Chinese/English Territory Sales Manager

Chinese/English Bilingual Sales Territory Manager

A well-established international food importer and distributor is seeking a Chinese/English Bilingual Sales Territory Manager to grow its Houston-area business. This is a hands-on, customer-facing leadership role focused on developing the sales team, expanding revenue, strengthening restaurant relationships, and introducing premium Japanese and Asian food products to Vietnamese and other foodservice customers.

The strongest candidate will bring B2B food distribution or restaurant-supply sales experience, business-level fluency in Chinese and English, and the ability to lead a sales team while remaining actively involved with customers, orders, deliveries, collections, and account issues.

Location: Houston, TX

Schedule: Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.; occasional weekends or after-hours events

Work Setting: Onsite and field-based with frequent customer travel

Role Type: Direct hire

Compensation: $75,000-$85,000 annually, plus sales incentives

Benefits

• Employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance for employees and eligible dependents
• Life insurance
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
• Sales incentive opportunities
• Company vehicle for approved business travel

Responsibilities

• Lead, direct, coach, and motivate the sales team to achieve monthly and annual revenue goals.
• Establish sales expectations, quotas, priorities, and account-development plans.
• Analyze sales performance and customer activity, identify performance gaps, and implement corrective action plans.
• Develop existing accounts and pursue new restaurant, foodservice, wholesaler, distributor, and hospitality customers throughout the Houston market.
• Visit customers and prospects to present products, understand menu and operational needs, provide samples or product information, and secure sales.
• Build trusted relationships with restaurant owners, chefs, purchasing contacts, and other customer decision-makers.
• Promote Japanese and Asian food products, including seafood, frozen and refrigerated products, dry goods, beverages, liquor, equipment, and restaurant supplies.
• Educate customers on product applications, quality, preparation, menu fit, availability, and business value.
• Support pricing discussions, contract negotiations, promotions, and customer-specific sales programs.
• Monitor sales forecasts, product demand, shortages, and limited-availability inventory in coordination with purchasing and management.
• Work closely with purchasing, warehouse, logistics, accounting, and customer-service teams to ensure accurate order processing and dependable distribution.
• Coordinate urgent deliveries or order adjustments when needed to support customer operations.
• Support timely payment collection by maintaining customer communication and partnering with accounting.
• Resolve service, product, order, and delivery issues promptly and escalate significant concerns when appropriate.
• Maintain accurate customer, order, pipeline, and sales activity information in company systems.
• Conduct regular sales meetings, performance reviews, coaching sessions, and account-planning discussions.
• Safely operate and maintain a company vehicle in accordance with company policy.
• Participate in semiannual inventory counts, which may occasionally occur on a weekend.
• Attend company events, trade functions, customer meetings, or training outside normal business hours when required.
• Travel locally and occasionally outside the Houston market for customer meetings, training, or company business.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Business-level Chinese and English communication skills required.
• Successful B2B sales experience involving food, foodservice, restaurant supplies, wholesale distribution, hospitality, or a closely related market.
• Experience leading, coaching, or directing sales employees and driving team performance.
• Demonstrated ability to achieve revenue, quota, account-growth, or new-business objectives.
• Ability to build relationships with restaurant owners, chefs, purchasing contacts, and independently operated businesses.
• Valid driver’s license and clean driving record.
• Ability and willingness to drive for a substantial portion of the workday.
• Strong customer-service, problem-solving, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with purchasing, warehouse, logistics, accounting, and management.
• Strong organization, follow-through, and attention to order and customer details.
• Working knowledge of pricing, markups, discounts, inventory counts, weights, measurements, and product quantities.
• Basic proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Outlook, Word, and Excel.
• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Ability to work independently while supporting a team-oriented environment.
• Ability to adapt to changing customer priorities, inventory availability, assignments, and workload.
• Ability to frequently lift up to 25 pounds and occasionally lift up to 40 pounds.
• Ability to work in office, warehouse, restaurant, customer-site, and travel environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Associate degree, bachelor’s degree, or equivalent business experience.
• Sales-management experience in foodservice distribution, Asian food distribution, restaurant supply, seafood, produce, beverage, or wholesale grocery.
• Knowledge of Japanese foods, ingredients, beverages, liquor, and restaurant applications.
• Experience selling to Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or other Asian restaurant operators.
• Experience with ERP or CRM systems, especially Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
• Additional proficiency in Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean, or another Asian language.