Custom & Brand Partnerships Sales Manager

Custom & Brand Partnerships Sales Manager

HydroJug · Custom & Etched Products Channel

Title: Custom & Brand Partnerships Sales Manager

Department: Sales / Brand Partnerships

Reports To: VP of Sales

Type: Full-Time

Location: Ogden UT (On-Site)

About HydroJug

HydroJug is a family-owned consumer hydration brand with a rapidly growing retail footprint spanning Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, Academy, Scheels, Anthropologie, DSW, Maverik, and Costco Canada. Beyond our retail business, HydroJug has built a meaningful custom and branded products channel — creating co-branded and etched hydration products for partners including Ghost Energy, Maverik, Magnolia, Rylee & Cru, Binky Bros, Victoria's Secret, and many others. This channel sits at the intersection of sales and brand marketing, and we are ready to pour gas on it.

The Opportunity

This is a new, dedicated role — the first person hired specifically to own and grow the HydroJug custom and branded products business. We have proven the model works. We have a client list that demonstrates what's possible. What we need now is someone who can take this from a strong ancillary channel to a scaled business unit in its own right.

This role is equal parts sales and marketing. You are not just selling a product — you are selling a brand moment. Every custom HydroJug that goes into a retail gift shop, corporate gifting program, brand activation, or co-branded launch is a marketing play for our partners and a distribution win for us. The right person understands both sides of that equation.

What You'll Own

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

• Identify, prospect, and close new custom and branded product partnerships across retail, hospitality, CPG, wellness, entertainment, and lifestyle brands
• Build and manage a pipeline of inbound and outbound opportunities — from initial contact through signed agreement and first order
• Develop tiered outreach strategies targeting both enterprise brand partnerships and emerging/boutique accounts
• Represent HydroJug at trade shows, industry events, and brand activations where partnership opportunities exist

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

• Own the full relationship for custom accounts from onboarding through reorder — you are their person at HydroJug
• Drive repeat business and expand wallet share within existing accounts by identifying new product opportunities and seasonal moments
• Proactively bring ideas to partners — colorways, limited runs, co-branded campaigns — not just respond to inbound requests
• Manage client timelines, artwork approvals, and production coordination in partnership with our ops and creative teams

MARKETING & BRAND THINKING

• Approach every partnership as a brand marketing play — understand why a brand wants their logo on a HydroJug and make that story compelling
• Identify partnership categories where HydroJug has disproportionate brand fit and build a go-to-market approach for each
• Collaborate with HydroJug's marketing and creative teams to develop partnership assets, case studies, and pitch materials
• Track competitive activity and bring market intelligence back to the broader team

OPERATIONS & REPORTING

• Own your forecast — work with the sales planner to keep custom channel projections accurate and updated
• Maintain clean CRM records and pipeline hygiene
• Report weekly on pipeline, activity, and closed business to the VP of Sales
• Communicate clearly with ops on custom order timelines, inventory needs, and production windows

What We're Looking For

EXPERIENCE

• 3–7 years of B2B sales experience — branded merchandise, custom products, licensing, co-branded partnerships, or promotional products strongly preferred
• Track record of building a pipeline from scratch and closing new business — not just managing inherited accounts
• Experience selling to brand, marketing, or retail buying teams — you understand their language and their objectives
• Familiarity with consumer products, apparel, or lifestyle brands is a meaningful plus

SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES

• Hunter mentality — you are energized by finding and closing new business, not just maintaining relationships
• Creative commercial thinker — you can see a partnership opportunity where others see a cold call list
• Strong communicator and presenter — you can walk into a room with a brand's marketing team and hold your own
• Organized and self-directed — this is a high-autonomy role and you manage your own time and pipeline
• Genuine curiosity about brands, trends, and what makes a product resonate — you care about the cultural side of this business
• Collaborative — you work fluidly with creative, ops, and leadership to get deals closed and clients served

Compensation & Structure

HydroJug offers a competitive base salary plus commission structure tied directly to new business closed and channel revenue. We believe in paying well for performance and in building compensation that scales with the business you build. Details discussed during the interview process.

This role has genuine upside. The custom channel is early in its scaled development. The person who builds it will have built something real — and will be compensated accordingly.

Why HydroJug

• Family-owned business that moves fast and makes decisions — no committee approvals for every pitch
• A brand with real retail credibility and a co-branded client list that opens doors
• A channel that is genuinely early — you are building, not inheriting
• Leadership that is invested in this role and will be a resource, not an obstacle
• Products people actually love — selling something you can stand behind matters