains, and wholesale clients. The company boasts comprehensive inventory, warehouse facilities, delivery services, an eCommerce platform, and a physical cash-and-carry outlet, all enabling considerable growth potential. However, a fully developed sales organization is yet to be established.

Role Overview

This leadership position involves creating and directing the entire sales organization from scratch. Unlike a conventional sales manager role, you will develop teams, territories, reporting systems, and sales procedures, collaborating closely with company ownership. The role entails strategic planning alongside active fieldwork, including recruiting, training, process design, customer engagement, and personally setting performance standards.

Key Duties

• Design and implement the sales department's structure, including team makeup, territory distribution, and account allocation.
• Recruit, interview, hire, and coach inside and field sales teams, establishing onboarding and training programs.
• Build and manage an inside sales unit focused on outreach, follow-ups, reorder management, account growth, and boosting eCommerce adoption.
• Structure procedures for lead management, customer retention, and engagement with website users.
• Develop a field sales force visiting various retail accounts, defining territories, routes, and visit schedules, and personally opening accounts during initial phases.
• Foster relationships with retailers, chains, wholesalers, and key accounts; lead major negotiations and promotional activities.
• Enhance the physical cash-and-carry business by strategizing customer growth, marketing campaigns, events, and partnerships.
• Implement sales tracking systems, including CRM usage, performance reporting, and accountability measures.
• Coordinate with operations teams to align sales growth with inventory, delivery, and service capabilities.

Candidate Profile

• Extensive experience in establishing or scaling sales teams, particularly in wholesale distribution, CPG, food and beverage, convenience retail, tobacco, or grocery sectors.
• Proven skills in recruiting, training, and managing inside and field sales personnel.
• Competence in developing sales processes, territories, KPIs, and reporting frameworks.
• Strong negotiation, relationship management, and closing abilities.
• Ability to operate strategically while maintaining a hands-on approach in a dynamic, entrepreneurial environment.
• Highly motivated, organized, results-driven, and accountable.

Disqualifiers

• Lack of experience building sales organizations from scratch or preferring purely delegative roles.
• Inability or reluctance to recruit, train, prospect, and engage directly with customers.
• Dependence on pre-existing perfect systems before executing sales strategies.

Preferred Experience

• Minimum eight years in sales, business development, or leadership roles.
• Background in both inside and field sales team management.
• Established contacts within convenience, grocery, beverage, tobacco, wholesale, or independent retail industries.
• Knowledge of eCommerce, CRM platforms, route sales, DSD, account segmentation, and territory planning.
• Competence in designing compensation and performance incentive plans.
• Experience in promoting wholesale cash-and-carry or physical retail locations.

What to Expect

• No pre-existing structured sales department; opportunity to build completely.
• Access to robust product supply network and stable warehouse and distribution systems.
• Existing client base with significant potential for account development and eCommerce growth.
• Direct interaction with ownership to influence sales policies and investments.

Success Indicators within One Year

• Functioning, organized sales department with recruited and trained inside and field sales teams.
• Established territories, defined account responsibilities, and routine reporting cycles.
• Consistent prospecting and account management processes.
• Growth in active clients, order volume, customer retention, and eCommerce sales.
• Increased cash-and-carry traffic and sales, stronger partner relationships, and clear sales performance metrics.

Compensation

• Competitive salary with performance-based bonuses.
• Incentives tied to sales growth, team development, client acquisition, retention, and meeting company targets.
• Long-term career growth opportunities dependent on results.

Additional Information

This role requires a proactive leader eager to build a meaningful sales organization from the ground up with autonomy and direct leadership access. High execution capability and flexibility are essential; waiting for ideal conditions is not an option.