[Hiring] Freelance Head of Sales @ahead GmbH

Role Description

France is a true greenfield market for ahead. No listings. No distribution. No local sales structure. You'll build our retail presence from the very first conversations with the major buying groups through to scalable distribution across the market. The reality: French grocery retail is highly centralized. Carrefour, Leclerc, Intermarché, Casino and others make national decisions that determine success or failure.

Your mission: establish ahead in French retail, build strong partnerships, and create the structures that will enable our growth in one of Europe's most important markets.

You'll report directly to the Sales Director (Hamburg) and work closely with Trade Marketing, Key Account Management and Category Management.

Your Tasks

• Retail & Key Account Development
  • Build and develop strategic relationships with national buying groups (including Carrefour, Leclerc, Intermarché, Casino)
  • Take ownership of listing negotiations, annual trade terms, conditions and distribution
  • Develop and scale long-term retail partnerships from first contact through to sustainable collaboration
  • Identify and develop relevant retail and drugstore channels, and build strategic partnerships with national and regional trade partners
• Market Development & Go-to-Market
  • Analyze the French retail landscape and develop the go-to-market strategy for France
  • Define pricing positioning, assortment and channel strategy
  • Plan and execute local promotions and trade marketing activities
  • Conduct competitor monitoring and regular market reporting
• Field Sales & Scaling
  • Build a local field sales structure - in-house or through external partners
  • Develop territory planning, KPIs and performance management structures
  • Select and manage merchandising/broker partners
  • Ensure distribution, shelf share and strong execution at point of sale
• Business Ownership
  • Take full ownership of France business development, including P&L
  • Drive demand planning, forecasting and performance management
  • Collaborate closely with Marketing, Product, Operations and Sales

Qualifications

• Several years of FMCG sales experience in France
• Deep understanding of French grocery retail (centralized purchasing, trading terms, listings, promotions)
• Experience building a market or a new category within a start-up or scale-up environment
• A strong network within French retail, including buyers and category managers
• Experience negotiating at decision-maker level
• An entrepreneurial mindset: you build structures rather than just manage them
• Fluent French and very good English

What Makes Your Profile Complete

• Experience in the better-for-you, health food or confectionery segment
• Experience in the parapharmacy/drugstore channel
• Background in category management or shopper marketing

Benefits

• Working at ahead is more than just a job - it’s your opportunity to develop as a professional and as a person, while shaping the future of snacking.
• Hypergrowth Environment: If you're looking for greenfield, creative freedom, and real impact, you're in the right place.
• Amazing Team: Young, international, ambitious - inspiring colleagues who collaborate, support each other, and genuinely enjoy working together.
• Career Growth: Develop through cross-functional projects, structured feedback cycles, and a steep learning curve in a dynamic, high growth environment.
• We offer a fair, attractive salary with role-dependent bonus opportunities.
• For this role, you can work remotely from France.

Your Next Steps With Us

If this sounds like a good fit, we're excited to go ahead with you!