At Butternut Box, we put the food back into dog food. We believe dogs deserve to eat the healthiest, most natural and tastiest food - without any nasties. That’s why we make freshly prepared dog food, cooked like you would at home and delivered in perfect portions.As a B-Corp certified company, we’re committed to sustainability and making a positive impact on our customers, our people, and the planet. Since launching in the UK in 2016, we’ve expanded rapidly across Europe, including Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland.
We’re on a mission to help dogs live happier, healthier and longer lives - and we need brilliant people to make that happen. Direct Sales has been at the heart of Butternut Box’s growth since 2018.
📣 A bit about the role
Direct Sales is one of the key growth channels for the company in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. We are now excited about the plan to implement a Direct Sales team in Italy. We are looking for a Direct Sales Manager to join us at this early and exciting part of our journey, building our brand presence and sharing the benefits of fresh food with pet parents across Italy. In this role you will be taking on responsibility for all of our Direct Sales activities across the nation as we look to drive new customer acquisitions.
This role will require you to lead from the front, selling in the field on a weekly basis whilst your team grows, prior to you creating a structure of trusted supervisors to allow you to step out of the field after 6 months. With that in mind, you should also see yourself as a natural & excellent salesperson, with an eye for identifying other top sellers & how to develop and train them as we grow!
‼️A bit more detail
In this role, you can expect to…
Sell at events in the first 3-6 months to understand the customer and sale cycle. During this period expect work to be across weekdays and some weekends initially.
Be a valued member of the Italian Leadership Team, carrying out values in everything we do
Work alongside and report into our Country Manager to build out our Sales strategy and grow this side of the Italian business in 2026 and beyond. You’ll also be able to call on the support of the Sales teams based in the The Netherlands, UK, Poland and Germany.
Build and develop a strong performing team of Brand Ambassadors, from interviews and onboarding to performance managing and team building.
Be an inspirational leader that is looking to build something special.
Own and optimise your metrics beyond sales. Lead key initiatives with your team, to improve KPIs
Build (half) yearly budgets in collaboration with the Country Manager to Set the strategic direction for your department and execute on it with confidence
Foster a great team atmosphere and culture
Put the customer first, ensuring every customer leaves with a smile on their face.
We will have a "playbook" as to how the business has grown in The Netherlands, Poland (and other markets) so far and we will be here to help. We do however expect that the Italian market and customers will be unique in ways we don't fully understand and there will be specific opportunities and challenges. We want you to have a vision as to how these opportunities can be realised and how challenges can be overcome.
🔎 A bit about you
You have extensive experience in Direct or Commercial sales with an interest in sales training/management
You are a confident budget owner with a keen interest in performance analysis and sales strategy
You have an entrepreneurial ‘do it’ mentality and are excited about the opportunity to build something special from scratch. If you’re looking for a pure strategy role, this isn’t it, this is sleeves-rolled-up leadership.
You have a passion and strong interest in leading and developing a team and successfully helping them grow
Reporting comes as second nature to you - excellent excel/google sheets skills.
You are organised and able to manage competing priorities effectively, for you and your team
You are a great communicator. You can sell your vision to your team, and the wider business and you are a great spokesmodel for your market.
You are passionate about start-ups and obsessed with dogs, just like us!
You are fluent in both Italian and English.
You possess a full Driving Licence
🐶 A bit about Butternut
At Butternut, we put the food back into dog food. We believe dogs deserve to eat the healthiest, most natural and tastiest food with none of the nasties. That’s why we make freshly prepared dog food. Cooked like you would at home. Delivered in perfect portions.
As a B-Corp certified company, you can be sure you are joining a sustainable company that cares about our people, product and our impact on the environment.
Our goal is to help dogs live healthier, happier and longer lives whilst leaving humans smiling after every interaction. We’ve come a long way since our co-founders (Kev & Dave) hand-delivered the first Butternut Box, we now feed a lot of dogs across the UK - but we want to feed dogs everywhere. And to do this, we need a team of brilliant people who share that ambition to come and work with us.
Are you up for the challenge?
‼️ A few things to note
Butternut Box is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity and inclusion. We welcome people of different nationalities, backgrounds, experiences, abilities and perspectives.
As our business has grown so has our responsibility to our community, our planet and our business. We are not perfect, but we are committed to doing business the right way and continually improving our social and environmental performance.
We're not afraid of putting extra weight on candidates from underrepresented groups. We want strong, diverse teams built from different backgrounds, experiences, and identities. We're ready for the ongoing work that goes into building an inclusive, supportive place for you to do the best work of your career.
We are not looking for external agency support with this role.