Sales Manager- Retail, Southern California

Job description

About the job

As a Danone Retail Sales Manager , you are the frontline ambassador of our brands across an assigned territory in the Southern California market, focused on North Orange County . In this critical field‑based role, you will cultivate strong, trust‑based relationships with store‑level decision makers, ensuring Danone shows up with excellence every single day.

 

You will champion retail execution, expand distribution, improve shelf presence, and drive incremental sales by executing programs with precision and bringing a solutions‑oriented mindset to every store visit. You’ll serve as the category expert—trusted by retailers and representing the voice of the customer internally—while consistently delivering against defined KPIs in sales, merchandising, and operational excellence.

 

This role reports to the Senior Market Manager, West and plays a vital part in elevating Danone’s performance at retail, ensuring our products are available, visible, and positioned to win.

 

Key Deliverables

·  Lead effective sales calls with assigned retail accounts to meet or exceed territory sales targets.
·  Maximize the implementation of all sales programs, initiatives, and promotional events; ensure timely execution to drive profitability for both Danone and the retailer.
·  Identify and secure opportunities to expand distribution, strengthen shelf positioning, increase holding power, and secure incremental points of interruption.
·  Build, maintain, and refresh high‑quality product displays that consistently meet or exceed Danone’s merchandising standards.
·  Proactively Manage inventory levels, validate product freshness, and resolve out‑of‑stock issues through collaborative problem-solving.
·  Place and maintain in‑store Point‑of‑Sale materials (POS) to drive visibility and conversion.
·  Develop influential, trust‑based relationships with Store Managers, Department Managers, and Assistant Managers to grow Danone’s presence and lock in pre‑sales on promotional events.
·  Serve as the category expert in dairy, plant‑based, and ready‑to‑drink segments—becoming the retailer’s first call for insights or support.
·  Represent customer and market insights internally, including competitive activity, pricing observations, and new product opportunities.
·  Use fact‑based data (POS, distribution gaps, sales trends) to influence decision‑making and secure incremental sales.
·  Prioritize and organize daily routing to maximize store coverage and productivity.
·  Maintain accurate reporting of retail execution activities via assigned systems and scorecards.

The base compensation range for this position is $100,000 - $140,000 commensurate with experience. Danone North America additionally offers a performance-based bonus and has a strong benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, Prescription Drug Coverage, 401k Plan, Wellness Program, Life Insurance, Tuition Reimbursement, Flexible Time Off, and Paid Parental Bonding Leave, among other benefit plan options. To give our employees flexibility, Danone is a hybrid work environment with opportunities to work both remotely and in office when desired.
About you

·  Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or related field.
·  1–3 years of experience in sales, retail, CPG, or field execution roles.
·  Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word
·  Ability to work independently across a large territory and manage multiple priorities.
·  Strong communication, relationship‑building, and influencing skills.
·  Valid driver’s license; comfort driving extensively in the California market.
·  Physical ability to perform occasional lifting (up to 50 lbs).
·  Desire prior experience in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG).
·  Desire experience working with POS data or syndicated data tools.
·  Bilingual in English/Spanish (advantageous in CA market—not required). About Danone

Life at Danone

With approximately 5,000 employees and 13 production locations across the U.S., our vibrant culture and endless growth opportunities are just a couple of the reasons our employees call themselves “Proud Danoners.” 

Learn more about Life at Danone

Our Brands

When you join us, you’ll work with some of the best-known food and beverage brands in the world, including Activia®, DanActive®, Danimals®, Dannon®, evian®, Follow Your Heart®, Happy Family® Organics, International Delight®, Light + Fit®, Nutricia ®, Oikos®, Silk®, So Delicious® Dairy Free, STōK® Cold Brew Coffee ®, Too Good & Co™, and YoCrunch®.

Our Purpose

We’re committed to making a positive impact on our world. Rooted in our mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible, we’re proud to be the world’s largest B Corp.

Learn more about our mission.

Our Benefits

Our commitment to making the world healthier starts with our employees. 

·  Physical Wellbeing: We pay for the majority of your medical benefits – which include medical, dental and vision – with our competitive 80%/20% cost-sharing model.
·  Mental Wellbeing: Danoners receive fitness discounts, unlimited flexible time off and hybrid work schedules. We also have a range of programs that support mental health and substance abuse.  
·  Financial Support: We offer a performance-based bonus, a 401(k) plan, tuition reimbursement, employee discount programs and voluntary perks.
·  Family Care: We offer caretaker benefits, 18 weeks of parental bonding, fertility, surrogacy, adoption benefits and pet insurance.

Learn more about our benefits.

Equal Opportunity Employer
Danone North America is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. It is our policy to give equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to legally protected characteristics, or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state/provincial and/or local law. For our EEO policy statement and your EEO rights under law click here .

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Dedicated to bringing health through food to as many people as possible, we are a leading global food & beverage company built on four businesses: Essential Dairy and Plant-Based Products, Waters, Early Life Nutrition and Medical Nutrition. 

About Us