Wholesale- US Sales Director

Who We Are:

ANINE BING Corporation is a fast-growing fashion & commerce brand revolutionizing the way products are developed, produced, marketed, sold, and delivered to customers. The brand reaches customers across social platforms, eCommerce, branded brick-and-mortar stores, and major department stores. ANINE BING has a global presence, with 20 stores in 7 countries around the world.

ANINE BING has 150+ employees across Sales, Production, Design, Operations, and Customer Service located in Downtown Los Angeles. Key investors include Index Ventures founder Danny Rimer (Facebook, Dropbox, Net-A-Porter), Greycroft Partners founder Dana Settle (Bumble, Cuyana, Farfetch), and Felix Capital founder Frederic Court (Goop, Farfetch, Vitrue, Dailymotion).

What We Are Looking For:
The US Sales Director is responsible for leading our historic and dynamic North America wholesale business and developing LATAM markets for the ANINE BING brand.

This candidate will enjoy a startup mentality and environment that changes day to day.

He or she should possess a passion for identifying opportunities with strong business acumen. The candidate will work to create value and help drive the business to a new area of growth.

Your relationship with your wholesale partners is strong from top down. You understand how to cultivate and nurture direct relationships with WSL partners from buyers to department heads to retail sales floor managers to contribute to ANINE BING’s reputation, growth and success. You love your Retail Math, you are organized, detail-oriented, and like thinking outside of the box to contribute to the overall inventive energy of our company. You like traveling and visiting our store partners (sales floor of Department Stores).

Remote work from New York is possible, depending on the right candidate we are happy to accommodate the base in either Los Angeles or New York.

The US Director of Wholesale will report to the Vice-President of Global Wholesale.

Responsibilities:

The successful individual will leverage their proficiency to...

• Partner with the VP of Global Wholesale to develop growth and distribution strategy by channel, by market and by product to create and achieve top line sales targets on a seasonal basis.
• Develop accurate forecasts by account that monitor and interpret past and present sales trends to forecast the future.
• Analyze and report on regional performance, pinpoint open areas of distribution and communicate updates to the business on a monthly and quarterly basis to the business, highlighting growth strategies, identifying performance trends, opportunities and flagging potential headwinds.
• Nurture and manage relationships with majors and oversee specialty partners.
• Drive profitability within the region, regularly reviewing the P&L analysis on an account and regional level along with the VP of Global Wholesale to ensure this is improving on a YOY basis.
• Collaborate with the major department stores to increase sales, assure brand standards and create a strong, significant partnership befitting a key Advanced Contemporary brand within their portfolio.
• Analyze weekly sales reports to make business driving recommendations to the buying teams.
• Manage and provide direction to the Senior Sales Manager to ensure all clients are properly supported and adequately stocked on best-selling core items including the correct balance of on-hand inventory.
• Identify and secure new business opportunities by utilizing majors and specialty relationships to convey product and customer feedback to design and merchandising teams.
• Partner with the Communications and Paid marketing departments to develop and coordinate special events, build and leverage Trade Marketing & Co-op budget to support and drive sales.
• Participate in seasonal markets and action market preparation, including preparation of the New York and Los Angeles showrooms, conduct and oversee market appointments in showroom..
• Collaborate with the EU team to generate a seasonal market report including performance of each major account with regard to both financial and product level results, in addition to analyzing the business.
• Responsible for overseeing management of order entry (Joor, NetSuite, EDI), changes, confirmations, and processing as well as generating reorders as required.
• Track and Monitor shipping and credit status daily along with Ops and Accounting teams.
• Work with Production and Sales Operations to ensure customer orders are being properly managed.
• Partner with internal departments to establish strong working relationships and effective communication.
• Monitor direct reports performance through the year to ensure KPIs can be met.

Qualifications:

• 7-10+ years in U.S. luxury and/or Advanced Contemporary wholesale with at least 4 years in a management or leadership role.
• Strong financial skills; including a deep understanding of retail math. Proven track record in line planning, financial planning, gross margin and dilution management.
• Existing relationships with major department stores including Saks, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus Group, Revolve, Shopbop and Holt Renfrew.
• Demonstrate leadership, interpersonal skills, communication, and presentation skills
• Adept in balancing a strategic approach to the business and also being hands-on in overseeing the day-to-day operations.
• Proven ability to maximize sales and leverage business development opportunities.
• Possess elevated taste level to ensure appropriate brand representation and strong product and premium market knowledge.
• Strong use of insights and quantitative decision making to inform the sales process.
• Thrive in a fast-paced team environment.
• Possesses thorough product knowledge and can speak fluently about the brand differentiators inherent in every product.
• Holistic understanding of product life cycle: concept, development, and production, working proactively to minimize issues throughout cycle and transitions.
• Ability to rapidly learn and adapt to system and data changes.
• Extensive travel requirement, domestically (including local doors) and some internationally (Canada, Mexico). Between 5 to 10 days / month.
• Highly motivated and organized.

Perks & Benefits

• Salary range: $140,000/yr - $160,000/yr - Full time
• Health Insurance: Generous stipend for Medical, Dental, and Vision Plans
• Unlimited PTO: Subject to Manager Approval
• Clothing Discount: Generous employee discount
• Amazing Culture
• 2-5 days a week in the office / showroom

Success at ANINE BING requires that…

• You love to win.
• You are a doer.
• You’re a team player.
• You’re humble.
• You are honest, straightforward and transparent.
• You are a good teacher/mentor (approachable and accessible).
• You want to get your hands dirty.
• You solve problems.
• You are resilient.
• You are flexible.
• You are entrepreneurial, smart, and passionate.
• If you don't know something, you say so. Then go figure it out quickly.
• You love working in a creative environment.
• You have a sense of humor.
• You are an insatiable learner.