Director of Sales, Run & Outdoor Specialty - Merrell

Current employees, please apply in Workday.

At Merrell, we exist to give every person what they need to discover the simple power of being outside—regardless of shape, size, race, ability, or experience level. For over four decades, we’ve crafted quality footwear with our eyes fixed on comfort, design, durability, and whatever is waiting for us just outside our front doors.
Wolverine Worldwide is a Great Place To Work® Certified™ company, underscoring its commitment to prioritizing employee experience and cultivating an amazing company culture across its U.S. operations. The Great Place To Work Certification distinguishes employers that prioritize employee experience, based on employees’ survey feedback on trust, camaraderie, and appreciation in the workplace
The Director of Specialty Sales will lead Merrell’s US Wholesale Specialty business, overseeing sales across Run Specialty, Outdoor Specialty, and Sneaker shops. This role manages a multi-region team, sets strategic direction to grow accounts to modernize hike, expand trail run, and boost lifestyle segments, all while building strong customer relationships. Success requires inspirational leadership, selling with data-driven insights, executing impactful sales strategies, and strong executive presence and presentation skills.

Primary Duties:

• Strategically cultivate new accounts to penetrate new markets, targeting those with greatest impact, while seeking opportunities to expand business with existing accounts; overseeing development and maintaining business relationships with customers.

• Lead the development of sales, distribution, and customer relations management strategies for the US wholesale business.

• Build strong partnerships as an influential strategic business leader across the Merrell and brand including driving global alignment and direction on our business planning with financial partners, regional leads, product, marketing and planning teams.

• Drive revenue and profitability through in-depth wholesaler knowledge, account and margin analysis, detailed progress reviews and creative thinking.

• Guide research and competitive analysis; interpret relevant trends and communicate to internal partners, where appropriate.

• Collaborate with product and merchandising on the development of line plan, in context of larger assortment and cost structure; review and approve seasonal business proposals for each customer.

• Collaboratively devise and articulate brand positioning and key strategic initiatives for brand, where appropriate; strategize optimal placement in store, including, where applicable, in-store shops.

• Deliver recommendations to executives in a dynamic business that requires robust analysis and documentation, clear and crisp communication of key insights and formulates action plans.

• Lead regular review of shipments and orders, sales and stock levels, merchandising and markdowns with Account Executives and Agents.

• Oversee communications and feedback between customers and internal partners in Sales, Design, Production and retail coordinators.

• Lead the development of the channel’s annual sales budget and regional and key account sales plans.

• Work with internal and external resources to develop and manage the brand’s go-to-market strategies, programs and assets.

• Communicates brand vision and strategy with impact to all relevant customers.

• Lead internal and external teams in the development of tools that support sales and distribution strategies and programs to meet or exceed established sales plans.

• Continually build and develop a high-performance team that consistently meet or exceed expectations by ensuring appropriate training and feedback and increasing the commercial aptitude of the team.

• Collaborate with the brand’s marketing team to help develop and execute sales and marketing programs to key retailers and deliver a strong return on co-op dollars.

• Collaborate with the brand’s product creation team to develop global product assortment and comprehensive sales programs and materials to support the launch of each seasonal product line.

• Lead the development and execution of a plan to consistently and objectively measure the effectiveness of the brand’s sales programs and investments.

• Performs duties consistent with the company’s AAP/EEO goals and policies.

• Performs other duties as required/assigned by manager

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field or equivalent work experience.

• 10+ years of sales experience in wholesale footwear, with at least 3 years of people management experience.

• Deep understanding of the competitive footwear landscape, with proven experience in Run Specialty, Outdoor Specialty and Sneaker channels

• A track record of driving sales growth, through inspiring and building high performance teams across the US while managing cross-channel partnerships.

• Strong negotiation skills and ability to identify win-win solutions.

• Proven history of building & inspiring a high-performing sales teams, with excellence in recruiting, engaging, and unlocking sales reps and agents potential (both internal and independent).

• Demonstrated ability to act as a change agent, driving continuous process improvements and introducing best practices across the organization in support of better outcomes.

• The ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships both internally and externally.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including a high comfort level with public speaking and presenting with impact.

• A strong collaborator able to work well in cross-functional organizations at all levels within multiple parts of the organization.

• The ability to multi-task, combining strategy and execution; and a willingness to step in to get the job done.

• Proficient in MS Office (word, excel, power point, etc.)

• A track record of effectively working to a budget and measuring results.

Working Conditions:

Position may be remote. Normal office & field environment.  Travel required.

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Salary Minimum

$164,000.00

Salary Maximum

$215,250.00

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills which may be required.

Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. is committed to creating a company that is as diverse as our consumers. We value the differences in one another and believe our differences make us stronger. Our diverse and inclusive corporate culture starts with the recruitment process. We are committed to being an equal opportunity employer. We aim to create equal opportunities for our associates, customers, and suppliers regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other legally protected characteristic.