CPG Recruiters
Sales, marketing, category, supply chain and operations leaders for consumer packaged goods brands and the manufacturers behind them.
Specialist recruitment for the consumer packaged goods industry
A vacant commercial leadership role in a CPG business costs more than the salary sitting on hold. The damage appears as missed distribution targets, under-managed retail accounts, stalled product launches, and a team stretched thin covering the gap while competitors press for market share. Every extra week of searching makes the vacancy more expensive, and the temptation grows to settle for a candidate who is available instead of one who is right. SundryHall is a CPG recruitment firm built to close that gap with precision, connecting consumer goods and retail businesses with the people who drive them.
We recruit exclusively within consumer goods and retail, so every search is handled by consultants who already understand how CPG companies make money: shelf placement, trade spend, category reviews, seasonality, and the pressure of quarterly sell-through. That context shapes how we scope a role, where we look for candidates, and how we judge whether someone can actually deliver in your environment and not just interview well.
That specialization matters most in the roles where commercial outcomes are decided. We partner with brand owners, private label manufacturers, distributors and retailers on searches across sales and national accounts, category management and insights, marketing and brand, supply chain and operations, and finance and general management. Whether the brief is a national account manager who can hold their own in a retailer negotiation, a category manager who can turn syndicated data into a persuasive range review, or a commercial director who can rebuild a route to market, the search is scoped against the commercial result you need rather than a generic job description.
Our process is built around that scoping conversation. Before any approach is made, we agree what success looks like in the first twelve months, which channels and customers the hire will own, and which parts of the brief are genuinely non-negotiable versus nice to have. We then work the market directly, approaching people who are performing in comparable categories and channels rather than relying on who happens to be applying. Candidates are assessed on evidence of delivery, not interview polish, and you receive a shortlist with a clear rationale for each name, including the risks as well as the strengths.
Most clients come to us after a search has stalled or a previous hire has not worked out, so we keep the engagement deliberately transparent. You get a named consultant, agreed timelines, regular market feedback on how your proposition is landing with the people you want, and honest advice when the brief or the package is the obstacle. If you have a commercial vacancy holding your business back, the fastest way forward is a short conversation about the role, the market and what it will realistically take to fill it.
What CPG recruiters actually do for your business
Generalist agencies tend to post your vacancy and forward whatever arrives. Specialist consumer packaged goods recruiters work differently. We map the market before a single candidate is contacted, identifying who is performing well in comparable roles at peer businesses, who is realistically open to a move, and what it will take in compensation, scope, and trajectory to attract them. That intelligence often reshapes the brief itself, because it tells you what the market will bear before you commit to a specification.
That distinction is critical in the CPG industry, where the strongest commercial leaders are rarely active on job boards. They are embedded in current roles, delivering results, and reachable only through a trusted talent network built over repeated searches in the same categories. Our work is to open that door, manage the conversation discreetly so neither side is exposed, and present a shortlist of qualified candidates instead of a volume of résumés for you to filter yourself.
In practice, that means a specialist CPG recruitment partner takes responsibility for the parts of hiring that internal teams rarely have the bandwidth to do well: benchmarking salary and bonus structures against live market data, pressure-testing whether the role as written is attractive to the people you actually want, approaching passive candidates individually rather than at scale, and staying close to both parties through offer, notice period, and start date. The outcome you should expect is fewer candidates, better matched, and a hiring decision you can make with confidence rather than compromise.
Roles and functions we recruit across CPG
We support CPG talent acquisition across the functions where hiring decisions carry the greatest commercial weight. The areas below are a selection of our coverage, not an exhaustive catalog, so if your need sits outside what is shown, get in touch and we will give you a straight answer on whether we can help.
Sales and commercial leadership
We place senior sales, account management, and national account leaders who can grow distribution, defend shelf space, and manage key retail relationships through the annual category review cycle. These are the people who sit across the table from the buyer, so we assess them on the strength of their customer relationships, their trade spend discipline, and their ability to hold margin while still winning the listing.
Brand marketing and category management
Our brand marketing and category management searches run from manager through to director level, including candidates with direct category captain experience and a track record of turning shopper insight into retail listings. We look for marketers who can work the full picture: brand positioning and campaign work on one side, and the syndicated data, planogram logic, and range reviews that decide what actually reaches the shelf on the other.
Supply chain and operations
We recruit supply chain, logistics, and manufacturing leaders who understand the cost-to-serve and service-level pressures that consumer goods companies face when retail customers penalize late or incomplete delivery. Typical briefs cover demand planning, procurement, distribution, and plant leadership, and we screen for people who have run these functions through genuine disruption rather than only in steady conditions.
Product development and quality
We source product development, innovation, and quality professionals who can move a concept from brief to shelf on schedule and hold quality standards through scale-up. That includes R&D and formulation specialists, packaging and regulatory talent, and quality and food safety leaders who keep compliance intact as volumes rise and production moves between sites or co-manufacturers.
Executive and C-Suite appointments
Our CPG executive recruiters handle confidential searches for senior vice president roles, chief marketing officers, and board-level appointments where discretion is as important as reach. These searches are often run quietly while an incumbent is still in the role, so we manage approach, shortlisting, and reference work in a way that protects both the client and the candidate until an offer is agreed.
Who we work with
Our clients are hiring managers, HR and talent acquisition leaders, founders, and executives at consumer-facing businesses across the United States. We work with traditional CPG manufacturers in food and beverage, beauty and personal care, and household products, alongside e-commerce and D2C challengers, wholesalers, and distributors. The mix ranges from established brands filling a single pivotal seat to younger businesses building their first proper leadership layer.
In each case the brief is broadly the same: find leadership talent with genuine industry experience, a proven track record, and the cultural fit to perform inside your specific organization. The definition of "right" changes from a family-owned food manufacturer to a venture-backed D2C brand, and our role is to understand that difference before we start approaching candidates, not after the first round of interviews fails.
That understanding comes from the questions we ask upfront: how decisions actually get made, who the new hire will need to influence without authority, what the first twelve months look like, and where previous hires into the role struggled. The answers shape the search far more than a job description does.
Our search process
Every engagement follows a structured search process built for quality, speed and transparency, so you always know where the search stands, who has been approached and what happens next. Each assignment is led by a consultant who works your market every day, and the six steps below describe how a typical CPG search runs from first briefing call to signed offer.
Role scoping and brief
We define the mandate with you in detail, covering responsibilities, reporting lines, compensation and the company culture the hire must fit. We also agree the practical parameters of the search up front: target companies to approach, any businesses that are off limits, the interview process and timeline, and the handful of criteria that genuinely decide who gets hired. A sharp brief at this stage is what makes a short, relevant shortlist possible later.
Market mapping and talent intelligence
We map the relevant talent pool across direct competitors and adjacent businesses, identifying who sits in equivalent roles, how their teams are structured and who is realistically approachable. Alongside the map we share salary benchmarking and market insight, so the brief can be sharpened before outreach begins. If the package or the specification is out of step with the market, you hear it from us at this point rather than three months into a stalled search.
Sourcing and headhunting
As CPG headhunters, we approach candidates directly and discreetly through our sector network, our database and targeted outreach to the mapped longlist. Most of the strongest people in consumer goods are not applying to advertised roles, so the search is driven by direct approach rather than inbound applications. Where a role is confidential, your brand is only disclosed once a candidate has been qualified and has agreed to confidentiality.
Screening and assessment
We interview and assess candidates against the agreed brief, testing industry expertise, leadership capability, commercial track record and sincere motivation for the move. Just as importantly, we probe the practical factors that derail offers late on: notice periods, location and travel, compensation expectations and any live processes elsewhere. Only candidates who stand up to that scrutiny progress.
Shortlist and interviews
You receive a focused shortlist with clear written profiles setting out each candidate's experience, motivation and fit against the brief, rather than a long list of résumés to sift. We then coordinate the interview process end to end, managing scheduling, briefing candidates properly and keeping communication open and direct on both sides. After every stage we gather structured feedback from you and the candidate, so the search keeps calibrating as it runs.
Offer management and aftercare
We manage the negotiation through to a signed offer, handling compensation discussions, start dates and expectations so neither side is negotiating blind. Once the offer is accepted we stay in contact through resignation and onboarding, protecting the placement through the period when counter-offers most often land and supporting the candidate into the first months in the role.
Engagements can be structured on contingent, retained or exclusive terms depending on the seniority, confidentiality and urgency of the role. Confidential or board-level searches generally suit a retained approach, where dedicated time and a committed timeline matter most, while a contingent structure can work well for a single mid-senior hire. We will tell you which model fits your assignment, and why, before you commit to anything.
Why CPG companies choose SundryHall
Hiring in consumer packaged goods is unlike hiring anywhere else. Product cycles move quickly, retailer relationships are hard-won, and a single commercial or supply chain appointment can shape a brand's performance for years. SundryHall exists to make those appointments easier to get right. Here is what clients tell us sets our work apart.
Deep sector focus
We recruit only in consumer goods and retail, so our understanding of CPG business models, seasonality, and commercial pressure is built into every search from the first scoping call. That means we arrive already fluent in the language of your business (category management, trade spend, route to market, own-label versus branded dynamics) rather than learning it at your expense. When you describe the role, you spend the conversation on what makes it distinctive, not on explaining the fundamentals of the sector.
Quality of shortlist over volume
We would rather present three candidates who fit the critical role than thirty who roughly match the job title, because your time is spent deciding, not filtering. Every person we put forward has been spoken to in depth, assessed against the specific commercial and cultural requirements of the brief, and briefed properly on the opportunity so their interest is genuine. A short, considered shortlist is not a sign of a smaller search: it is the result of a wider one, with the filtering already done.
Discretion in senior searches
Confidential leadership appointments are handled with care, protecting both your organization and the sitting candidates we approach on your behalf. Whether you are replacing an incumbent who is still in the role, exploring a new function before it is announced internally, or testing the market ahead of a restructure, the search is managed quietly and on a need-to-know basis. Candidates in senior CPG roles are often well known to your competitors and customers, so we approach them in a way that protects their position as carefully as it protects yours.
Long-term partnership
We invest in relationships with clients and candidates alike, which is why much of our work comes from businesses that have hired through us before and candidates who later return as clients. Those long-running relationships give us a practical advantage: we already understand how your teams are structured, how decisions get made, and the kind of person who succeeds in your environment. Each search builds on the last, so the process gets faster and the fit gets sharper over time.
Frequently asked questions
What types of roles do you recruit for?
We focus on managerial, leadership, and executive-level permanent roles across commercial, operational, and corporate functions in consumer goods and retail. That includes sales and account leadership, marketing and brand management, category and insights, supply chain and operations, finance, and HR, the positions that shape how a business performs rather than simply how it staffs up.
We do not recruit for entry-level, staff-level, or temporary positions. That boundary is deliberate: it keeps our attention on the hires that carry the most weight for your business, and it keeps our market knowledge deep rather than broad. If your need falls outside that scope, we will say so upfront and decline a search we are not built to fill well.
How do you find candidates who are not looking?
Most of the people we place are passive candidates (identified through structured market mapping and our established sector network rather than a job job posting). Before outreach begins, we build a picture of who holds the relevant role at comparable businesses, how their teams are structured, and where the genuine fits sit.
Industry expertise counts here, because credible outreach to a sitting vice president of sales requires a consultant who can speak knowledgeably about their category, their competitors, and why the opportunity on the table is worth a conversation. Generic approaches get ignored, and they can damage your employer brand with exactly the people you most want to impress.
What does an engagement cost?
Fees depend on the search model, the seniority of the appointment, and the scope of the mandate. We are transparent about terms from the outset and will recommend the structure, contingent, retained, or exclusive that best fits the role, even when another option would suit us better.
In practice, contingent search tends to suit roles with a wide candidate pool, while retained and exclusive models are better matched to confidential, specialist, or board-level appointments where depth of mapping and committed consultant time matter more than speed alone. We will explain the trade-offs clearly so you can make the call with full information.
Do you support multi-hire projects?
Yes. We run multi-hire campaigns for managerial and professional roles when CPG brand owners are building out sales teams, launching new divisions, or expanding into a new region, applying the same screening standards across every hire so quality does not drop as headcount rises.
Multi-hire work is coordinated as a single project with one point of contact, consistent assessment criteria, and shared reporting on pipeline progress, so you can see at any point how each role is tracking rather than chasing updates search by search.
Start a conversation with our CPG team
If you have a critical role to fill, or you are planning a hire and want a view of the market first, we are happy to talk. Whether you are replacing a departing leader, building a new function, or simply testing what the talent landscape looks like before you commit to a search, an early conversation costs you nothing and usually sharpens the brief.
SundryHall works from offices in Atlanta, GA, Marlborough, MA, Parsippany, NJ, and Cheyenne, WY, serving consumer packaged goods and retail clients across the United States. That footprint means we can meet you where your business is, whether that is a headquarters, a manufacturing site, a distribution hub, or a remote-first leadership team.
Call us at +1 888-202-9809, email [email protected], or tell us about the role through our talent request form. It helps if you can share the title, the reporting line, the location, and what success looks like in the first year, but if you only have a rough outline, that is fine too. We will shape it with you.
We will give you a straight answer on how we can help, what a realistic timeline looks like, and whether we are the right search partner for the brief. If we are not the right fit, we will say so rather than take on a search we do not believe we can deliver.
Brief us on the role you need to fill
Tell us about the position, the location and the timeline. A consultant who works your sector will follow up to talk through how we would run the search.