Regional Food Sales Lead (AZ)

February 18, 2026

Regional Food Sales Lead (Arizona)Time Commitment: Full-Time (35-40 hrs/wk)Salary: $66-$69k starting annual salary range with full benefits (health, vision, dental, and life insurances + 401k with company match)Location: Candidates must be based in ArizonaTravel: Local travel on a regular basis, and regional travel around Arizona is expected bimonthly, travel to team retreats and national events 1-2 times annually. Background of KSS and this RoleLaunched in 2019, Kitchen Sync Strategies is a small (but mighty!) social enterprise dedicated to supporting small farmers, ranchers, fishers, and food makers through brokering sales and consulting. We believe there is immense, untapped potential in the institutional foodservice market channel. Through our work brokering sales for food hubs we create systems that help make larger markets accessible to hubs and the small farmers who are otherwise left out of this multibillion dollar marketplace. We are a team of 5, and we regularly work with a handful of experts, close collaborators, and contractors. Our brokerage clients are triple-bottom-line food businesses pushing for fairness, environmental sustainability, and other core values of KSS, and our work helps these clients build sales relationships with K-12 schools, healthcare facilities, and institutions of higher education. We also partner with public and nonprofit collaborators to develop their regional food system and build capacity to advance the region’s value chain infrastructure. Our staff are based around the US, and we are active in the Midwest, Pacific NW, and the Mountain West, we work with partners from the Northeast to the Pacific islands, and we are focused on selling more good food for our farmers and food businesses in each of these regions. Position Summary The Regional Food Sales Lead (AZ) is an exciting new role for Kitchen Sync Strategies, and it will play a pivotal role in our rapidly growing work in the Southwest US. This Sales Lead will be responsible for using Kitchen Sync’s existing systems and processes to drive sales of food from food hub clients to Arizona institutions like K-12 schools, hospitals, universities, corporate dining facilities, and others. The position may also be charged with developing new sourcing and sales partnerships with values-aligned food businesses (like value-added food makers, CPG companies, etc.). Specializing in sales and aligning buyers and suppliers, the Sales Lead will support the Director of Regional Growth and CEO to embed KSS in farm-to-school, farm-to-ECE, and farm-to-institution projects across the State. This work will focus on our work with 2 core groups:<ul><li>Food Hub Partners: The RFSL will lead the sales of local/regional, sustainably grown, and/or equitably grown food products to institutions on behalf of our 3 food hub clients in the state.</li><li>Non-profit Support Partners: The RFSL will support our company’s partnerships with nonprofits and public sector collaborators across Arizona (like Pinnacle Prevention, Arizona Department of Education, and others)</li></ul> We’re seeking an experienced, charismatic sales leader who understands the process of institutional food sales well, who has a sharp sense of strategy, and has a firm commitment to building a fairer, more sustainable food economy. A successful Regional Food Sales Lead will:<ul><li>Develop strong personal relationships with buyers, sustainability leaders, and/or local procurement leadership within each institution to which Kitchen Sync sells products</li><li>Drive sales to a range of institution types across the delivery zones of our food hub clients, with a specific focus on K-12 schools</li><li>Implement a bold yet achievable sales plan for client food hubs and food companies that increases their sales to institutions in Arizona and, where applicable, neighboring states</li><li>Perform weekly sales activities including:</li><li>Carefully manage Kitchen Sync’s CRM database to track existing sales accounts</li><li>Make weekly, recurring contact with all active leads, anticipating customer needs and working hard to strengthen personal relationships</li><li>Conduct weekly outbound sales calls to new institutional customers</li><li>Understand and skillfully navigate food hub systems, processes, and software to effectively share product availability with customers, hub capacity, and delivery logistics to buyers, and to share product substitutions, menu suggestions, and seasonal specials with customers on a weekly basis </li><li>Ensure customer satisfaction while meeting sales targets for client food hubs and long-term goals for KSS</li><li>Explore partnerships with values-aligned food companies locally, potentially leading to brokerage relationships including adding values-aligned food businesses to KSS’ sales portfolio in Arizona and the Southwest</li><li>Work with CEO and Regional Director of Growth to develop marketing and branding strategies for attracting more institutional buying clients for KSS</li><li>Make group presentations to institution representatives (especially K-12 school districts) on local procurement strategies and providing 1:1 Technical Assistance </li><li>Document barriers for buyers/sellers and trends in buyer behavior, all informing solutions to improve KSS’ work and partner programs</li><li>Maintain a high level of integrity as a representative of KSS, and be about it 😎</li><li>Other stuff that we encounter along the way- but not too much of it, we promise</li></ul> Important Skills Required (and Desired):Required Skills<ul><li>Sales experience specifically in local/regional food systems </li><li>Preference for candidates with 3-5 years of experience in local food sales, sales with food hubs or aggregators is a bonus.</li><li>A strong grasp of the institutional foodservice market and a particularly keen understanding of farm-to-school and institutional procurement</li><li>Preference for candidates with direct experience with institutional foodservice, and/or food service management companies </li><li>A demonstrated, strong understanding of the local food system in Arizona</li><li>Including familiarity with the range of products that can be grown locally, product seasonality, and ease of use in different settings </li><li>A deep, firm commitment to the notion that supporting small farms and food producers to access institutional markets is one critical step towards building a fairer, healthier, less harmful food economy</li><li>Complete fluency across core tech platforms especially strong grasp of: </li><li>G-Suite apps including Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Presentations, </li><li>MS Office programs including Excel, Word, and Powerpoint</li><li>Virtual meeting software and chat, such as Zoom, Google meet, and Slack.</li><li>Ability to synthesize complex information, recognizing and documenting patterns in buyer and seller behavior to inform improvements to systems and programs</li><li>Very strong writing and even better verbal communication skills</li><li>A commitment to building relationships rooted in compassion, kindness, and care</li></ul>Desired Skills <ul><li>A sense of adventure and a willingness to explore new ideas of how to build fairer food economies- and a tolerance for the high levels of ambiguity inherent in this work</li><li>Tech savvy and ability to quickly leverage a range of additional softwares:</li><li>Experience with HubSpot or similar ERP software is a big plus</li><li>Experience with inventory systems for food hubs (Local Food Marketplace, Shopify, etc.) is also super helpful</li><li>Familiarity with Mural, Canva, and other design tools also a plus</li><li>Strong, self-driven focus and the ability to maintain drive while working remotely</li><li>Training or teaching experience, including ability to cross-train others in 1:1, small group, and large group settings</li><li>Experience presenting to groups and comfort with public speaking and presentations</li></ul> Compensation Package<ul><li>This contract position is a full-time (35-40 hours/wk) </li><li>The position will be paid a starting salary of $66-$69k per year with the following benefits:</li><li>Generous and flexible vacation policy (15 days PTO, 5 days sick time, plus federal holidays)</li><li>Generous medical benefits package (Health, Dental, Vision, Life)</li><li>401k plan with company match</li><li>Healthy travel stipend for business travel</li><li>Annual professional development funds</li></ul> To Apply Please email a .pdf cover letter, resume & contact for 3 references to solutions@kitchensyncstrategies.com Please use “Regional Food Sales Lead (AZ) ” in the subject line of your email. Applications accepted until the position is filled, and interviews will start on a rolling basis starting February 18, 2026. As a company, we remain committed to prioritizing racial equity in all aspects of our work, and we strongly encourage individuals who share that principle to apply- especially if they identify as people of color. Kitchen Sync Strategies is an equal opportunity employer and provider of services.

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