Sales Manager - KSA

Food People is partnering with a fast-growing international business entering an exciting new stage of development in Saudi Arabia. They are looking for a Sales Manager to become their first dedicated employee on the ground in the Kingdom and play a central role in building the market from an early stage.

This is not a traditional corporate sales position. The Saudi operation has a genuine start-up environment, with a small regional team, a lean structure, and significant room for the successful candidate to make their mark. You will need to be comfortable working independently, opening doors, solving problems, and getting involved wherever needed to move the business forward.

The role will own commercial growth across Modern Trade, Quick Commerce, and Foodservice, combining existing account management with new business development and close collaboration with distribution partners. For someone with the right ambition, this is an opportunity to build rather than inherit, grow alongside the business, and potentially develop into broader country leadership responsibilities as the Saudi operation scales.

Note: This role can be based in Riyadh or Jeddah (Ideally, Riyadh)

Key Responsibilities:

• Drive commercial growth and deliver sales targets across Saudi Arabia
• Manage and develop key Modern Trade and Quick Commerce customers
• Identify and secure new customers, listings and commercial opportunities
• Develop the Foodservice channel in close partnership with local distribution partners
• Build strong relationships with customers, distributors and other commercial stakeholders
• Pitch new brands and opportunities to existing and prospective customers
• Negotiate listings, commercial terms, promotions and customer activations
• Develop account plans and identify opportunities to increase revenue across existing customers
• Monitor sales performance, market developments and competitor activity
• Work closely with regional leadership to identify opportunities and shape the Saudi growth strategy
• Take ownership of day-to-day commercial execution as the company's first dedicated employee in the Kingdom
• Contribute beyond the traditional boundaries of a sales role when required in order to help establish and grow the Saudi operation

Key Ingredients:

• Proven sales experience within the Saudi Arabian market
• Strong exposure to Modern Trade and Quick Commerce customers
• Foodservice experience would be a strong advantage
• Demonstrated success in winning business, growing accounts, and delivering measurable sales results
• A genuine start-up mentality with the desire to build something from the ground up
• Comfortable operating independently within a small team and without the infrastructure of a large corporate organization
• Commercially hungry, proactive and willing to take ownership
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the emotional intelligence to influence and collaborate effectively with distribution partners
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills with professional fluency in English
• Arabic language capability would be advantageous
• Positive, energetic, adaptable, and naturally relationship-oriented
• Ideally based in Riyadh with the intention of building a long-term career in Saudi Arabia
• Ambitious to grow with the business and potentially progress into broader country leadership responsibilities

Please note, only candidates with relevant experience will be contacted to discuss the position in more detail.