Overview

We are partnering with a fast-growing retail strategy and sales organization that helps leading consumer brands accelerate growth with the nation’s largest retailers.

The company combines deep retail relationships, sales strategy, account management, analytics, marketing, and operational expertise to help brands successfully navigate complex retail environments and drive measurable growth. Its team includes experienced retail merchants and consumer-products leaders who understand both sides of the retailer/vendor relationship.

They are looking to add an experienced Senior Sales professional to help lead and grow a portfolio of hardgoods brands within one of the country's largest national retailers.

This is a highly visible, entrepreneurial role combining strategic account management, sales leadership, business development, and hands-on execution. The right person will inherit existing relationships while identifying new products, brands, categories, and revenue opportunities.

The Opportunity

This position is ideal for someone who understands how major retailers operate and has a proven ability to grow consumer brands within that environment.

You'll work directly with brand partners and retail decision-makers to develop strategies that increase distribution, expand assortments, introduce new products, improve sell-through, and ultimately drive revenue growth.

This is not a traditional corporate sales environment with layers of approval and narrowly defined responsibilities. The organization operates with a relatively flat structure and gives strong performers significant autonomy and ownership.

Career progression is driven more by performance and impact than tenure, creating substantial upside for ambitious sales professionals who want to build their book of business and take on greater responsibility.

What You'll Be Doing

Strategic Retail Sales

  • Own sales strategy and execution for a portfolio of established and emerging consumer brands
  • Build and strengthen relationships with retail buyers, merchants, category leaders, and other key decision-makers
  • Understand retailer and brand objectives and develop strategies that create profitable growth for both sides
  • Identify opportunities to increase distribution, expand assortments, add SKUs, improve sell-through, and introduce new products
  • Develop and deliver compelling retailer presentations, line reviews, and sales proposals

Account Growth & Business Development

  • Manage and expand existing brand relationships while continuously identifying new revenue opportunities
  • Build a pipeline of new product, category, and brand opportunities based on retailer needs and market trends
  • Partner with internal business-development resources to evaluate and pursue new opportunities
  • Monitor competitive activity, emerging products, consumer trends, and category developments
  • Represent clients and the organization in key meetings, presentations, and industry events

Client & Retailer Strategy

  • Serve as a strategic advisor to consumer brands navigating a complex national retail environment
  • Translate retailer priorities, category trends, and market intelligence into actionable sales strategies
  • Develop creative solutions that produce mutually beneficial outcomes for brands and retail partners
  • Navigate negotiations and complex commercial conversations with confidence

Cross-Functional Leadership

  • Partner with Account Management, Finance, Analytics, Marketing, and other internal teams
  • Contribute to budgeting, forecasting, account planning, and monthly business reviews
  • Coordinate resources around major sales initiatives and product launches
  • Help create an entrepreneurial, collaborative, and performance-driven team environment

What We're Looking For

The strongest candidates will already understand the dynamics of selling consumer products into large national retail organizations.

We're particularly interested in people who have personally managed retailer relationships and can point to tangible examples of growing revenue through increased distribution, expanded assortments, new product introductions, additional SKUs, improved sell-through, or new category opportunities.

This is specifically focused on hardgoods and durable consumer products rather than food, beverage, or other consumable CPG categories.

Relevant categories may include:

  • Home and housewares
  • Kitchen products
  • Consumer electronics
  • Sporting goods
  • Toys
  • Seasonal products
  • Outdoor products
  • Durable consumer goods

Qualifications

Required

  • 2–5+ years of relevant retail sales experience, with more experienced candidates welcomed
  • Direct experience selling to or managing business with a major national retailer
  • Experience with hardgoods or other non-consumable consumer products
  • Demonstrated success growing revenue within major retail accounts
  • Experience managing and expanding existing business through distribution, assortment, SKU, or category growth
  • Strong sales, negotiation, presentation, and account-management capabilities
  • Ability to build relationships and influence stakeholders at multiple organizational levels
  • Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to identify and act quickly on new opportunities
  • Ability to operate independently while collaborating effectively across teams

Preferred

  • Direct experience managing business with a major mass merchant or big-box retailer
  • Existing relationships with retail buyers, merchants, or category leaders
  • Experience representing multiple consumer brands or product lines
  • Experience within a retail agency, manufacturer's representative, brokerage, or retail consulting environment
  • Combination of strategic account management and new-business development experience
  • Background working for a consumer-products manufacturer selling directly into major retail

Compensation & Career Growth

The company is flexible on level and title and will structure the opportunity around the experience and capabilities of the individual.

Typical base salary ranges include:

  • Senior Manager / Manager: Approximately $100,000–$120,000+
  • Director / Senior Director: Approximately $120,000–$150,000+
  • VP-Level Candidates: $150,000+ base

Annual incentive compensation will be structured based on the candidate's experience, responsibilities, and book of business. Longer-term opportunities may also include additional performance-based incentives and commission structures.

More important than fitting someone into a predetermined title, the organization is looking for high-performing sales professionals who can create meaningful revenue growth and take on increasingly significant responsibility.

Why This Opportunity

  • Join a rapidly growing organization with significant momentum in the retail industry
  • Work with leading consumer brands and major national retailers
  • Take meaningful ownership over accounts, strategy, and revenue growth
  • Highly entrepreneurial environment with limited bureaucracy
  • Flat organizational structure with direct access to senior leadership
  • Advancement based on performance and results rather than years of service
  • Opportunity to build and expand your own book of business
  • Strong internal resources across account management, analytics, finance, marketing, and retail strategy
  • Flexible seniority for the right candidate

Location & Work Environment

The company is headquartered in downtown Minneapolis and operates with a flexible hybrid model.

Wednesday is the primary in-office day, with additional office presence based on business needs, client/vendor meetings, collaboration, and other purposeful reasons to be together.

Sales professionals tend to spend more time in the office than some other functions, so candidates should live within reasonable commuting distance of Minneapolis and be comfortable coming onsite whenever the business warrants it.

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