UK Sales Director

Sales Director – UK Grocery & Commercial Growth

About Annabel Karmel

Annabel Karmel is one of the UK’s most trusted names in food for babies and children.

Karmel Foods Ltd is an established food business built around Annabel’s expertise in creating delicious, nutritious kids food. We’re now looking for an experienced, commercially minded Sales Director to join us for our next stage of growth.

This is a senior, hands‑on role for someone who knows UK Grocery inside out – with the retailer relationships, commercial instinct and entrepreneurial mindset to grow existing partnerships, open new doors and help identify where the biggest opportunities lie.

The opportunity

Working closely with the CEO and Brand & Marketing Director, you’ll take commercial ownership of our UK Grocery business, with a particular focus on our growing kids’ food portfolio.

You’ll lead key retailer relationships, drive existing accounts, secure new listings and distribution, and ensure we are maximising sales and profitability.

But the opportunity goes beyond Grocery. We’re looking for someone who can bring broader commercial thinking to the business – helping us identify and develop new routes to market, including opportunities within foodservice, as well as supporting the growth of our emerging baby & toddler tableware business through appropriate retail and distribution channels.

This isn’t a traditional corporate Sales Director role. We’re a small, entrepreneurial team, so you’ll need to be comfortable moving between strategy and hands‑on account management – spotting the opportunity, opening the door and then helping make it happen.

You’ll have genuine autonomy, direct access to the decision‑makers and the opportunity to make a visible impact on the next stage of the business.

What you’ll do

• Own and develop relationships with key UK Grocery retailers and buying teams, leading ranging discussions, category reviews and commercial negotiations.
• Develop and deliver account plans that drive sales, distribution, rate of sale and profitability.
• Identify and secure new listings, distribution and retail opportunities.
• Develop effective promotional plans and support pricing and margin negotiations.
• Use sales, category, shopper and competitor insight to identify opportunities and inform commercial decisions, forecasting and future plans.
• Work closely with Brand & Marketing and Product Development to identify commercially relevant NPD opportunities and deliver successful launches.
• Help identify and develop new routes to market beyond Grocery, including exploring the potential for Annabel Karmel within foodservice.
• Support the commercial development of our emerging baby & toddler tableware business through appropriate retail and distribution channels.
• Bring fresh commercial thinking to the wider business – spotting opportunities, building compelling proposals and turning ideas into action.

About you

We’re looking for an established UK Grocery commercial professional who can quickly understand the business, prioritise what matters and deliver results. You’ll ideally bring:

• Significant UK Grocery account management and commercial experience, with a strong understanding of how the major retailers operate.
• Strong relationships across Grocery buying and commercial teams.
• A proven track record of securing listings, growing distribution and delivering profitable sales growth.
• Confidence leading senior retailer negotiations and commercial conversations.
• Strong commercial and numerical capability, including forecasting, Excel and scenario modelling.
• An entrepreneurial, proactive approach and the confidence to operate with a high degree of autonomy.
• The ability to move comfortably between strategic thinking and hands‑on delivery.
• An appetite to look beyond the existing business and identify new commercial opportunities and routes to growth.

The set‑up

This is a self‑employed part‑time role, initially two days per week, with flexibility to evolve over time as the business and opportunity develop.

This is a hybrid role, with approximately two days per month based in our London Maida Vale office.

Because we’re a lean team, you will be the lead commercial person responsible for developing our UK business rather than managing a large sales team.

Applicants must be eligible to work in the UK.

If you’re an experienced Grocery commercial leader looking for a flexible role where you can have genuine influence, open doors and play a meaningful part in the next stage of an established consumer brand’s growth, we’d love to hear from you.