Company Description
At BrüMate, we are passionate about product design and innovation. We exist to enhance everyday moments and add a little bit of excitement to the things our customers love the most. Inspired by equal parts inventiveness and imagination, we are a crew of creative, fast-moving, ambitious, self-starters with a commitment to doing things differently. We obsess over the small details while relentlessly pursuing the bigger picture. Our operating style is fast-paced, innovative and team-oriented. By joining our team you will be empowered to make meaningful impacts across the organization alongside your peers.
Scope and Responsibilities
The Vice President of Sales will report to the Chief Financial Officer - Chief Operating Officer and will have direct oversight of BrüMate’ s commercial expansion into Retail, both in-store and online.
Under direction from the Chief Financial Officer - Chief Operating Officer and in partnership with the executive team, the Vice President will build a professional sales organization, defining the infrastructure (people and process), as well as the road map, to drive profitable growth and expansion. S/He will be entrepreneurial and fast-moving by nature and will be the key leader in the development and setting of the strategic sales plan, as well as the tactical execution plans, to support the planned growth and future business initiatives within retail.
The Vice President will be “hands on” in strategically planning, directing and overseeing all aspects of the company’s sales operations and will protect the unique integrity of the BrüMate brand with responsibility for meeting corporate sales expectations and/or exceeding sales goals to ensure the company’s overall growth across regions, customers and channels.
Key Responsibilities
- The Vice President of Sales will set the sales strategy for BrüMate. Drive the region/customer/channel P&L by overseeing the creation and execution of customer strategies and plans that support sales goals and deliver financial targets
- Define the key channels, partners and strategy to accelerate BrüMate’s strategic growth plan
- Develop a customer centric Sales strategy, working directly with Direct to Consumer partners and assisting the team in developing the annual sales plan/budget by customer, category, and SKU
- Create and execute on strategic plans to grow revenue and retail programs within key retailers and national accounts, regions, and channels of distribution (i.e. specialty, corporate, etc.)
- Bring a “Best in Aisle” track record and mentality to the table, ensuring that BrüMate outperforms competitive skus within the Retail brick and mortar and Ecommerce climates
- Manage Sales and Revenue forecasts and Expense budgets, lead channel segmentation and architect sales programs across multiple channels
- Results Oriented: lead and develop customer centric plans and programs to position BrüMate as a lifestyle category leader, to embody the brand identity and continue the cultivation of joining and being part of the BrüMate community. This will include pricing, assortment plans and in-store placement and presentation
- Analyze and evaluate changing market conditions and support management in developing short-term and long term sales strategies and business objectives to increase market share and increased lifestyle brand awareness
- Review roll-up of the P&L across customers/categories and have very clear sense of the financial performance versus plan – coordinate cross-functionally to adjust plans based on performance
- Define what success looks like within brick and mortar and digital store environments. Deliver in-store execution performance. Review competitive categories and new lifestyle brand products
- Oversee customer business reviews and category performance presentations, ensuring that there are impactful category insights from recent consumer data
- Actively look for business development opportunities and white space for product extensions and coordinate approach accordingly (e.g., private label, cross-business/channel) – should have an entrepreneurial and creative mindset
- Manage business complexities, fragmented coverage across categories, competitive product categories, and brand extension
- Evaluate, build, and deploy team resources/talent to maximize effective business plan delivery (i.e., how to separate category, customer, regional resources, etc.); Lead team members to execute against annual plans with assigned customers/channels/categories
- Collaborate with the executive team to create brand affinity, identify opportunities for sales process involvement and category expansion
- Bring a strong financial acumen and discipline to the role, establishing high levels of quality, accuracy, and process consistency in the planning, forecasting, and budgeting process. Cascade outcomes and key metrics to organization based on overall unit KPIs, metrics (e.g., customer/category specific metrics
- Build a high performing team in as an entrepreneurial and collaborative leader with a “roll up the sleeves” owner mentality
- Work with sales team to understand customers’ organizational decision-making structure, opportunity for line extension and plan customer touchpoints accordingly
- Provide leadership and coaching to the sales team for individual and team development through personal demonstration of sales performance, direction, coaching, mentoring, and planning in order to increase sales team performance
- Build and maintain strong entrepreneurial and creative culture within team, setting clear objectives for the team and individual team members
- Identify, recruit, and retain a balanced and diverse sales team based on skill set, experience, and role fit supported by relevant knowledge, skills, cultural fit, and experience
- Provide the foundation for team effectiveness by creating and maintaining team processes and strong execution in an entrepreneurial high growth culture
- Build strong relationships, manage executive level relationships within the retail networks to maximize brand awareness and sales performance; cultivate and manage deep, strategic, and profitable relationships with customers and key retailers
- Work collaboratively with Product Teams to meet expectations of customers; play a lead role in product road-mapping and line extensions
Key Selection Criteria
The Vice President of Sales will be an individual whose career started in a CPG "academy" and has proven success of translating their CPG upbringing into a more entrepreneurial environment. S/He must bring a mix of large and medium size company experience, perhaps augmented by additional experience in private equity backed businesses. This individual should possess a practical hands-on approach to delivering consistent results. Importantly, this individual will be a team player who can relate well with those s/he manages, as well as the existing management team and founders.
The successful candidate will be a seasoned executive with at least 15 years of business experience, including at least 3 - 5 years leading a business, division, or region. S/He must have strong people leadership and general management skills and a proven track record of leading a complex, multi-faceted sales organization. A track record of profitably growing a business through market expansion is highly desirable and experience in a Private Equity environment with a successful transaction.
The Vice President must possess a strong business acumen with a demonstrated track record as a transformative sales leader who has developed key retail accounts in various channels of distribution, including mass, specialty, department store, discounters, sporting goods, corporate, and e-retailers such as Amazon.
The Vice President must have strong diplomacy skills, courage of his/her convictions and the confidence to proactively address issues, challenge the status quo and develop solutions. S/He will be a highly communicative, engaging, and collaborative leader who regularly and proactively communicates with cross-functional partners to influence and provide strategic leadership for the company as a whole and gain buy-in and alignment, when necessary. The Vice President must bring an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, data-driven mindset, and unwavering commitment to customer service excellence. S/He will bring extensive experience establishing, overseeing, and driving programs that will deliver the Company’s ambitious goals. S/He should be an optimist with a winning track record.
Additional Selection Criteria
- Proven track record of success as a strategic thought leader, including a track record of exceeding sales targets and strategic alignment with retailers and the development and management of a national sales team
- Successful growth of lifestyle design-oriented product line in a more upscale category
- Experience in a less resourced entrepreneurial design driven company highly desired
- Exceptional leadership, presentation, strategy development, communication and influencing skills
- A keen sales consultant-type approach to building relationships and programs to grow the business
- Highly organized with high energy level and strong negotiation skills
- Experience driving brand expansion and further enhancing brand recognition
- Experience in a lifestyle brand with a preference for marketing Outdoor / Specialty
- International sales leadership experience
- Experience in an early stage company with innovative products
- Previous experience scaling a business to a strategic transaction
Education
Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration; MBA preferred.