Director of National Accounts - Retail (Functional Beverage)

Position Summary

The Director of National Accounts is responsible for developing and growing strategic partnerships with national and regional retail customers within the private label functional beverage industry,

This role focuses on maximizing the value of existing customer relationships through collaborative business planning, category growth strategies, portfolio expansion, and flawless execution in the retail environment. The ideal candidate is a relationship-driven leader who excels at cultivating long-term retail partnerships, identifying growth opportunities within established accounts, and driving sustainable revenue and profitability in a highly competitive and innovation-led beverage category.

This position serves as the primary commercial leader for assigned retail customers and works cross-functionally with category management, marketing, supply chain, finance, and sales operations to deliver mutual growth objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Account Management

• Develop and execute annual and multi-year joint business plans with key retail customers in the functional beverage category.
• Build trusted advisor relationships with customer stakeholders across merchandising, category management, replenishment, and executive leadership teams.
• Drive sustainable sales growth through assortment optimization, distribution gains, promotional effectiveness, and expansion of functional beverage portfolios.
• Identify whitespace opportunities within existing accounts, particularly in emerging functional beverage subcategories and innovation platforms.
• Lead annual business reviews and strategic planning sessions focused on beverage category growth.

Customer Growth & Development

• Cultivate long-term customer partnerships that create mutual value and strengthen alignment within the functional beverage space.
• Develop deep understanding of retailer objectives, shopper behavior, and category priorities specific to functional drinks and wellness-driven consumption trends.
• Collaborate with retailers to identify consumer trends such as energy, immunity, gut health, hydration, and performance-focused beverage innovation.
• Leverage data and insights to recommend growth strategies that improve category performance and retailer profitability in functional beverages.
• Expand relationships beyond primary buyers to include category, wellness, and innovation teams within retail organizations.

Category & Commercial Leadership

• Partner with category management teams to deliver customer-specific insights on functional beverage performance and growth drivers.
• Utilize syndicated data, shopper insights, and market trends to support strategic selling in high-growth beverage segments.
• Lead pricing, promotional planning, assortment reviews, and annual negotiations within the functional beverage category portfolio.
• Manage trade investment to ensure profitable growth across core and emerging functional beverage SKUs.
• Monitor customer performance against sales, margin, velocity, and distribution objectives.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Coordinate with marketing, supply chain, innovation, and demand planning teams to ensure successful product launches and in-store execution.
• Align internal resources around customer priorities, particularly new product development in functional beverages.
• Lead resolution of customer issues related to supply, forecasting, and product execution.
• Ensure accurate forecasting and demand planning aligned to fast-moving beverage trends.

Team Leadership

• Coach and develop National Account Managers supporting functional beverage retail accounts.
• Foster a customer-centric and category-growth mindset focused on wellness beverage innovation and execution excellence.
• Share best practices across accounts to scale functional beverage growth strategies.
• Contribute to overall commercial strategy within the beverage business unit.

Qualifications

Required Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, or related field.
• 8-12+ years of progressive sales or account management experience in functional / better for you beverage categories.
• Demonstrated success managing large national retail customers such as Sam's Club, Walmart, BJ's & Trader Joe's.
• Strong understanding of retail economics, beverage category management, and trade investment strategies.
• Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams and senior retail stakeholders.

Preferred Experience

• Experience managing national retail customers such as Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, Costco, Target, Ahold Delhaize, Publix, or similar retailers with strong beverage categories.
• MBA or advanced business degree.
• Experience in high-growth functional beverage segments
• Familiarity with innovation pipelines in functional drinks, including RTD (ready-to-drink) and emerging wellness formats.

Critical Competencies

Relationship Farming & Customer Development

• Long-term retail partnership building
• Category expansion within established accounts
• Stakeholder engagement across retail beverage teams
• Executive-level relationship management
• Trust-based influence in buyer and category teams

Functional Beverage Growth Expertise

• Understanding of wellness and performance beverage trends
• Portfolio expansion across functional subcategories
• Innovation commercialization and launch execution
• Shopper insight application in beverage categories
• Velocity-driven growth strategies

Commercial Excellence

• Negotiation and influence in retail beverage environments
• Trade spend optimization in high-promotion categories
• Data-driven category management
• Pricing architecture for functional beverages
• Forecasting in fast-moving innovation cycles

Leadership

• Team coaching in beverage account management
• Cross-functional alignment across innovation and sales
• Strategic thinking in evolving beverage markets
• Accountability for retail growth outcomes
• Organizational influence

Success Measures

• Revenue and profitability growth across functional beverage categories within assigned retail accounts.
• Expansion of distribution and shelf presence in core and emerging beverage segments.
• Strength of strategic partnerships with retail customers in wellness and functional beverage categories.
• Successful launch and scaling of new functional beverage products.
• Improved trade efficiency and promotional ROI.
• Development of high-performing account management team.
• Growth in category share within targeted retailers.

What Success Looks Like

The successful Director of National Accounts is recognized by retail partners as a strategic category leader in functional beverages, not just a supplier. They consistently identify and develop opportunities in wellness-driven beverage trends, expand category presence, strengthen retailer partnerships, and deliver profitable, sustained growth through insight-led collaboration and disciplined execution.