Sales, Education and Retail Marketing, Senior Manager - EU

MERIT is a minimalist beauty brand that makes impossible to mess up products for a multi-generational community. Designed by makeup consumers — not artists — MERIT was created as the antidote to the overwhelming world of beauty. We simplify what it takes to get ready by creating only well-edited essentials that help you do more with less. With minimalism at its core, MERIT remains intentional in the products it creates, spending years perfecting every detail to ensure it’s not just another product, but one that you can live with for years to come.

The Sales, Education and Retail Marketing Senior Manager will be a key senior role within the EMEA leadership team, responsible for leading and executing the Merit commercial strategy for the European wholesale markets. You will work with both the global team and local teams (with agency resources) to ensure an appropriate sales strategy, as well as overseeing the EU field team (both permanent and agency resources).  

The ideal candidate should be a self-starter, comfortable working in an entrepreneurial environment. They need to be able to both build a commercial strategy and retail forecasts, but also lead execution of the education and retail marketing campaigns at the local market level. This role requires a team player able to work in a small, nimble organization with a global HQ based in the USA. Most importantly, this person needs to be excited to build Merit into a global beauty brand!

Responsibilities:

Sales Planning And Commercial Strategy:

• Develop sales strategy for retailer accounts allowing for market needs, key account structure, competitive situation and company targets
• Create and implement an annual business plan with the Managing Director, International, taking into account all levers of growth: commercial agreements, marketing actions, merchandising and retail opportunities, profitability, trade terms, securing sites, promotions and launches
• Build collaborative working relationships with retailer and distributor partners at all levels (buyers, marketing, operations)
• Develop and/or coordinate with global teams to build and maintain demand/supply plans to ensure adequate stock levels

Analytics:

• Analyse sales by SKU and by door and generate weekly sales reports to share with the executive team
• Analyse sales trends, product opportunities and monitor competition, gathering current marketplace information on pricing, products, delivery schedules, merchandising equipment, techniques, etc. to make more informed recommendations for the business

Drive Retail Sales:

• Manage daily and weekly sales, monitoring performance against sales targets and profitability and ensuring adequate stock levels, replenishment and promotional orders
• Develop alternative strategies to drive sales where required

Trade And Retail Marketing:

• Negotiate trade and retail marketing opportunities with retailers
• Lead execution of all trade marketing, with support from global VM and creative teams
• Align and collaborate with Marketing Director EU on trade marketing budgets and goals
• Measure ROI of any trade opportunities and advise on which opportunities will drive the most commercial value

Communications:

• Communicate critical business information to the appropriate internal contacts for action
• Liaise with all internal departments – marketing, finance, logistics to ensure that the account receives the appropriate level of support and all activities result in orders and in-store execution

Manage the education strategy and field team across the EU:

• Responsible for recruitment, training and management of sales and field employees across the region
• Create a bespoke Retail and Education startegy for the region and tailormade to retailers when required
• Manage the field team including both permanent staff and freelancers
• Ensure that top 20 doors are trained frequently and reinforce that training with follow up selling techniques, demonstrations, and product information
• Organise and lead events and seminars (Brand, Press, Influence, Client, Trainings, In-store initiatives) in collaboration with Marketing Director
• Travel within the designated area as needed

Qualifications/Experience:

• Successful track record of managing long term partnerships and key accounts in EU markets; specific experience with Sephora highly preferred
• 6+ years of key account management and category management experience
• Strong communication and organisational skills
• Self-motivated and able to work with minimal supervision
• Strong commercial acumen with a desire to drive results and business growth
• Analytical and has a good eye for potential opportunities in the market
• Able to travel for work (20%) and accept flexible working hours (morning / evening calls with other time zones)
• Fluent in English
• Based in Paris, or able to travel to Paris at least 1x per month

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