Director of Sales & Channel Strategy

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary leader for all retail headquarter interactions across pet specialty, mass, and independent channels.
• Build and nurture relationships at all levels of retail organizations: merchants, directors, VPs, marketing, operations, replenishment, finance, and supply chain.
• Lead line reviews, joint business planning (JBP), strategic account planning, and quarterly business reviews.
• Grow distribution, secure new listings, expand assortment, and drive in-store and digital activation programs.

• Establish clear KPIs tied to execution, distribution, sales velocity, promo performance, and field reporting.
• Hold brokers accountable for results, while equipping them with the tools, data, and direction needed for success.
• Conduct recurring meetings, market visits, and business reviews to ensure consistent performance.

• Deliver annual and quarterly revenue goals across retail and ecommerce channels.
• Own channel-specific strategies, price ladders, MAP compliance, trade optimization, and promo planning.
• Lead customer-level P&Ls, forecasting, planning, and commercial decision-making.
• Identify and close growth opportunities across assortment, placement, and activation.

• Partner with Operations and Marketing to generate new product ideas informed by retail insights and market trends.
• Build sell-in ready, commercially compelling materials:
  • sell decks
  • pricing strategies
  • category insights
  • competitive context
  • promotional & launch plans
• Ensure new items are retail-ready from a packaging, claims, and operational standpoint.
• Align internal and external stakeholders to drive successful retail launches.

• Define long-term, segmented channel strategies for brick and mortar, ecommerce, and emerging channels.
• Over time, assume full ownership of ecommerce (Amazon, Chewy, retailer.com, DTC).
• Evaluate and recommend channel expansion opportunities based on margin, operational feasibility, and brand strategy.
• Ensure healthy guardrails: margin structure, freight considerations, supply chain readiness, and brand consistency.

• Collaborate with Marketing on integrated go-to-market, performance campaigns, retail media, and in-store activation.
• Ensure campaigns align with retailer objectives, category trends, and shopper behavior.
• Inform creative development—claims, packaging, hero images, A+ content, merchandising strategies.

• Support S&OP inputs including demand forecasting, promo lifts, new item ramps, and supply alignment.
• Manage pricing, deductions, and trade accruals in partnership with Finance.
• Build dashboards and reporting cadences across sell-in, sell-through, OTIF, inventory health, and retail media performance.
• Use data tools to drive decisions.

• Mentor a high-performance team on the broker team of account managers and key account leads.
• Foster cross-functional alignment across Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, and Leadership.
• Model a “getting to yes,” solution-oriented, collaborative approach across the organization and with partners.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• 8–12+ years in CPG sales, key account management, or channel strategy (pet preferred; adjacent CPG accepted).
• Deep experience owning brick-and-mortar retail HQ relationships.
• Demonstrated success managing a broker network and driving KPI accountability.
• Strong sales foundation: commercial planning, forecasting, pricing, P&L ownership.
• Familiarity with ecommerce (Amazon, Chewy, retail.com); ability to scale into full ownership.
• Proven operator with strong relationship-building, negotiation, and communication skills.
• Entrepreneurial mindset suited for a high-growth, scrappy environment.
• Ability to travel 50%.

Benefits