Department: Sales

Reports to: VP of Sales

Travel Time: Up to 50%

Position Type: Full-Time

About Cornbread Hemp: Cornbread Hemp is the nation's leading USDA Certified Organic hemp company, dedicated to creating the highest-quality, full-spectrum hemp products on the market. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, we have built our brand on organic integrity, third-party transparency, and Kentucky heritage. Today we are scaling rapidly across e-commerce, national retail, and a fast-growing beverage portfolio that includes our THC seltzers, our non-alcoholic functional Spritz line, and our functional mushroom gummies.

Job Summary: We are seeking a Key Account Manager, Natural Channel to build and grow Cornbread Hemp's presence across the natural products channel with our new non-hemp functional wellness products. This person will own the end-to-end sales process for our Non-Alcoholic Spritz as well as our Mushroom Gummies.

The ideal candidate is a true self-starter who already knows the natural channel and has the relationships to turn buyer conversations into placements and velocity. This role is for a highly motivated sales leader who thrives under pressure and tight deadlines, builds buyer relationships quickly, and has the discipline to follow each deal through to reorder and sell-through.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Account Acquisition: Identify, prioritize, and pursue key accounts for our functional Non-Alcoholic Spritz and Mushroom Gummies. Develop account-specific strategies across natural chains for both functional product lines.
• Distributor Program Execution: Grow the Non-Alcoholic Spritz and Mushroom Gummies distribution through KeHE and UNFI with new DC rollouts as retailers come online.
• Broker Management: Recruit, negotiate, onboard, and manage natural-channel broker relationships to extend reach and accelerate buyer access. Set clear expectations, hold brokers accountable to pipeline and placement targets, and ensure their efforts stay coordinated with your direct selling and our broader account strategy.
• Full-Cycle Selling: Own the complete sales cycle — build your own pipeline, secure buyer meetings, present the brand and category story, negotiate terms, and close to first purchase order.
• Account Growth and Velocity: Drive each account past the close. Win reorders, expand placements and door counts, and partner with marketing on the support that drives sell-through.
• Forecasting and Pipeline Management: Build and maintain a detailed, accurate sales pipeline with reliable forecasting. Partner with the VP of Sales on KPIs, revenue targets, and account-level reporting.
• Marketing & Operations Collaboration: Partner with marketing on sell-in materials, promotions, POS displays, and account support, and with operations to ensure supply-chain readiness for distributor and direct orders.

Requirements:

• Natural Channel Relationships: Minimum of 5+ years selling into the natural products channel, with existing relationships among category buyers at chains like Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Natural Grocers as well as KeHE and/or UNFI. This is the single most important qualification.
• Beverage Success: Demonstrated success selling functional or better-for-you beverages into the natural channel through KeHE and UNFI, with a deep understanding of distributor programs and DC rollouts. VMS sales experience is preferred, but not required.
• Self Motivated: Highly self-motivated, autonomous, and confident, with the social skills to build buyer relationships and maintain them. You move fast and thrive under pressure. You follow through; deals don't fall off after the handshake.
• Category Knowledge: You are familiar with the categories - both functional beverages and functional mushroom gummies - with a proven ability to introduce a new or unfamiliar product into a buyer's set and make the category make sense.
• 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 without being asked. Strong closers who are a black box on reporting will not succeed in this role; we need both.
• Flexibility and Travel: Ability to work remotely with frequent travel for buyer meetings, trade shows, and key markets — up to 50% of the time.
• Account Ownership & Scope: This role owns the natural products channel for the Non-Alcoholic Spritz and Mushroom Gummies lines. Certain national retail accounts (including Target, Walmart, Whole Foods, and Sprouts) may be managed in coordination with existing fractional key-account and broker resources, and our THC seltzer business runs through a separate DSD sales organization. The VP of Sales will define specific account ownership and any shared-account protocols at the outset to ensure clear lines and no channel conflict. The ability to collaborate cleanly across these motions is essential.

Preferred Qualifications:

• DSD beverage sales knowledge and ability to coordinate with our THC Seltzer DSD sales team when opportunities arise.
• Direct-to-retailer experience in the VMS / supplements category for our Mushroom Gummies — a strong plus.
• Experience launching emerging functional or better-for-you brands. Experience with natural-channel trade shows such as Expo West.

Why Join Cornbread Hemp? The natural channel is hungry for the kind of clean, organic, functional products Cornbread Hemp makes — and our Mushroom and Spritz lines are built for it. This is a chance to own that channel for a high-growth, nationally recognized brand, arriving with your relationships and turning them into real placements and velocity. You will own your accounts, work with real autonomy, and capture uncapped upside tied directly to what you close.

• Compensation: This is a high-impact sales role with compensation structured to reward the accounts you open and grow.
• Base Salary: $120K - $150K, plus cash incentives. Actual salary based on experience and book of business.
• Performance Bonuses: Milestone-based cash bonuses paid out immediately upon securing new retail chain authorizations.
• Equity Participation: Equity grant from the company's existing option pool, vesting over four years with a one-year cliff, offering meaningful ownership upside in a high-growth company.
• Benefits: Full benefits package including health, dental, and vision insurance. Travel and expense budget for account visits, trade shows, and industry events.
  

What We Offer:

• The opportunity to build the natural channel for a high-growth, nationally recognized brand with two fast-growing product lines.
• A direct line to senior leadership with significant strategic autonomy to own and grow your channel.
• A collaborative, supportive work environment rooted in Kentucky heritage and organic integrity. Professional development and career advancement as our sales organization scales.
• Flexible and remote working capabilities.

Cornbread Hemp is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.