Business Development Manager

About Us

At Zevia, we’re creating a world of better-for-you flavor—better for people and the planet. Our team is made up of courageous challengers and tenacious builders who are passionate about our mission. We’re solutions-oriented, always improving, and we operate with a healthy thirst for risk. We believe in staying true to our convictions while continuously learning and evolving.

At our core, we are people-centric. We care deeply, lead with empathy, and operate as one team—no egos, just a shared purpose. We strive to reflect the diversity of our consumer base within our organization and foster a culture of empathy and humility.

Together, we aim to impact global health, provide affordable better-for-you products, and protect the planet by reducing plastic.

We’re fighting the good fight to change the beverage industry for the better — and we’re just getting started.

Summary

The Business Development Manager (BDM) is responsible for identifying, developing, and converting white space sales opportunities across the U.S., with a primary focus on UNFI, KeHE, and new direct national and regional chain customers.

The objective of this role is to deliver incremental volume growth across the U.S. business. To support this, the BDM will develop annual business plans, drive key Zevia initiatives, track and manage KPIs, and deliver results against aligned forecasts through a defined group of distributor partners and key accounts. This role will lead new chain prospecting and onboarding, expand distribution in underpenetrated channels, and unlock incremental revenue opportunities with existing distributor partners. The position is highly externally facing and works cross-functionally with Sales, Category Development, Marketing, and Operations to secure new growth opportunities. The BDM will partner closely with UNFI and KeHE national and regional teams to expand reach. 

This role requires a driven, self-started, and results-oriented sales professional with a strong “hunter” mindset. The BDM is naturally curious, proactive, and motivated to uncover opportunities where others may not look, while maintaining a polished, thoughtful, and professional approach with customers and internal partners. Success in this role comes from personal accountability, ownership of outcomes, and a persistent selling style. Success in this role requires strong presentation skills and the ability to craft compelling selling stories that resonate with retailers and distributors.

What You’ll Do 

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Zevia’s Strategy, Merchandising Standards, and Key Account Programs

• Coordinates meetings with UNFI, KeHE, and national and regional chain customers to identify, present, and secure new growth opportunities aligned with Zevia’s strategic priorities
• Develops clear communication processes to ensure alignment on growth objectives, selling priorities, and execution plans
• Implement systems to track and benchmark progress against white space initiatives, pipeline development, and incremental volume targets
• Leads new chain prospecting, onboarding, and expansion efforts across underpenetrated channels and customer segments
• Develops customer-specific growth strategies focused on unlocking incremental distribution, velocity, and revenue
• Manages the full sales cycle from opportunity identification through sell-in, authorization, and execution
• Establish regular communication cadence with distributor and customer partners to advance new business initiatives

Business Planning

• Develops and gains alignment with UNFI, KeHE, and key customers on annual and customer-specific business plans focused on incremental growth
• Secures agreement on forecasts, growth targets, and KPIs
• Consistently communicates with distributor leadership and internal stakeholders to ensure alignment and accountability
• Effectively manages budgets and investments associated with new business development, distributor programs, and key account initiatives
• Operates with full ownership of assigned growth objectives and outcomes, driving results through distributor and customer partnerships
• Partners with Zevia HQ teams to support launches, programs, and customer-specific initiatives
• Keeps distributors and customers informed of new items, programs, and timing to support successful execution

Business Intelligence

• Proactively leverages insights from Category Development, Marketing, and internal reporting to identify and advance new business opportunities
• Applies performance data, distribution analytics, and pipeline tracking to prioritize opportunities and address risks
• Leverages distributor tools and data (e.g., VIP, shipment and depletion trends) to gain insights into distributor and customer performance

Other Responsibilities

• Provides ongoing feedback to internal teams on distributor, customer, and competitive dynamics impacting growth opportunities
• Develops working knowledge of geographic, channel, and customer segments relevant to assigned business scope
• Builds expertise in competitive landscape, category trends, and emerging opportunities across channels
• Represents Zevia in the marketplace with passion, enthusiasm, a growth mindset, and a polished, professional demeanor. 

What We're Looking For

• +5 years sales experience and track record in Consumer Goods industry (beverage preferred)
• +3 years of experience leading, influencing, and driving results through distributor and customer partners
• Strong strategic thinker with demonstrated ability to identify and convert white space opportunities
• Hunter mentality with strong business development, prospecting, and closing skills
• Excellent communicator, presenter, and storyteller with the ability to sell at the buyer level
• Strong negotiator and influencer, comfortable navigating complex organizations
• Highly numerate and analytical, with the ability to leverage data to inform decisions and selling strategies
• Proven ability to develop and execute successful sales and trade marketing strategies
• Ability to leverage data from SPINS, VIP, and standard BI reporting tools to gain insights
• Self-directed, organized, and able to work independently with full ownership of outcomes
• Experience with basic administrative programs, Windows, Word, PowerPoint, Excel
• Must have the ability to:
  • Travel via car with a valid driver’s license and untarnished driving record.
  • Travel outside of local territory occasionally, at least once per month
• 4-year college degree preferred, equivalent professional experience considered in lieu of

Supervisory Responsibility

This position has no direct supervisory responsibility.

Work Environment

Under normal operations, this position operates in a home office environment for 60% of the time.  This role has significant travel requirements of up to 40% with the focus on this travel to be the attending of customer HQ appointments and conferences.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

The employee is occasionally required to sit; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to thirty (30) pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to fifty (50) pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

Position Type

Full Time, Exempt 

Travel

This position requires up to 40% travel.

Work Authorization/Security Clearance

Must be eligible to work in the U.S.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

What We Offer

• A collaborative environment, where everyone contributes and delivers
• A place where you can grow, develop and learn
• Competitive compensation that includes a base salary, discretionary bonus and stock options. See below for range.
• A comprehensive benefits package which includes:
  • An array of medical plans
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • Group Life Insurance
  • Short-term disability + Long-term disability
  • Flexible Spending Accounts: Medical, Dependent and Limited Use
  • Health Savings Account
  • Accident Insurance
  • Critical Illness Insurance
  • Hospital Indemnity Insurance
  • Legal Insurance
  • Travel Assistance
  • Employee Assistance Program
  • Pet Insurance
  • 401k Plan (Traditional and Roth)
  • Vacation, Personal/Sick Days, and Holidays
  • Professional development contributions
  • And of course, all the Zevia you can drink!