Convenience Business Development Manager

Position Overview

The Convenience Business Development Manager at Truly Good Foods focuses on acquiring new business within the convenience retail channel. This role is responsible for generating prospects, cultivating relationships, conducting presentations, negotiating deals, and ensuring commercialization efforts across national and regional convenience chains, travel centers, and distributor networks.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute targeted strategies to engage national and regional convenience retailers, travel centers, and potential high-value operators.
• Generate qualified business opportunities through direct outreach, leveraging existing relationships, brokers, distributors, industry events, and persistent follow-up.
• Research each prospective account to identify decision-makers and tailor entry approaches for each retailer.
• Arrange buyer meetings, category reviews, presentations, distributor conversations, and pilot programs to advance deals.
• Manage the entire sales process from initial contact through contract approval, distributor onboarding, and commitment to launch.
• Maintain precise pipeline data in HubSpot, including opportunity values, probabilities, next actions, and expected closure dates.
• Create customer-centric sales narratives addressing convenience shopper behavior, trip missions, pricing structure, impulse placement, and retailer economics.
• Identify new market opportunities such as grab-and-go snacks, single-serve portions, private labels, regional specialties, seasonal offers, and exclusives.
• Collaborate with Marketing and R&D to develop innovative products, packaging, and merchandising aligned with convenience channel needs.
• Lead presentations, tastings, proposals, and commercial negotiations confidently and effectively.
• Ensure solutions are practical and profitable, considering production, distribution, and execution constraints.
• Build and manage relationships with key distributors including McLane, Core-Mark/PFG, Eby-Brown, and regional partners to secure new convenience distribution.
• Oversee item setup, warehouse authorization, forecasting, and order rollouts for newly secured accounts.
• Recruit, onboard, and guide convenience brokers to enhance account access and field execution, establishing clear expectations and addressing underperformance promptly.
• Retain direct accountability for customer strategy and closing sales rather than delegating these responsibilities.
• Coordinate cross-functionally with Marketing, R&D, Supply Chain, Operations, Finance, and Customer Success teams to transition opportunities from concept to shelf.
• Lead alignment on assortment, packaging configurations, forecasts, distribution plans, and launch schedules.
• Stay engaged through initial shipment, rollout, and early stage troubleshooting.
• Conduct a structured handoff to the Retail Business Manager once accounts are established, ensuring comprehensive documentation of commitments, contacts, forecasts, and expansion opportunities.

Candidate Profile

• Highly motivated hunter who thrives on new business acquisition rather than account maintenance.
• Familiar with the convenience channel, distributor operations, item setup, and retail execution realities.
• Strong commercial skills including margin, trade spending, pricing strategy, packaging, and volume forecasting.
• Innovative thinker balanced with a practical, disciplined approach to qualifying opportunities.
• Resilient, self-driven, with the ability to operate independently and responsibly.

Qualifications

• Minimum five years of experience in convenience channel sales or new business development in food, snacks, candy, CPG, or manufacturing sectors.
• Proven success in acquiring new convenience chains, travel center clients, or distributor-backed programs.
• Hands-on experience with major convenience distributors like McLane, Core-Mark/PFG, Eby-Brown, or regional equivalents.
• Track record in selling directly to buyers, category managers, and senior decision makers in convenience retail.
• Experience recruiting and managing broker teams in convenience channels.
• Excellent presentation, negotiation, financial analysis, and written communication skills.
• Proficiency in CRM platforms (preferably HubSpot), business intelligence tools, Microsoft Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred but equivalent practical experience will be accepted.
• Availability to travel up to 30% for customer visits, distributor meetings, trade events, and company facilities.

Additional Information

• Ability to occasionally lift/move items up to 25 pounds.
• Work primarily based in the Charlotte office with moderate noise levels and occasional travel.
• Work environment includes moderate office noise and travel to customers, brokers, and trade shows as needed.
• Expected to maintain confidentiality for sensitive commercial information such as pricing, margins, trade spending, and contracts.

Benefits

• Access to affordable medical, dental, and vision insurance plans.
• Participation opportunities in Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA).
• Short-Term Disability Insurance provided by the company.
• Basic Life Insurance coverage equal to annual salary paid by employer.
• Employee Assistance Program funded by the company.
• Long-Term Disability Insurance coverage.
• Option to purchase additional voluntary insurance including Life, Accident, Whole Life, and Prepaid Legal coverage.
• Paid Time Off (PTO) and 9 paid holidays annually.
• 401(k) plan eligibility after six months of employment.