At Lindt, we are a global fast-growing consumer goods company, enchanting the world with premium chocolate. We are driven by our passion for excellence and go the extra mile ensuring that every Lindt experience is nothing short of exceptional. Our collective efforts are geared towards making a positive impact, not only in the world of premium chocolate but also in the lives of our employees, customers, and communities. Our company embraces a culture defined by the core values of Excellence, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Responsibility, and Collaboration, fostering a dynamic and collaborative environment where these principles drive our success.
Position Purpose:
Reporting to the Senior Sales Strategy Manager on the Sales Strategy and Operations Team, the Sales Strategy Manager will play a critical role in driving profitable revenue growth across all Lindt USA platforms, including Key Franchises, Seasons, Innovations and Emerging Brands for Target, Drug, C-Store, Value, and Specialty. This position ensures seamless alignment between Brand strategy and Sales execution, rapidly and effectively bringing products and activations to market. Success in this role hinges on ensuring all initiatives are fully supported, understood by Sales, welcomed by Retailers, and embraced by Consumers. The Sales Strategy Manager will lead the development and deployment of comprehensive sales strategies and plans, collaborating cross-functionally with Marketing, New Product Development & Packaging, Sales, Category Management, RGM and Retail Partners. This role will drive the successful commercialization of product innovations and holistic customer plans, optimizing both sales and marketing efforts to meet Lindt’s targets. Leveraging deep expertise in commercialization and working closely with Sales, the Sales Strategy Manager will develop and execute strategies that ensure business objectives are met, while delivering impactful results and driving efficiency across all company touchpoints.
Essential Job Functions & Responsibilities:
Develop and execute holistic launch plans to maximize market potential, ensuring channel strategies and distribution goals are met, while providing feedback to Brand teams to address potential market barriers.
Partner with Sales teams across all channels to align customer and retailer needs with business objectives, translating insights into growth-driving strategies.
Collaborate with Marketing to translate their strategies into comprehensive, channel-specific sales plans, leveraging all activation levers, while providing timely sales insights to help shape and refine Marketing plans for maximum effectiveness.
Lead internal ideation and approval processes for customer-specific items and platforms, ensuring alignment with brand and category goals.
Strategically manage the Opportunity Identification (OP ID) process to evaluate and prioritize sales opportunities, driving internal alignment and decision-making.
Facilitate key meetings (Deployment, NSMM, Annual Wholesale) to ensure cross-functional collaboration and seamless execution.
Communicate brand initiatives and performance updates through Sales Webinars, providing strategic direction to field and broader sales teams.
Communicate CORE Team feedback with Shopper Marketing and Sales Teams to deliver comprehensive display strategies, ensuring they drive business objectives and meet customer needs.
Manage off-cycle sales requests, translating them into actionable opportunities to enhance agility and responsiveness.
Drive cross-functional collaboration by delivering strategic insights and fostering data-driven discussions to optimize go-to-market execution.
Actively contribute to the MAGIC process (monthly innovation meeting cycle) including monthly IPR, ICAM, Key Franchise Commercial Plan Alignment, pre-MAGIC, MAGIC, and SPR meetings
Qualifications & Requirements:
Experience:
Minimum of 5 years Key Account, Shopper Marketing or Category Management experience required. Additional Marketing experience a plus
Intermediate to advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook)
Multi-tasker; Organized and dependable; can establish priorities and meet deadlines; works with a sense of urgency
Ability to weigh all relevant aspects of a situation and make sound, well-reasoned decisions; (considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one)
Skills & Knowledge:
Strong analytic skills and detail oriented; comprehension in reporting (creating & managing reports)
Capability to influence & collaborate across teams and hierarchies
Positive, motivated and professional attitude, good people skills and a passion for collaboration
Be a problem identifier and problem solver, recommend action and/or take appropriate action
Flexible and able to adapt working in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment
Education:
Bachelor's degree in Business or equivalent required; Master’s degree preferred
Other Requirements:
15% travel requirement
New England geography preferred
Total Rewards:
Compensation Range: $119,000.00 - $155,000.00
Applicants for this position must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. The company will not sponsor applicants for this position for work visas.
Lindt USA’s salary range reflects market rates based on our size, revenue, and location. Starting pay is determined using a wide range of factors including, but not limited to, job-related skills, knowledge, and experience as well as market conditions. A bonus and/or long-term incentive may be included as part of this compensation package.
Lindt and Sprüngli is an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, veteran status, or any other classification protected by state, local or federal law. Applicants for this position must successfully pass a background screening and may be required to pass drug screenings as well.
If you are looking to join a winning team and fast-track your career, contact us! Join us on our journey of excellence, impact, and growth #LifeAtLindt
Skills Required
- Minimum 5 years of experience in Key Account Management, Shopper Marketing, or Category Management
- Intermediate to advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook
- Bachelor’s degree in Business or equivalent
- Master’s degree
- Ability to create and manage reports, with strong analytical and detail-oriented skills
- Ability to influence and collaborate across teams and organizational levels
- Ability to prioritize tasks, meet deadlines, make sound decisions, and work with urgency
- Ability to adapt to a fast-paced, changing environment
What We Do
The Lindt & Sprüngli Group - premium chocolate for more than 175 years Lindt & Sprüngli is recognized as a leader in the market for premium quality chocolate, offering a large selection of products in more than 120 countries around the world. During 175 years of Lindt & Sprüngli's existence, it has become known as one of the most innovative and creative companies making premium chocolate. The beginnings of Lindt & Sprüngli are in 1845, when father and son for the first time manufactured solid chocolate in their small confectionery Sprüngli & Son, at that time yet a partnership. Since then, the company has gone through many different eras, but the entrepreneurial spirit and passion for making chocolate that drove both the Sprüngli family as well as Rodolphe Lindt, when he invented the first truly melting chocolate and later on sold his business to Sprüngli, are still alive. Today, quality chocolate products by Lindt & Sprüngli are made at 12 own production sites in Europe and the USA. They are distributed by 36 subsidiaries and branch offices, in more than 530 own stores, and also via a comprehensive network of more than 100 independent distributors around the globe. With more than 14,500 employees, the Lindt & Sprüngli Group reported sales of CHF 5.2 billion in 2023.
