Director of Sales, LATAM

Job Title:            Director of Sales - LATAM

Function:            Sales

Reports to:         VP/Head of Sales – Ornua Foods North America

Location:            Remote – LATAM (Preferred: Mexico City)

Position Type:    Full-time, Exempt

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Ornua (meaning “new gold”) is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, proudly bringing the unique taste of Irish dairy to the world since 1961.

Are you a seasoned senior CPG sales leader, energized by a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to drive the next phase of growth for a purpose-led organization?

Ornua is actively seeking a seasoned and entrepreneurial Director of Sales – LATAM to lead the next phase of Ornua Foods North America’s international expansion across Latin America, with a primary focus on Mexico and Brazil.

This high-impact leadership role is responsible for building and executing the regional go-to-market strategy, accelerating distribution, overseeing distributor performance with full P&L accountability, ensuring brand and regulatory compliance, and delivering sustainable revenue and profit growth.

The ideal candidate brings deep CPG commercial expertise, a proven track record of international brand expansion, and strong cultural fluency to build trusted partnerships across Latin America.

This is a unique opportunity to join a purpose-led organization, work with an iconic global brand, and own transformational new market growth.

WHY THIS ROLE IS VALUABLE

As Director of Sales – LATAM, you will play a critical leadership role in shaping Ornua’s long-term growth strategy in one of the world’s most dynamic regions. You will have ownership of market entry, commercial execution, and profitability while building strong internal and external partnerships that bring our purpose and brands to life.

WHAT YOU WILL BRING TO THE ROLE

You bring a passion for big-picture thinking paired with a sharp attention to detail, along with the tenacity and resilience needed to see initiatives through from concept to execution. You are comfortable operating with a long-term mindset, maintaining focus and momentum to achieve sustainable results. You will also bring knowledge of the following key responsibilities:

Market Expansion Strategy & Execution: 

• Develop and lead the LATAM commercial strategy, including defining market entry models, channel and customer priorities, pricing, promotional and product strategies.
• Focus on Mexico as priority market, creating tailored growth plans based on consumer insights and preferences, category dynamics, and competitive dynamics, while starting to develop an approach for Brazil.
• Build detailed market launch roadmaps, including regulatory, import, and rout-to-market considerations, working cross-functionally with legal, regulatory supply and operations

Revenue Growth and P&L Ownership: 

• Deliver annual sales, distribution, and profit targets across LATAM region, with an emphasis on hitting KPIs in Mexico
• Own and manage the regional P&L, balancing pricing, trade spend, promotional ROIs and profit
• Own forecasting demand and co-create Supply Chain model that is efficient and meets financial objectives
• Evaluate and recommend margin improvement strategies in Year 1, including optimizing distributor model and supply chain efficiencies to enhance profitability

Customer and Channel Development:

• Lead customer acquisition and build strategic partnerships with top retailers, distributors and eCommerce platforms in Mexico, as well as Brazil
• Deepen partnerships with key regional accounts such as Costco, Sam’s Club, and Walmart, ensuring close collaboration and alignment with US- based account leads
• Negotiate contracts, annual trade agreements and promotional calendars, launch innovation that is appropriate for the market
• Identify ways in and expand distribution footprint across modern trade, club and online to maximize brand reach

Distributor and Partner Management:

• Oversee distributor relationships in Mexico and other LATAM markets, ensuring they deliver against commercial objectives, including Volume, Revenue, EBITA
• Establish route to market and identify distributor in Brazil who can deliver on our growth ambitions
• Ensure adherence to Ornua and Kerrygold brand standards and execution excellence across packaging, labelling, and in-market activation
• Manage documentation and regulatory reporting requirements, including those needed for Irish and local government compliance

Leadership and Cross-Functional Alignment:

• Serve as a Senior Commercial voice for LATAM with Sales organization, translating global priorities into regional objectives
• Partner closely with Marketing, Category, Finance, Supply, Regulatory, and Legal to ensure seamless market entry and execution, as well as innovation pipeline that is tailored to LATAM consumer needs
• Collaborate with senior leadership on the long-term organizational design of LATAM operations

At Ornua, success is not just about what you do — it’s how you do it. You demonstrate our values by seeking new ideas, making things happen, showing care for your teammates, being your authentic self, and achieving great things together.

EXPERIENCE AND REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive sales leadership experience in CPG industry, with a strong track record of international expansion and emerging markets
• Bachelor’s degree required, MBA preferred
• Proven experience launching and scaling brands in Latin America, with direct experience in Mexico
• Deep understanding of retail dynamics, trade structures, distributor networks, and regulatory considerations in LATAM
• Demonstrated success in customer acquisition, joint business planning, trade negotiations, and P&L ownership
• Exceptional cross-cultural communication and relationship-building skills, fluency in Spanish required, Portuguese preferred.
• Willingness to travel, both domestically and internationally
• Self-motivated and positive attitude with great energy and growth mindset. Passionate about good, high-quality food.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience launching and scaling brands on Brazil strongly preferred
• Fluency in Portuguese preferred

WHY ORNUA?

Ornua is a purpose-driven, values-led co-operative creating value for Irish dairy farming families through our global operations. With 10 business units, 16 production facilities, and in-market teams across the world, we operate through two divisions — Ornua Foods, which markets our iconic consumer brands including Kerrygold and Pilgrims Choice, and Ornua Ingredients, which provides innovative, customized dairy ingredient solutions to our customers.

• Our Values lie at the core of everything we do. Our five values encourage us to Seek and Embrace New Ideas, Make It Happen, Be Our True Selves, Show You Care, and Achieve Great Things Together.
• We invest in our people and foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
• Career progression opportunities, including global mobility.
• Comprehensive benefits with region-specific offerings.
• Dynamic Working policy supporting flexible hours and hybrid work options.

PAY RANGE: $140,000 to $160,000 base + bonus and other benefits

This range represents the overall market pay rate for candidates who meet the necessary qualifications and experience requirements for this role. Actual compensation may vary based on factors such as experience, education, and performance.

TOTAL REWARDS

Total Rewards at Ornua Foods North America will include a competitive salary and annual bonus scheme. The following are a list of other benefits you can avail of: low employee contribution for Medical, Vision and Dental benefits cover; 401k; Paid Time Off; Maternity Leave (20 weeks); Parental Leave; Flexible working; Fitness Reimbursement; Charity Donation; Complimentary Kerrygold products; Free car parking and secure bicycle storage; Free healthy snacks and drinks in the office; Reward & Recognition program; Volunteering opportunities; Long Service Awards.

COMPANY BACKGROUND

The most important element of our company background is our purpose.  We are a dairy cooperative of cooperatives.  That means that we exist to create value for our cooperatives and the 14,000 Irish family dairy farms they support.  This is central to how we operate, critically important for our employees and what fuels our ambition to win.

With that, Ornua is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy, exporting to over 110 countries with annualised sales of €3.4 billion.

We are multi-national, operating from 19 subsidiaries worldwide and employing over 2,300 staff. Ornua has teams working in-market across all four corners of the globe from Algiers to Beijing, to Lagos and LA. The business is structured across two core divisions: Ornua Foods and Ornua Ingredients.

Ornua Foods owns the iconic Kerrygold brand, as well as the Pilgrims Choice, Dubliner, Forto and BEO Milk Powder brands.

Ornua Ingredients supplies superior quality dairy ingredients to leading global food manufacturers from some of the world’s most technically advanced manufacturing and prepacking facilities located in Africa, China, Ireland, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the UK and the US.

Ornua Foods North America is headquartered in Evanston, IL with additional teams located throughout the US.  The consumer foods product portfolio is spread across butter, cheese and powders.

The North America division is a powerhouse within Ornua, with an iconic and beloved brand and a highly-engaged, highly inclusive, and high-performing team that, together, have delivered double-digit, profitable growth on the business for the last twenty years. The LATAM region is an important part of our growth story.

Ornua is an equal opportunity employer.  All qualified applicants will be provided with equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran status, disability status, or genetic information.  Ornua is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you require an accommodation to complete the application or interview process, please contact Ornua People Services at 833-450-2385 or peopleservicesus@ornua.com. 

This employer participates in E-Verify, a federal program that verifies the identity and employment eligibility of all persons hired to work in the United States. As part of the hiring process, information provided on your Form I-9 will be submitted to the E-Verify system. E-Verify compares your information to records maintained by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.
For more information about E-Verify, please visit www.e-verify.gov.