Head of Sales (UK - Home based) - Start up/challenger snacking brand

Head of Sales | Start Up/Challenger Snacking Brand | Home based (UK)

£85-£100k base (DOE), Equity options, bonus

This is a brand new snacking brand that’s about to launch in the UK. They need a Head of Sales to get it into UK retail, and this one is home based, which I know will matter to a lot of you!

You’d be their first senior commercial hire in the UK, so you set the plan: which retailers, which channels, what price, what order. As things grow you’d build the team too.

You’d report to the founder. She knows the product and pricing really well, but she’s the first to say she needs someone who knows UK grocery/retail. So your opinion will carry real weight. Once the UK is working, Europe is next.

What you’ll be doing

Early on it’s very hands-on business development. You’ll be in front of buyers, negotiating terms and sorting problems yourself, including:

• Writing the UK go-to-market plan with the founders
• Getting first listings with the multiples, plus Ocado, convenience, wholesale and specialist
• Running range reviews, from the category story to agreeing terms
• Managing pricing, promotions and trade spend so the numbers stack up
• Picking distributors or brokers and keeping forecasts and supply on track
• Hiring the team as sales grow

You’ll need solid UK grocery experience at SNAM, Head of Sales, or Commercial Director level, buyers who’ll pick up the phone to you, and experience launching or growing a challenger food or drink brand here. You’ll be fine without a big support team, and happy to tell the founders when you disagree.

About the brand

It’s going into a category that’s growing, but if we’re honest has felt a bit stale for years. Lots of the same, not much personality. This brand brings the fun. It looks great on shelf and has a really satisfying crunch.

The best thing about it is how versatile it is. It works with cheese, dips, jam, honey and fruit, and it’s even good with ice cream. Or you can just eat it straight from the pack, which is what usually happens. That’s a lot of reasons for shoppers to pick it up, and a great story to take to buyers.

The brand is new, but the products aren’t. They’ve sold really well overseas for years, with people buying them again and again, and have been repackaged and rebranded for the UK. So you’re not selling an idea on a PowerPoint.

The hiring process?

1485 Ltd are hiring for this exclusively. We’ll be reaching out to qualified applicants in the w/c 26th Oct and 2nd November for initial conversations. Those who are then shortlisted will enter a 2 stage process with the founders, with an offer to be made before the end of November.

All applicants receive a response.