Director of Foodservice - Berkeley Culinary

SUMMARY

The Director of Foodservice – Hospitality & Leisure serves as the primary commercial leader responsible for driving growth across Whitsons’ hospitality, leisure, and destination-based foodservice segments. This role leads sales strategy and execution for customers including entertainment venues, attractions, travel & leisure operators, hospitality groups, and other experiential dining environments.

This role is entrepreneurial in nature and requires a highly motivated, self-starting sales leader with a strong growth-oriented mindset. The ideal candidate is energized by building new relationships, opening new market opportunities, and expanding Whitsons’ presence within hospitality, leisure, and destination-based foodservice environments. Success in this role requires creativity, resilience, and the ability to operate with autonomy while effectively influencing cross-functional partners to deliver innovative, scalable, and experience-driven foodservice solutions.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS, RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

Strategic Sales Leadership

• Develop and execute the hospitality & leisure foodservice sales strategy, including new customer acquisition, portfolio expansion, and annual revenue planning.
• Identify growth opportunities within destination dining, seasonal operations, and experiential foodservice environments.
• Translate customer and market insights into actionable commercial strategies and pipeline forecasts.

Customer Relationship & Account Management

• Build and maintain senior-level relationships with hospitality operators, venue leadership, and foodservice decision-makers.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to customers by delivering tailored solutions that balance experience, quality, speed, and scalability.
• Lead customer presentations, contract discussions, and executive-level business reviews.

Sales Process & Execution

• Own the full sales lifecycle, including prospecting, proposal development, pricing strategy, contract negotiation, and close.
• Partner with Operations, Culinary, Supply Chain, QA, and Finance to ensure operational readiness and successful program execution.
• Maintain disciplined pipeline management, forecasting accuracy, and documentation.

Market, Category & Competitive Intelligence

• Monitor hospitality and leisure industry trends, consumer behaviors, and competitive activity.
• Leverage data and customer insights to support concept development, menu strategies, and service models.
• Provide market feedback internally to support innovation and continuous improvement.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Operations and Culinary to ensure programs meet service expectations in high-volume and dynamic environments.
• Collaborate with Finance and Legal on pricing models, contract structures, and bid responses.
• Support internal stakeholders with customer insights and growth intelligence.

This role offers a salary range of $130,000 – $150,000 annually, based on skills, experience, and location. Employees also receive a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, 401(k) with company match, generous PTO, and paid holidays.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Sales, Marketing, or related field required.
• MBA preferred.

Experience

• Minimum 7 years of progressive sales experience within CPG, retail, private label, or co-manufacturing.
• Demonstrated success managing national or regional retail accounts.
• Proven ability to meet or exceed revenue targets consistently.
• Experience presenting to senior leadership and customer decision makers.
• Strong background in interpreting syndicated data and retail analytics.
• Experience leading complex negotiations and multi-stakeholder commercial processes.

Core Competencies

• Market & Experience-Driven Strategy – Drives growth through deep understanding of hospitality, leisure, and experiential dining environments, balancing creativity, service expectations, and commercial results.
• Customer Partnership & Influence – Builds trusted, senior-level relationships and serves as a strategic advisor to hospitality and destination-based customers.
• Sales Execution & Negotiation – Leads the full sales lifecycle with discipline, initiative, and an entrepreneurial spirit, actively creating opportunities from prospecting through pricing, contracting, and close.
• Cross-Functional Alignment – Partners with Operations, Culinary, Supply Chain, and Finance to deliver seamless, high-quality execution in dynamic environments.
• Business Acumen & Accountability – Applies strong financial, operational, and analytical judgment to drive sustainable, results-oriented growth.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Familiarity with CRM platforms for pipeline management and reporting.