Head of International Sales – Casks & Brands

Senior International Sales Manager

A senior international sales role with a long-established and highly respected whisky business, split between its own brand portfolio and cask sales to the trade.

About The Business

Our client is one of the most established and respected names in the UK whisky trade, with decades of history and a strong reputation among collectors and trade partners alike. The business is performing very strongly right now and has a growing portfolio of its own bottlings and brands.

Alongside its brands, it runs a dedicated trade cask business, supplying casks to bottlers, retailers and drinks businesses around the world.

The Role

This role is a clean split between two areas of the business, both purely B2B.

1. The brand portfolio. You’ll build international distribution for the company’s own bottlings and brands through importers, distributors, specialist retailers and the on-trade.
2. Trade cask sales. You’ll sell casks to the trade worldwide, including independent bottlers, retailers and other drinks businesses.

Every customer is a trade partner, and the focus is on building long-term commercial relationships.

Key responsibilities

• Open and grow international markets for the company’s brand portfolio
• Identify, appoint and manage importers and distributors, and support them in building the brands
• Sell casks to independent bottlers, retailers and other trade buyers globally
• Develop and manage a pipeline of trade accounts, from first approach to repeat business
• Negotiate pricing and terms, and forecast sales across both brand and cask channels
• Represent the business at international trade shows, tastings and customer visits
• Monitor international market trends and feed insight back into the brand and buying plans

About You

You’re an experienced international salesperson with a trade network you can bring to the table.

You’re likely to bring:

• Proven experience in international whisky or premium spirits sales, B2B
• Strong relationships with importers, distributors, independent bottlers or specialist retailers
• Experience building brands in export markets, ideally alongside cask or bulk sales
• A good understanding of the cask market and independent bottling
• Strong negotiation skills and a commercial, self-starting approach
• The credibility to represent an established, highly regarded brand on the international stage
• A genuine passion for whisky

If this sounds like you but you don’t tick every box, we’d still like to hear from you.

Why This Role

Few businesses in whisky carry this kind of reputation and goodwill, and this one has real momentum right now. The role gives you a respected brand portfolio and a trade cask offer to take into international markets, with a clear B2B focus.