Director, Business Development (Sales)

Job Type Full-time Description

Sapporo brewed the first beer of Japan in 1876. It’s now the number one selling Asian beer brand in the U.S. thanks to its best-selling Sapporo Premium. Sapporo acquired Stone Brewing in 2022 to brew all of Sapporo’s beer for the U.S. market. Stone Brewing, established in 1996, pioneered the West Coast Style IPA helping to fuel the modern craft beer revolution. Now one company, Sapporo-Stone Brewing is among the 15 largest breweries in the U.S. and operates production facilities in Escondido, CA and Richmond, VA plus seven Stone Brewing taproom and bistro locations. We’ve enjoyed a rich history following our passion and are in search of people who take great pride in building our legacy for the future.

Summary

 

The Director of Business Development is a strategic leadership role within the Sales function that will be responsible for driving revenue growth, expanding market presence, and optimizing business operations for Sapporo-Stone. This individual will lead initiatives that directly impact sales performance, revenue management, and the efficiency of core Sales business processes. By identifying new business opportunities, forging strategic partnerships, and aligning cross-functional teams, this role will play a pivotal role in shaping the company’s long-term growth strategy.  

The ideal candidate combines a strong commercial acumen with operational insight, ensuring that business development efforts translate into measurable financial outcomes. This role will partner with the Regional Sales leaders in navigating complexity, serving as the link between sales, distributors, and various corporate functions to support the sales team’s strategic and executional plan development. It will also support in driving the national pricing, commercialization, and commercial enablement for the national sales team which drive the effectiveness of our go-to-market strategy and how our teams and distributors bring our brands to life in the market.   

Responsibilities

• Identify and evaluate new business opportunities, markets, and partnerships to drive sustainable growth
• Develop and execute go-to-market strategies that align with company goals and market trends
• Collaborate with sales leadership to establish revenue targets, optimize pricing strategies, and improve sales performance
• Partner across the organization to assist in developing and driving the company’s overall national sales strategy and goal planning for our beers and brands via our Annual Business Planning process
• Collaborate with Marketing, Sales, and the Operations teams on national beer launch go-to-market strategies, including volume expectations, pricing assumptions, pack size, and POS needs. Support the sales perspective to build realistic SKU by SKU volume goals within the demand planning process
• Demonstrate historical and current knowledge of the retail industry and the customer / distributor business processes, organizational structure, strategies, objectives, and tendencies
• Lead cross-functional initiatives to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs
• Implement scalable processes and tools to support business development and sales functions
• Work alongside the Chief Revenue Officer and VP of National Chains to develop overall national strategies. Support the execution of those strategies with the Regional Sales Directors to bring our beers to market in the most productive and profitable ways
• Build relationships with key national wholesaler team members including General Manager, Director of Sales, each channel manager, and other key personnel. Understand the opportunity to develop and lead a national Distributor council
• Plan and participate in regular distributor training activities, including presenting at sales meetings, riding with distributor sales personnel, and distributing new sales material to sales staff
• Promote ongoing education for the regional sales team on distributor management, selling and influencing techniques, as well as the broader beer industry
• Stay current within the competitive landscape both in the retail and beer space, and seek out new opportunities to increase sales and penetration within territory

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in related field
• 10+ years of sales leadership experience in leading teams within the alcohol beverage industry preferred
• Proven track record managing complex sales, sales programs, and portfolios of initiatives through excellent influential skills
• Demonstrated ability and track record in driving process, efficiency, and growth improvements/results
• Strong leadership with team development and motivational skills
• Solid execution with a passion for getting into the details where appropriate to