Sales Manager

About our Organisation

Soil Association Exchange is a new service for all UK farmers to help them farm in a way that improves the climate and protects nature and enhances their profitability. SA Exchange works with farmers to measure the environmental impact and provides advice and financial incentives on how the farm can improve.

Soil Association Exchange is a fast-paced, commercial startup that spun out of the Soil Association charity in 2022. Exchange sells its services to a variety of customers including retailers (e.g. M&S and Sainsburys), processors (e.g. Riverford and Arla) and financial institutions (e.g. Lloyds Banking Group). Through these companies we are now working with 1000 UK farmers.

About the Opportunity

Are you ready to transform UK farming?

Exchange helps farmers and landowners measure their ecological sustainability, improve their footprint and link them to rewards for doing so. We exist to accelerate the transition to more resilient and profitable farming. With the natural capital market (public and private) maturing and environmental compliances (public and private) increasing, the time is right to help farmers make sense of this and catalyse the agriculture sector to be more resilient and profitable. This is a unique opportunity to develop a new business model in a rapidly growing climate tech start-up. You’ll work with farmers, estates, certification agencies, farmer advisory firms and be at the forefront of our offer to them. You'll see the direct impact of your work on the ground. This role has potential to grow based on the success of the model and if you’re passionate about sustainability and want to combine purpose with commercial success, this is the role for you.

As our Sales Manager, Direct-to-Farmer, you’ll represent Exchange to farmers and channel partners and also bolster their voice within the company (alongside our Farmer Advisory and Operations team).

Your responsibilities will include:

• Iterate and Execute Sales Strategies: own sales targets and experiment with different models to strengthen our offer to the right farmer at the right time
• Build Relationships: establish partnerships with farmers, government officials, farmer advisory firms, unions and other key stakeholders to understand their problems and how we fit within the market
• Cross-Departmental Collaboration: work closely with Product, Marketing and Commercial team to shape the future roadmaps based on customer feedback

About You

We are looking for a resilient, proactive and reliable communicator with sales and agriculture/climate experience to join our collaborative and impact-driven team. 

You will have a customer-first mindset, business modelling experience and significant experience in sales (experience in software sales will be a bonus). You will be a great relationship builder with excellent communication skills, strong empathy and creativity. You will be travelling to meet farmers and attending farming events around the UK.

Our Benefits

We offer a range of financial and lifestyle benefits to all our employees, including:

• 27 days annual holiday increasing to 30 days with length of service plus bank holidays (pro rata for part time)
• Pension scheme with ethical investment options and employer contribution increasing with length of service
• Free membership of the Soil Association and discounts on organic produce
• Volunteer days to give back to the local community or support green initiatives
• Family friendly policies and flexible working
• Cycle to work scheme
• Sociable and engaging workplace of professionals that share a passion for healthy, sustainable lifestyle and produce

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Location: 

Hybrid working, with the flexibility to travel to London or Bristol once a week for in-person collaboration with the team