Culinary Sales Specialist- Maryland Eastern Shore

Culinary Sales Specialist:
Job Description IGF Mission

To deliver quality service and cultivate community around the table.

To deliver quality by taking a team-oriented approach to building relationships, resolving issues, and making it easy to be an IGF customer.

IGF’s Sales Department members work together to approach markets with the objectives of securing strong business relationships and dominating the independent food sector within select areas.

Within this, the Culinary Sales Specialists are intellectually curious and understand that quality is the continuous improvement of every aspect of the business. They achieve continuous improvement by holding one another accountable to high performance standards and building rapport with IGF’s customers and vendors to cultivate in-depth knowledge of the products they sell and effective placement strategies.

• A minimum of three years of hospitality or food industry experience.
• A proven track record of success in the food sales and services industry.
• Ability to deal with customers, vendors, and all channels of distribution to assess and analyze situations.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively negotiate contracts and terms, and close deals.
• Ability to build and maintain relationships across teams, departments, customers, vendors, and service providers.
• Ability to work independently or as part of a team – changing gears when required, whether multitasking or adapting working hours; effectively manage time and prioritize multiple responsibilities.
• Must be able to travel up to 75% to visit clients within the designated sales region, and 15% for out‑of‑market travel.
• Proactive, quick‑thinking, problem‑solving approach to work.
• Excellent communication, organization, and data‑entry skills with keen focus on customer needs and relationship building; a high level of energy and self‑motivation, as well as a passion for the food industry.
• Strong attention to detail and solid written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills; maintain a high and positive energy.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (especially Dynamics, Excel, Teams, and Word) and other tech skills, including use of email and text.
• Must live in the area and have strong local connections.

• Five or more years of hospitality or food industry experience.
• Bilingual communication skills.

• Must be able to sit and drive for several hours a day and able to walk around client establishments.
• Must be able to bend and lift (at least 40 lb.).
• Requires bending, sitting, standing, walking, use of hands, arms, legs, eyes, and voice.

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• 401(k)
• Paid time off
• Company‑paid life insurance
• Short‑term disability
• Referral program
• Employee discount
• Health savings account

Salary plus performance‑based bonus eligibility beginning in Year 2.