YF Recruitment
Head of Sales

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Head of Sales | Challenger FMCG
Location
London (Hybrid)
Salary
£75,000 - £90,000
Company
Founder led | High growth | Genuine commercial ownership
About the Role
For the Sales leaders who still love selling...
I'm partnering confidentially with an established, founder-led FMCG business looking for an exceptional Head of Sales to lead its next phase of growth.
The business has built a portfolio of distinctive consumer brands, secured strong distribution across UK retail and developed an exciting presence across wholesale, online and Out Of Home.
There's plenty to build on - and that's exactly why this role is interesting!
They're looking for a Sales leader who wants to be right in the middle of the action. Someone who can set the commercial strategy on Monday, sit across the table from a major retailer on Tuesday, spot a new category opportunity on Wednesday and help turn it into something commercially meaningful.
You'll have genuine ownership of the Sales function, direct access to the founder and significant influence over where the business goes next.
The Opportunity
You'll take responsibility for the UK commercial performance across Grocery, Wholesale, Online and Foodservice.
You'll personally own several of the company's most important customer relationships while developing the wider strategy, pipeline and commercial capability around them.
That means:
- Leading major retailer relationships, negotiations, range reviews and JBPs
- Building an ambitious but commercially disciplined sales strategy
- Winning new listing and opening new routes to market
- Growing distribution, rate of sales and range within existing customers
- Building a serious new business pipeline and personally driving the opportunities that matter
- Owning pricing, promotions, trade investment and customer profitability
- Working with Marketing and NPD to turn consumer trends into products and propositions retailers actually want
- Bringing better forecasting, planning and commercial visibility into the business
- Leading and developing a small commercial team - with a clear remit to grow and scale the team
- Becoming a trusted commercial partner to the founders
Reasons to use Rodeo
I’m in my final year doing Economics and I don’t know whether to apply for grad schemes now or do a masters first. What do you think?
Honest answer — it depends on where you want to end up. A lot of top grad schemes (Big 4, civil service, banking) don’t need a masters. Let’s look at the ones you’d be competitive for now, and we can decide if a masters actually adds anything.
Also worth knowing: most autumn 2026 applications are open now. Timing matters more than you think.
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
Graduate Consultant — 2026 Scheme
Why you're a good match
StrongYour economics background and your summer at a regional bank line up with what PwC looks for on the consulting scheme. Applications close in four weeks.
See breakdownIt searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Why you're a good match
You’ve got the grades and the economics background, and your bank internship is exactly the experience this scheme looks for. Apply soon — deadlines close within the month.
Experience fit
Your summer at the bank plus your econometrics coursework map directly to the day-one responsibilities on this scheme — client modelling, market briefings, and deal support.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Your Background
We want someone obsessed with FMCG.
You'll know the numbers.
You'll understand margin, trade spend, promotional effectiveness and customer profitability.
You'll be comfortable negotiating with senior grocery buyers.
But you'll also know what's happening outside of the spreadsheet.
You're the person who walks into a supermarket and automatically looks at what's new.
You follow challenger brands, retailers, restaurants and food creators because you're genuinely interested in what consumers are discovering!
And when you spot something interesting, your instinct is: "is there a commercial opportunity here?"
That's the mindset we're looking for...


Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
You may already be a Head of Sales or Channel Controller within FMCG.
OR you might be an exceptional Senior National Account Manager who's reached the point where you're ready to back yourself and lead a commercial function.
Either way, you'll bring:
- Strong UK Grocery experience and established buyer relationships
- A track record of winning listings and growing major customers
- Confidence leading pricing, promotional, range review and JBP negotiations
- Strong commercial understanding across revenue, margin, trade spend and customer profitability
- The ability to turn data into decisions
- Experience working closely with Marketing, NPD, Operations and Finance
- Confidence leading and growing teams
Ideally experience within challenger FMCG brands, health and wellness, chilled foods would be very helpful but not the be all and end all.
What's on offer?
- Up to £90,000 for the right experience
- Up to 20% annual bonus
- Genuine ownership of the commercial function
- Direct access to the founders
- Significant influence across Sales, NPD, Marketing and future growth strategy
If you're performing well where you are but you've started wondering what you'd be capable of with more ownership, more influence and fewer layers between an idea and making it happen then I'd be very interested to speak to you!
Apply confidentially or message me directly for a conversation.
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