Director, North America Retail Sales

Reporting to the VP, North America Retail Sales, the Director, North America Retail Sales, will be responsible for leading & executing retail sales strategies for Target and select mid-tier, department, and specialty retailers. This role will establish the strategic priorities and growth strategies for assigned retailers and partner with category, brand and marketing teams to ensure the team is positioned to deliver the retail sales AOP targets and a sustained growth trajectory in alignment with category and brand priorities.

Key priorities will include cultivating strong partnerships with assigned retailers, developing and executing retail programs. Strong collaboration is key in this role, given close partnership with category, brand, marketing, retail creative and product development teams to identify exclusives, placements and in-store experiences to optimize the retail strategy. The key to success will be providing strong and engaging leadership, mobilizing talent and ensuring the teams are operationalizing the strategies and the culture represents an organization that operates with pace and executes with excellence.

This role is temporarily remote until the office location is opened in Minneapolis.

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

Retail & Account Management

• Establish and own relationships both internally and externally.
• Drive annual retailer planning, pitch development, and presentations aligned to Category and Brand strategic objectives.
• Build strategies, expanding digital partnerships, and integrating insights to create seamless, connected consumer journeys.
• Secure retailer commitments to support merchandise and go-to-market strategies.
• Execute campaigns and monitor KPIs.
• Responsible for ensuring consistent, proactive internal communication of retail needs/feedback to internal business teams.
• Leverage data and insights to identify market share gaps, white space opportunities across, channel, category and brand, deploying resources against material and scalable initiatives.
• Unlock new opportunities in partnership with marketing to secure and execute campaigns aligned with category and brand priorities.
  
  

Financial Accountability

• Meet and exceed annual revenue targets.
• Develop long term plan and annual budget, committing to its delivery and execution. Set clear targets that underpin overall market share growth and integrate local market macro trends and consumer insights.
• Monitor category performance and brand health from sell-in to sell-through and provide actionable insights to inform category approach.
• Close partnership with retail analytics to ensure financial accuracy on forecasts and long-term planning.
• Voice of retail performance for assigned retailers, reporting back retail health and trends to leadership in region and globally.
  
  

Leadership

• Provide leadership, direction and coaching to the NAM retail sales teams across multiple markets & locations in the US & Canada.
• Set clear objectives and KPIs in alignment with business and talent goals.
• Ensure team is fluent in retail strategy and resourced appropriately to support priority retailers.
• Execute the strategic plan driving sustained, long-term growth aligned with category and brand priorities.
• Foster strong relationships with internal DCP stakeholders and broader TWDC partners, specifically Corporate Alliance, Studio Promotions and Ad sales to drive overall growth for the company.
• Prioritize talent management and progression opportunities – provide opportunities that add depth and breadth of experience to existing roles.
  
  

Collaboration

• Build credibility with key stakeholders, both internal and external representing and being positioned as the expert for assigned retailers.
• Collaborate with Category, Marketing, Retail Creative, PD to develop bespoke product and creative assets for each retailer.
• Partner with brand commercialization teams to implement consistent region-wide strategies.
• Work seamlessly with the category leaders to optimize channel execution and retailer partnerships.
• Acts as a strategic challenger to category teams, identifying white space opportunities leveraging real-time insights from retail.
• Ensure close partnership with retail creative team on the development of innovative retail design ideas that deliver strong business results.
• Partner with marketing team to optimize ROI on all retail investments.
  
  

 

Requirements And Experience

• 10 years of experience in Retail Sales Leadership, Account Management, Retail Strategy, Business Development, and Retail Marketing
• Ability to demonstrate strategic thinking, executive level clarity of communications and management of multiple executive stakeholders.
• Exceptional presentation and negotiating skills.
• Adaptable and responsive – can thrive in ambiguous business situations.
• Ability to collaborate, influence and persuade at all levels of an organization. 
• Comfortable working through a matrix structure to deliver business objectives.
• Strong relationships through the broader Walt Disney Company – Corporate Alliance, Studio Brand, Promotions and Ad Sales.
• Proven ability to build strong relationships with key external retailers.
• Demonstrate the ability to lead organizational and cultural change efforts, ensuring new and innovative concepts and business practices are fully adopted and embedded into daily operations.
• Financial acumen and understanding retail marketplace, P&L, market research and data analysis.
• High level of corporate professionalism, maturity, leadership and political savviness
  
  

EDUCATION: 

Bachelor’s Degree In Business Preferred Or Relative Experience

The hiring range for this position in Minneapolis, MN is $176,700.00 to $236,900.00 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.