Area Sales Manager

About the Company

Sundays for Dogs is a founder-led pet food brand created to help dog owners spend more meaningful time with their dogs today and in the years ahead. The company produces human-grade, air-dried meals designed to support long, healthy lives. Its operating style emphasizes low ego, high ownership, candid feedback, inventive problem-solving, and doing more with fewer resources.

Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the business operates with a distributed team of 60 full-time employees across the United States. Although the team works remotely on a day-to-day basis, everyone comes together in person once every quarter because strong working relationships are valued. The company’s subscription-focused direct-to-consumer model is its core business, and it is now entering a new phase of growth with expanded products, innovation, and carefully chosen new channels.

Role Overview

This position will launch and grow a new field sales channel in Austin, Texas. The channel is community-oriented and built around real in-person conversations. The Area Sales Manager will establish the program from the ground up, hiring, training, and leading a team of 3 to 5 Brand Ambassadors who will speak with dog owners at farmers markets, community events, and other busy local venues.

The approach does not involve on-site inventory or product giveaways. Instead, the team will use samples that can be seen, smelled, and touched, along with iPad-based subscription sign-ups and authentic conversations that explain the value of Sundays for Dogs. This is a full-time role based in Austin and reports to the VP of Operations. It is an individual-contributor leadership role, meaning the person in the role will create the playbook, manage day-to-day execution, and ensure the team delivers results.

Key Responsibilities

• Recruit, train, schedule, and coach a team of 3 to 5 Brand Ambassadors so they consistently meet subscription sign-up goals at events across Austin.
• Plan the field sales calendar by researching, evaluating, and securing the right mix of venues, including farmers markets, dog parks, community festivals, and pop-ups.
• Oversee each activation on site so the setup is brand-aligned, fully staffed, and executed with the energy and credibility needed to convert interest into subscriptions.
• Monitor daily and weekly sign-up results, identify performance trends, and make fast adjustments to the pitch, positioning, and venue selection.
• Work closely with Operations, Growth, and Creative to keep messaging, sampling methods, and subscriber onboarding aligned between the in-person and digital experiences.
• Share observations and learnings from the Austin pilot market to help inform how the company scales the channel into additional cities.

What Success Looks Like

• By day 30, the team is hired and in training, the first events are scheduled, at least 2 activations have been completed, and there is an early read on venue quality and pitch effectiveness.
• By day 60, the weekly event rhythm is fully running, subscription targets are being met regularly, and the best venues and formats have been identified and prioritized.
• By day 90, a repeatable field playbook exists with clear standards for pitch, setup, and follow-through, and the ambassador team is stable and performing well. Early retention data from field-acquired subscribers is being tracked and reported.
• By month 6, the economics of the channel are understood, including CAC, subscriber quality, and early retention, and the Austin pilot has produced results that can be used as a model for future markets.

Qualifications

• Experience in field sales, direct sales, or a similarly high-volume customer-facing environment is required; you should be comfortable selling to strangers in a natural and effective way.
• Previous people management experience is required, including hiring, scheduling, and holding a team accountable to performance measures in a fast-paced setting.
• A hospitality or front-of-house mindset is important, with an understanding that energy, presence, and team culture directly affect operations.
• You should have strong instincts for territory or event management, including the ability to assess venues, read the room, and place resources where they will perform best.
• Comfort with data tracking and reporting is necessary so you can monitor metrics, identify patterns, and communicate performance clearly.
• Living in Austin and already knowing the local community or event landscape is a strong advantage.

Why Join Sundays for Dogs

The company is built by people who care deeply about dogs and the families who love them. The culture values psychological safety, direct conversation, and continuous learning. Team members are collaborative, curious, and interested in understanding how things work. Wins are celebrated together, setbacks are discussed openly, and mutual respect and humor are part of day-to-day life. Every decision is tied back to improving the lives of dogs and the people who care for them.

Benefits and Perks

• Unlimited paid time off, with trust given to take the time needed.
• Equity participation through the company’s equity program.
• 401(k) plan with employer matching contributions.
• Annual work-from-home stipend to support a productive setup.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage with the company paying 80% of the cost.
• Complimentary Sundays subscription for your dog.
• Parental leave and PAWrental leave for both human and pet family needs.
• Discounted pet insurance coverage.

Additional Information

This role is part of a pilot market in Austin, and the insights gathered will directly influence how the company expands the channel into other locations. The position is fully based in Austin and is intended for someone who can help build a repeatable, scalable field sales model from the ground up.