Area Sales Manager

About ZBiotics

At ZBiotics, we make genetically engineered probiotics that improve daily life. As a group of motivated, yet down-to-earth people, we are fueled by two things: a love for science and a commitment to being people-first. GMO products like ours – built to create benefits for people in their daily lives – are the future. As the first to market, we believe it’s our duty to set a high bar for product quality, safety, and transparency for others to follow.

In 2019, ZBiotics launched Pre-Alcohol™ – the world's first genetically engineered probiotic drink – designed to break down acetaldehyde, an unwanted alcohol byproduct. In 2024, we launched Sugar-to-Fiber™ – a genetically engineered probiotic drink mix – that creates fiber from the sugar you already eat, contributing to microbiome health.

With a full line of genetically engineered probiotics in development, our team is growing. We’re looking for people as excited as we are to build this new category of consumer products. ZBiotics is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by venture investors including Y Combinator and Khosla Ventures, among others.

About the Role

ZBiotics is launching in New York City, a high-priority market — and we're hiring an Area Sales Manager to build our presence in collaboration with our current distributor partner.

New York City represents a significant opportunity for ZBiotics: a dense, diverse market with thousands of independent grocery stores and bodegas, a thriving natural and specialty grocery scene, and a premium on-premise landscape of restaurants, bars, and hotels. This role will be the boots on the ground driving our growth, calling on accounts, educating retailers and staff, working alongside our distributor partner, and making sure ZBiotics shows up the right way in every account we enter.

Your broad goal will be to help our current distributor partner build distribution and velocity across New York City, positioning ZBiotics to grow into broader independent natural grocery distribution with greater access to New York State, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

For your first 90 – 120 days, you'll focus entirely on off-premise retail, primarily independent grocery stores and bodegas. After that, off-premise will remain about 70 – 80% of your focus, with the remaining 20 – 30% dedicated to targeted on-premise accounts.

The position will cover New York City and will report to our National Director of Distributor Sales, working closely with our distributor partners, retail accounts, and internal teams to build sustainable, velocity-focused growth across the market.

This is a field-first role for someone who loves being in the trade, builds relationships that last, and is energized by representing a genuinely differentiated product in a competitive market.

Your Responsibilities

The following are essential functions of this role:

Selling and managing execution in off-premise accounts (100% of focus for the first 90 – 120 days; 70 – 80% thereafter)

• Call on independent grocery stores, bodegas, and natural and specialty grocery accounts in your designated territory.
• Sell-in multiple ZBiotics SKUs; secure multiple, high-impact, and properly merchandised displays that are correctly priced.
• Manage account inventory levels. Review sales reports and stock levels to identify potential out-of-stocks (OOS) or overstocks, and communicate them to store managers and our distributor partner.
• Secure incremental displays, points of interruption, and shelf placements that maximize visibility and rate of sale.
• Conduct staff education and execute in-store demos weekly.

Selling and creating brand awareness in on-premise accounts (20 – 30% of focus after the first 90 – 120 days)

• Create and call on targeted on-premise accounts, including restaurants, bars, and hotels.
• Secure product distribution, menu placements, and merchandising where possible.
• Build strong relationships with staff and create ZBiotics “ambassadors” by conducting staff training, sampling, and engaging in 1:1 interactions.
• Work with the Retail Marketing Manager to identify opportunities for brand awareness campaigns to help build presence in on-premise accounts.

Distributor engagement and management

• Work with, train, and engage distributor sales reps, managers, and merchandising teams on a weekly basis, educating them on the ZBiotics brand, product function, and science and building genuine passion and enthusiasm for ZBiotics.
• Collaboratively sell-in new distribution, menu placements, and displays, while coaching on the ZBiotics brand, product quality, and science.
• Manage distributor product and POS inventories, support forecasting processes to ensure adequate inventory, maintain DOH, and support rapid growth across all channels in the market.
• Partner with the Retail Marketing Managers to execute on delivering consistent retailer onboarding.
• Provide weekly recaps to the appropriate distributor sales managers, supervisors, and reps communicating wins, opportunities, needs for follow-up, and praise for success.
• Conduct merchandising training for distributor teams, either in-field or in-office, focused on optimizing ZBiotics POS materials and mastering merchandising strategies to maximize velocity in every account.
• Use sales data and account insights to help our distributor partner build distribution and velocity, laying the groundwork for expanded distribution across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
• Actively engage in quarterly distributor performance reviews to help evaluate strategic progress and alignment, and identify new opportunities for ZBiotics.

About You

You are a relationship-driven sales professional who thrives in the field and knows how to make distributor and retail partners genuinely excited about the brands they carry. You're social, reliable, and build loyalty with retailers that lasts. You're a compelling storyteller and educator, comfortable presenting to a room of distributor reps one day and training a bodega or restaurant team the next. You don't just explain what ZBiotics does; you create real passion for the brand.

You're highly organized, running an efficient territory with well-planned routes and a clear sense of where your time creates the most impact. You understand the financial realities of your retail and on-premise partners — margin, pour cost, sell-through, profitability — and you speak that language fluently. You're equally comfortable pulling a sales report to identify a growth opportunity as you are walking to a store to fix a display. Data and relationships aren't in tension for you; they're both tools for winning accounts.

You're an active listener who understands the concerns and questions of buyers, and you collaborate with retailers and distributors to find solutions. You enjoy building a team environment with your distributor partner, and your energy, knowledge, and communication style motivate the people around you.

Above all, you love learning and sharing what you know. ZBiotics is a first-of-its-kind product, and you're excited to become an expert on it and educate retailers, consumers, and distributors. You want to be part of establishing a brand in a new market, not just maintaining one that's already there, and you understand that doing it right means showing up consistently, earning trust, and holding yourself to a high standard in every account you touch.

• 2 – 5 years of experience selling in one or more of the following categories: beverage alcohol, non-alcoholic beverages, or natural foods and snacks, representing a supplier or distributor in the New York City market.
• 2 – 5 years of experience calling on New York City off-premise retail accounts, primarily independent small grocery and bodega accounts. Experience with Duane Reade stores is a plus.
• Experience calling on New York City on-premise accounts, including restaurants, bars, and hotels; established relationships in these areas are a huge plus.
• Experience calling on natural grocery accounts such as Whole Foods and Wegmans.
• Ability to champion premium, high-end, or craft products by utilizing compelling storytelling and product education to articulate what makes a product special.
• Thorough understanding of distributor dynamics, including best practices for working with, communicating with, motivating, and driving execution through distributor partners.
• Experience educating staff in off and on-premise accounts, with small and large groups, and creating excitement, passion, and interest for a premium brand.
• Understands retailer business needs both on- and off-premise: retail margins, pour cost, pricing, sell-through, and profitability.
• Data analysis skills: able to review sales reports to identify opportunities and successes and build ongoing momentum.
• Retail inventory management: able to recognize and convey potential out-of-stocks or overstocks to retailers.
• Impact merchandising: understands where to place and display products to create the best visibility and rate of sale, both off- and on-premise.
• CRM experience (HubSpot, VIP, iDig, or similar).
• Highly organized and able to route effectively to maximize time in trade.
• Background in event or demo experience, including consumer education at festivals, events, or through in-store product demonstrations.

This Role is Perfect For You If …

• You enjoy building a brand from ground up, calling on premium and highly influential off-premise and on-premise accounts while also driving distributor engagement and execution (3 – 4 days a week in trade).
• You are motivated by selling quality, premium products with a great story, educating distributors, retailers, and consumers about emerging products in a new category.
• You thrive working with and motivating distributor teams, building a culture of best-in-class collaboration with your distributor partners. 
• You are goal-oriented! Like to set, achieve, and over-achieve distribution and sales targets.
• You embody the ZBiotics values of People-First, Integrity, Citizenship, and Science.

Benefits & Compensation

We believe in a life well-lived. ZBiotics offers competitive benefits for a life outside of work, including: health / dental, 401(k) matching, a flexible, unlimited paid time off policy, 16 weeks fully paid parental leave, a home office stipend, and access to co-working office space if located in or visiting San Francisco.

The base salary range for this position is $115,000 – $135,000 a year, and will include equity.  

Employment at ZBiotics is at-will.

We Encourage You to Apply …

At ZBiotics, we value our differences, and we encourage all—especially those whose identities are traditionally underrepresented in tech organizations—to apply.

ZBiotics is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable federal, state, or local law.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

ZBiotics will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in the application and employment process. If you need assistance or accommodation, please contact the ZBiotics People Operations team at [email protected].