Kevin Klein

Vice President, Business Unit Sales & Strategy

Greater Chicago Area

About

Accomplished sales executive with 20+ years of experience in strategy, customer development, and revenue management at top tier CPG companies. Proven ability to deliver sales, market share, and profit growth in highly competitive categories. Recognized by internal and external stakeholders for a customer-centric, solution-oriented strategic approach that creates shared value through cultivating relationships and collaborative business planning. Broadened experience with senior roles in marketing and sales operations to strengthen general management perspective. Builds high performing teams with a focus on people development, coaching, and mentorship.

Experience

  • Vice President Business Unit Sales & Strategy at Kraft Heinz
    May 2024 - Present · 2 yrs 2 mos

  • Vice President Sales and Business Development at Hearthside Food Solutions
    Sep 2023 - May 2024 · 9 mos

    Led 12-member business development and strategic accounts sales team, managing 475+ million pounds and $375+ million in tolling revenue. Within first 30 days, expanded scope of responsibilities to include leading three of Hearthside's top seven strategic CPG accounts; total customer portfolio represents ~30% of HFS' volume, revenue, and profit. Executive sponsor for multiple productivity initiatives, including: improving proposal turnaround time to increase customer win rate and delivering incremental profit margin via HFS network capacity optimization. Led top-to-top meetings with multiple global CPG manufacturer c-suites, providing an overview of Hearthside capabilities and identifying future partnership growth opportunities.

  • Vice President, Sales - National Accounts at Tropicana Brands Group
    Apr 2023 - Sep 2023 · 6 mos

    Led 13-member sales team, with five direct reports, managing $350 million in net sales and +18 million cases. Retailer account responsibility included: Albertsons, Ahold Delhaize USA, Publix, Meijer, Spartan Nash, and Aldi. Selected by the Executive Committee (ExCom) to serve on multiple, cross-functional strategic projects, including: S&OP process design, creation of a 'Why TBG' value proposition, and a $50MM productivity initiative.

  • Tyson Foods (Greater Chicago Area)
    • Vice President of Sales - Sales Strategy & Growth Capabilities
      Sep 2021 - Mar 2023 · 1 yr 7 mos

      Led 53-member team, with seven direct reports, consisting of Sales Strategy and Revenue Management COEs, managing $7 billion in net sales and more than 2 billion pounds across all retail brands, customers, and classes of trade. Reported to the SVP, Prepared Foods Retail Sales with a dotted line to the Chief Customer Officer, and was a member of the both the Customer Leadership Team and Prepared Foods Cross-Functional Leadership Team. Responsible for the following key deliverables, on behalf of retail sales, within the Prepared Foods business unit: multi-year strategic sales plan, AOP executional plan, innovation go-to-market strategy, trade ROI, and inflation net recovery through pricing strategies, all while ensuring the customer's voice was embedded in internal business decisions. Accountable for delivery of AOP KPIs inclusive of net sales, volume, operating income, trade spend, and points of distribution. Additionally, had responsibility for key initiatives including: marketplace pricing strategy across channels and vs. competition, product supply allocations, price pack architecture, and long-term innovation strategy. Represented Prepared Foods Leadership Team (PLT) and Customer Leadership Team (CLT) at multiple Top-to-Top (T2T) and Joint Business Planning (JBP) meetings for key retail partners, including Walmart, Sam's Club, Kroger, Albertsons, Ahold Delhaize, Publix, Dollar General, and Meijer, leading discussions ranging from product supply and trade investment strategy to innovation launches and pricing dynamics. Critical consultant to cross-functional partners in brand marketing, field sales, finance, supply chain, insights, innovation, project management, and category management.

    • Senior Director, Customer Development - East Grocery
      Apr 2020 - Sep 2021 · 1 yr 6 mos

      Led 38-member East Grocery sales team, including six direct reports, comprised of both headquarter and broker sales teams, representing >$1 billion in net sales and 500 million pounds annually. Retailer account responsibility included Kroger, Publix, Ahold Delhaize, Wegmans, SEG, and Wakefern. Surpassed FY20 and FY21 volume targets by +12% and +8% respectively, leading to 230bps share growth across the geography. Led Top-to-Top (T2T) and Joint Business Planning (JBP) meetings for multiple customers, enhancing relationships with senior executives/merchants and elevating Tyson to key vendor partner status.

    • Director, Customer Development - Retail Sales
      Apr 2017 - Mar 2020 · 3 yrs

      Led headquarter sales teams for Target and Meijer, with seven account managers, totaling $750 million in net sales and 250 million pounds annually. Delivered three consecutive fiscal years of sales growth, ranging from 3% to 9%, and grew market share by +250bps, while concurrently delivering trade investment KPIs. Strengthened customer relationships through inception of Joint Business Planning (JBP) meetings and drove shared growth through the achievement of defined JBP targets. Leveraged category and consumer insights to build business cases that expanded both branded and private label partnerships across frozen, refrigerated, and fresh meats departments.

  • Vice President, Marketing and Sales Operations at Glory Global Solutions
    2011 - 2013 · 2 yrs

    Led 20-member team responsible for product management and strategy, market research, brand communications, and value proposition analysis to drive revenue growth for global industry leader in cash management solutions for financial institutions.