National Key Account Manager
- Compensation
- Not disclosed
- Location
- Louisville, United States
- Work setup
- Remote
- Seniority
- C level
- Employment
- Full time
- Experience
- 7+ years
- Category
- Sales
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Beverage Chain Sales Experience: Minimum of 7+ years selling beverages (functional or better-for-you beverages, beer, hard seltzer, RTD cocktails, or comparable) into large chain accounts, with existi
- Multi-Channel Relationships: Established relationships in the natural channel (Whole Foods, Sprouts, Natural Grocers, and KeHE and/or UNFI) and/or grocery, mass, and convenience banners. Experience ac
- Distributor Fluency: Deep understanding of distributor programs, including KeHE/UNFI programs and DC rollouts, and/or DSD distributor networks.
- Chain Account Track Record: Demonstrated success landing and growing key chain accounts: owning the buyer relationship, navigating category reviews, negotiating, and driving velocity after the close.
- Regulated and Emerging Category Fluency: Comfort selling in fast-evolving categories, with a proven ability to introduce a new or unfamiliar product into a buyer's set and make the category make sense
- Hunter's Mentality: Highly self-motivated, autonomous, and confident, with the social skills to build buyer relationships quickly and maintain them. You move fast and thrive under pressure. You follow
- CRM & Pipeline Rigor: Disciplined with sales systems and data. Comfortable owning a CRM, maintaining clean and current pipeline records, and producing reliable forecasts and account-level reporting wi
- Flexibility and Travel: Ability to work remotely with frequent travel for buyer meetings, trade shows, and key markets, up to 50% of the time.
Nice to have
- Experience selling into both the natural channel and conventional grocery, mass, or convenience.
- Familiarity with VIP data and DSD beverage sales, and the ability to coordinate with a DSD sales team.
- Direct-to-retailer experience in the VMS / supplements category (a strong plus for our Mushroom Gummies).
- Familiarity with the THC beverage and functional beverage categories.
- Experience launching new or emerging functional, better-for-you, or beverage brands.
- Experience with natural-channel and beverage trade shows, such as Expo West, and convenience/grocery industry shows.
Full description
Job Title: National Key Account Manager
Department: Sales
Reports to: VP of Sales
Travel Time: Up to 50%
Position Type: Full-Time
About Cornbread Hemp
Cornbread Hemp is a national leader in organic, premium wellness products, recognized on the Inc. 5000 as the #1 fastest-growing hemp company in America. Built on a foundation of organic integrity, third-party transparency, and Kentucky heritage, we have built a trusted multi-channel brand serving over a million customers nationwide.
We are now scaling two beverage-led growth engines at retail:
- Adult Beverage: Our award-winning hemp-derived THC seltzers, moving through an active 15-state Direct Store Delivery (DSD) distributor network and positioned to lead the rapidly evolving adult beverage category.
- Functional Wellness: Our brand-new, non-hemp portfolio of USDA Certified Organic adaptogen beverages (Non-Alcoholic Spritz) and functional mushroom gummies, bringing clean-label innovation to the natural channel through KeHE and UNFI.
Job Summary
We are seeking a National Key Account Manager to build and grow Cornbread Hemp's presence in key retail accounts across our full beverage and functional wellness portfolio. This person will own the end-to-end sales process, from prospecting national and regional chain buyers to winning authorizations and growing each account from first order into a category staple.
The ideal candidate is a true self-starter with a track record selling beverages into chain accounts and existing buyer relationships they can activate quickly. You understand how a natural-channel buyer at Whole Foods or Sprouts thinks, and how a category buyer at Kroger, Meijer, or Circle K thinks, and you know how to tell the right story to each. You thrive under pressure and tight deadlines, build buyer relationships quickly, and bring exceptional discipline, organization, accuracy, and attention to detail. You proactively manage every stage of the sales process and consistently follow each opportunity from initial pitch through placement, sell-through, reorder, and long-term account growth.
Key ResponsibilitiesStrategic Account Acquisition
- Identify, prioritize, and pursue key accounts across natural, grocery, mass, and convenience channels for THC Seltzer, Non-Alcoholic Spritz, and Mushroom Gummies.
- Develop account-specific strategies for each target banner, matching the right product line and story to the right buyer.
- Target accounts include natural chains (Whole Foods, Sprouts, Natural Grocers), grocery and mass (Target, Walmart, Meijer, Publix, Kroger, Piggly Wiggly), and national and regional convenience chains (Circle K, 7-Eleven, and dominant regional c-store banners).