Sales Director (Head of Sales)
The Sales Director in the nutra vertical owns revenue and partner sales channels for dietary supplements and health products. They plan volumes, manage the team, and oversee relationships with platforms and banks.
What a Sales Director does
A Sales Director leads the commercial results of the nutra sales function. In this vertical the product does not sell itself: volume depends on channels, partners, payment infrastructure, and how reliably ad accounts keep running. The Sales Director therefore manages not only sales managers but also the terms on which the company gets traffic and buyers, including partner contracts, rates, limits, and access to payment providers.
Companies in high-risk verticals hire for this role because the market is unstable. Ad platforms periodically restrict or block nutra offers, regulatory requirements for labeling and health claims change, and banks revise their limits. The Sales Director builds several sales channels at once so the business does not depend on a single partner, and makes sure the revenue forecast is based on real data rather than the team's expectations.
In the org structure, the role usually reports to the Commercial Director or CEO and manages B2B sales managers, account managers, and sometimes the partner program team. It works closely with the affiliate team, advertising lawyers, and product, and with the finance department on margins and settlements.
Responsibilities
- Build the commercial strategy across sales channels for nutra products and align it with the CEO and CFO
- Plan sales and revenue volumes by month and quarter, and own forecast accuracy
- Lead the B2B sales team, allocate territories and partner portfolios
- Lead key negotiations with major partners, networks, and distributors, and agree on terms and rates
- Control pricing and deal margins together with finance
- Diversify sales channels so that the block of one platform does not stop sales
- Coordinate offer, creative, and partner material wording with legal and compliance
- Coordinate with payment providers and banks on limits and payment acceptance terms
- Run weekly reviews of the funnel, rejection reasons, and lost deals, and make adjustment decisions
- Hire, train, and motivate managers, and own their compensation scheme
Skills
- Building a commercial strategy for a regulated product category
- Negotiating with partners and large buyers, handling risk-related objections
- Understanding ad platform rules and restrictions for health products
- Managing a sales team: setting plans, hiring, coaching, and motivation
- Financial thinking: unit economics, margins, LTV and CAC calculation by channel
- Working with forecasts and the funnel, making data-driven decisions
- Basic understanding of regulator requirements for labeling and health claims
- Building processes across sales, legal, product, and finance
- Resilience to unstable channels and the ability to quickly rebuild the plan
Tools
- CRM system (Salesforce, HubSpot, or similar)
- Spreadsheets and BI dashboards for forecasting and reporting (Google Sheets, Excel, Looker Studio)
- Tracking and analytics for partner channels (Keitaro, Google Analytics)
- Document management and contract approval system
- Messengers and platforms for partner communication (Telegram, Slack)
- Task planning tools (Jira, Asana, or similar)
How performance is measured
- Revenue plan attainment by month and quarter
- Sales forecast accuracy versus actuals
- Deal margins and average check by channel
- Share of revenue from diversified channels rather than a single partner
- Funnel conversion from first contact to closed deal
- Retention of key partners and repeat deals
- Sales team turnover and time for new hires to reach quota
By vertical
Nutra
In nutra, the Sales Director almost always works under advertising and regulatory restrictions: some channels are closed or require approved wording, so planning is built around several traffic sources and partners. Control over health claims and close coordination with lawyers at every stage of a deal are especially important.
Levels
Head of / Director
The Head of / Director is responsible for the entire commercial result of the function, not for individual deals. They decide which channels to invest in, how to allocate the team, which partnerships to enter and under what conditions, and they are accountable for delivering the plan to the owner or CEO.
How to get there
People usually move into nutra sales from B2B or partner sales in adjacent fields: ad networks, affiliate networks, supplement distribution, FMCG, or medical products. Hands-on experience closing large deals and managing a funnel matters more than industry background. The first step is often a sales manager or sales team lead role with clear KPIs.
To move up to Sales Director, you need to master unit economics, margin analysis, and the restrictions of ad platforms, plus the basics of labeling and health-claim requirements. It helps to understand how payment providers work and how banks assess risk in nutra. A habit of working with data is essential: forecasting, reporting, and analyzing the causes of lost deals.
Growth comes from expanding scope: first managing several managers, then all sales channels, then taking part in company strategy. A sign of readiness is the ability to explain the commercial plan to finance and the owner, and to hold results when one channel stops working.
Next steps: Commercial Director, Head of Partnerships, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), Head of Business Development, Managing Director
FAQ
How is a Sales Director different from a Head of Sales?
The difference often depends on the company. A Head of Sales usually runs the sales function within an approved strategy, while a Sales Director may own the revenue strategy and channel selection as a whole. In small teams the roles overlap. When reading a job title, focus on the actual set of tasks and scope of responsibility.
Is nutra-specific experience required?
Nutra experience speeds up entry, since you already know platform restrictions and claim requirements, but it is not always mandatory. Employers value the ability to build B2B sales, manage a team, and work with risk. Industry specifics can be learned if you have systematic thinking and data skills.
What determines a Sales Director's income?
Income usually consists of a fixed salary and a bonus tied to achieving revenue and margin targets. The amount depends on company size, market complexity, channel stability, and how broad a scope the candidate takes on. Specific figures should be confirmed in job postings and interviews.
What are the risks of this role?
The main risk is dependence on channels: blocking of an ad platform or a bank refusing service can quickly reduce revenue. There is also legal risk if materials break advertising rules or health-claim requirements. A strong Sales Director builds backup channels in advance and gets materials approved by lawyers.
How should an employer write a job posting for this role?
The posting should state the scope: revenue, team, channels, and participation in strategy. It is important to describe experience with regulated or high-risk categories and with partner networks. Avoid promising results without understanding the market; instead, describe which metrics will be measured.
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