Job Description

Summary of Position:

Adams Flavors, Foods & Ingredients is seeking a professional Manager with leadership skills to manage an area of DSD routes with a Service aptitude, is a Servant Leader that has the desire and ability to lead a team as their Division Manager. We are a company built on personal service to our customers since 1888. We are striving to be “Best in Class” on service.

As an Adams Division Manager your primary focus is maximizing sales through “Best in Class” customer service influencing, guiding, and challenging our sales reps and independent contractors to service our customers on a consistent set schedule, driving sales growth through merchandising, building displays and calling on and obtaining new accounts.

Your second strongest characteristic should be that of a “Servant Leader”. You will be expected to discover ways to help your team and other teams at Adams grow and develop their service and influencing skills. You are responsible to help them have the right product, at the right time, and put it in the right place. Monitoring and coaching them to follow through with service commitments while representing Adams Flavors, Foods & Ingredients in a professional manner.

As a Leader you are expected to build relationships with regional managers, store leadership, DSD reps while influencing all said parties to carry and promote Adams products. You need a hunter mentality to find and hire talented “Best in Class” DSD reps, always in a training and coaching mode, analyze daily, weekly, monthly reports finding growth opportunities, personally calling on and setting goals for reps to visit stores Adams does not service. Using your training and influence skills with reps to be professional sales leaders in the market. You must have the ability to set and communicate vision that inspires others to follow.

You will be working for a company that is innovative, believes in family, strives to treat employees with respect, along with always doing business with integrity. You will be responsible for daily communication with each member of your team on service, sales, and opportunity growth. You will be assisted by your Director of Sales and Account Managers to help you market promotions, contests, merchandising changes, along with support from other departments and company communications.

Key Roles – Service Aptitude – Exceed Customer’s expectations

Must have an Excellent Customer Service attitude, having a passion for “Best in Class” service
Exemplify a “can do” attitude, always going above and beyond in service to the team and retailers, A True Self-Starter
An ability to recognize opportunities to exceed Customer’s service expectations regardless of the circumstances and the ability to influence your sales reps to develop a plan to meet their customer’s service needs
As a leader you must have the ability to coach your sales team, assisting them in raising the bar on their service levels to grow sales and open up new accounts
Ability to build relationships with your Team members, Regional Merchants and Marketing Managers building or creating a win/win partnership with chains on “Best in Class” Service
Strong service and sales aptitude, a willingness to learn, a desire to improve service and sales, adapt to new policies both company and stores, be open to change and a new mindset
Ability to evaluate, forecast, build strategizes to drive sales results and increase service opportunities
Ability to work independently, analyze situations accurately, make decisions, and take action
Good organizational and time management skills, always evaluating and pondering how you can help team members develop their organizational and time management skills better
Ability and Willingness to listen to customers concerns and resolve their concerns
Action-oriented in all service-related situations, store’s or team member’s
Strong communication skills and desire, communication is the key to success, people cannot read your mind or get the message if you are not communicating to them
Analyze Missed Service and Sales reports, encourage and hold Sales Reps accountable for missed service days, develop solutions to improve DSD efficiencies and retailer service levels

Key Roles – Servant Leader – Putting the Team and Stores First, and Yourself Second

Find ways to serve your reps as you work to build a sense of community within the Team
Great Listening skills, will serve your team members and store leadership better when you listen intently gain understand what they are saying, then analyze the best approach to serve them acting appropriately not overreacting or making snap decisions
Be Persuasive, servant leaders use persuasion rather than their authority to encourage people to take action, when needed aim to build consensus with our team member and the store’s leaders as a group so that everyone supports the decisions to improve the situation
Commitment to your people, help your Team member’s growth, as a servant leader you need to be committed to the personal and professional development of each member on your Team
Have an Awareness of each member of the Team, their needs and how you can serve them, help them grow in their desire and ability to serve each other and our “Best in Class” Service
Use Empathy in your discussions, listen to gain understanding of their emotions and their perspectives on the situation, then find a way to serve them or help them understand how they can improve their relationships with Team and Customers
Stewardship is about taking responsibility for the actions and performance of your team, being accountable for team members actions and holding them accountable for their responsibilities in your organization and serving the Team and Stores
Change leadership, coach Team members to understand Adams Values, “Best in Class” Service, and other Company goals, building professional sales reps. Evaluate Team members, make personnel changes when a member has no desire or willingness to align with Adams Values

Key Roles – Team Leadership

Learn, implant and Coach Adam’s BEST Values
Business will be conducted with honesty and integrity by delivering to our stores on a regular consistent schedule keeping our retail partners perfectly merchandised
Excited to add value to our customers and company by delivering the best instore service that keeps our brand fully in stock and properly presented on and off shelf
Stewardship of our legacy brand is our honor and responsibility to both our company and our retail partners in store experience
Teamwork and continuous improvement are the only way to achieve our goals as we are the final step in the getting these proudly created flavors to our customers
Raise the bar until we have the “Best in Class” Service among all DSD vendors

Make Adam’s DSD Team the most desired DSD Team to be part of!

Call on all Regional Merchants in your area, build relationships, meet frequently with them
Call on non-stops weekly assisting Sales Reps to gain new accounts, give Sales Reps goals and dates to call on non-stops in their area, hold them accountable for these calls
Constantly review route service, and sales to Assist in the planning to add routes to grow sales and improve service
Ability to set and communicate vision that inspires others to follow

Additional Responsibilities:

Ensure all sales, merchandising, marketing programs are effectively executed by the DSD team
Gain acceptance from all Sales Reps to utilize company issued email account

and check it daily

Monitors all equipment and advises IT/Office of any issues, coaches Sales Reps to handle and take care of Adams Handhelds, Printers and Dex units, becomes an expert on the equipment
You are in charge of sales, service, training, coaching excellence, performance evaluations, plans to develop team members to accomplish “Best in Class” Service, grow sales, merchandising and marketing programs.
Implement Company policies, goals, objectives, and procedures, conferring with Director of DSD Sales and other Dept Leaders as necessary, assist in creating or updating polices as necessary
Always looking for and seeking out talented individuals to hire and grow with Adams
Confer with Sales Management and Human Resources to resolve Employee or Independent Contractors issues, complaints, or grievances.
Submit all required paperwork to headquarters by required deadlines and monitor Sales Reps to do the same
Foster an atmosphere of continuous improvement to include the development of self, others, and work processes
Perform special projects and assignments as requested by Leadership
Follow and abide by all Food Safety, Food Quality, Sanitation, and Safety guidelines for team members, inspecting warehouses to be clean and organized, with no out of code product or damages left in them after their monthly count, seeing all monthly inspect reports are turned in by the 5th of each month

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $75,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year

Benefits: