Head of Sales, Core Grocery & Club Foods

ABOUT UNILEVER

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. 

JOB PURPOSE

The Head of Sales, Core Grocery & Club, is responsible for developing and executing Unilever Foods' commercial strategy across a diverse portfolio of grocery, club, and wholesale customers. This leader is accountable for delivering sustainable volume, share, and profit growth while leading a cross-functional organization to strengthen customer partnerships, enhance commercial effectiveness, and accelerate business performance across multiple channels. The role requires balancing enterprise priorities with unique customer needs while creating scalable strategies that drive long-term growth.

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE

As the US Foods leadership team prepares for 2027 and beyond, the Head of Sales, Core Grocery & Club will:

• Lead Unilever Foods' strategy and execution across a portfolio of grocery, club, and wholesale customers.
• Develop and deliver customer growth strategies through Joint Business Planning, customer partnerships, and market-leading commercial execution.
• Partner closely with Marketing, Customer Strategy & Planning (CSP), Category Management, Shopper Insights, Revenue Growth Management, Finance, and Supply Chain teams to deliver sustainable growth.
• Create differentiated strategies across grocery, club, and wholesale environments, adapting assortment, pricing, promotion, and investment approaches to unique customer and shopper needs.
• Utilize shopper, consumer, and market insights to identify emerging opportunities and shape future growth plans.
• Lead senior customer relationships, influence customer strategy, and strengthen executive-level partnerships.
• Drive customer P&L performance through disciplined investment management and optimization of trade, assortment, distribution, and promotional strategies.
• Build scalable commercial processes and repeatable growth disciplines across multiple customers and channels.
• Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing organization while strengthening future leadership capability.
• Deliver Unilever's purpose-led growth agenda by creating value for customers, shoppers, consumers, and the business.

You’re a born leader: Develop and execute joint business planning strategies across a complex portfolio of customers and channels, creating value for both Unilever and its customers while delivering sustainable business growth and strong customer partnerships.

You’re a strategy guru: Develop a cohesive commercial strategy across grocery, club, and wholesale channels, tailoring customer plans while maintaining alignment to enterprise priorities. Partner with CSP, Brand, Category Management, and Revenue Growth Management teams to unlock growth opportunities and drive competitive advantage.

You’re a teacher: Dedicated people leader and bench developer, able to attract, motivate, develop and retain talent cross functionally through clarity, connectivity and celebration of success.

You’re a master negotiator: Build credibility and influence with senior customer and internal stakeholders, successfully navigating complex negotiations, investment decisions, and long-term partnership agreements that create mutual value.

You’re a paradox navigator: Effectively balance the needs of multiple channels, customers, and stakeholders while aligning diverse business priorities into a unified growth agenda. Lead through complexity by building strong cross-functional relationships and driving enterprise decision-making.

You’re a culture & change champion: Develop a winning team for current and future performance

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO SUCCEED

Experiences & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA preferred.
• Minimum 15 years of progressive CPG commercial leadership experience with significant responsibility across Grocery, Club, Wholesale, or other large-scale retail channels.
• Proven success leading customer businesses with ownership for sales, profit, trade investment, and customer P&L performance.
• Deep experience managing complex customer portfolios and developing differentiated strategies across multiple channels and customer models.
• Experience leading strategic partnerships with customers such as Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's, regional grocery retailers, wholesale customers, or comparable accounts.
• Demonstrated success developing and executing Joint Business Plans, revenue growth management initiatives, pricing and promotion strategies, and omnichannel growth plans.
• Strong enterprise leadership skills with experience influencing across Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, Category Management, Shopper Insights, and Sales organizations.
• Proven ability to build, lead, and develop high-performing teams in a complex matrix environment.
• Strong financial and commercial acumen, including customer P&L management, trade investment optimization, and resource allocation.
• Executive presence with a track record of influencing senior customer and internal stakeholders.
• Proven ability to lead through ambiguity, change, and organizational transformation.

Role Scope

• Leadership across Core Grocery, Club, and Wholesale channels
• Accountability for volume, share, and profit delivery
• Senior customer relationships across multiple channel models
• Significant cross-functional leadership spanning Sales, CSP, Marketing, Category Management, Revenue Growth Management, Supply Chain, and Finance
• Reports to SVP, Foods Sales, US

Pay: The pay range for this position is $ 221,100 to $ 386,925. Unilever takes into consideration a wide range of factors that are utilized in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to, skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, qualifications and education, and other business and organizational needs.

Bonus: This position is bonus eligible.

Long-Term Incentive (LTI): This position is LTI eligible.

Benefits: Unilever employees are eligible to participate in our benefits plan. Should the employee choose to participate, they can choose from a range of benefits to include, but is not limited to, health insurance (including prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage), retirement savings benefits, life insurance and disability benefits, parental leave, sick leave, paid vacation and holidays, as well as access to numerous voluntary benefits. Any coverages for health insurance and retirement benefits will be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans and associated governing plan documents

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At Unilever, inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. We welcome applicants from all walks of life and are committed to creating an environment where everyone can thrive/succeed. All applicants will receive fair and respectful consideration, and we actively support the growth and development of every employee.

Unilever is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Persons with Disabilities.

For more information on your federal rights, please see Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal

Employment is subject to verification of pre-screening tests, which may include drug screening, background check, credit check and DMV check.

If you are an individual with a disability in need of assistance at any time during our recruitment process, please contact us at NA.Accommodations@unilever.com. Please note: This email is reserved for individuals with disabilities in need of assistance and is not a means of inquiry about positions or application statuses. The Protected Veterans or Individuals with Disabilities AAP narratives are available for inspection by any employee or applicant for employment Monday through Friday during normal business hours at establishment.

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