Director of Professional & Specialty Channel Development

Position Title
Director of Professional & Specialty Channel Development

Reports To
Vice President of Growth

Location
Remote (Candidates must reside in California, Georgia, Texas, or Illinois only.)

Please Note: This position is open exclusively to candidates living in states where the company has an established business nexus: California, Georgia, Texas, or Illinois.

Compensation
$140,000 - $155,000 base salary, plus bonus opportunity.

Position Summary

The Director of Professional & Specialty Channel Development is responsible for driving profitable sales growth across Developlus' Professional Beauty, Beauty Supply, OTC, Specialty Retail, and other assigned sales channels.

As part of the Sales organization, this position will develop and execute channel-specific sales plans, manage existing customer and distributor relationships, identify new business opportunities, and provide leadership and accountability to Developlus' network of outside sales brokers.

This role serves as the company's internal subject matter expert for Professional and Specialty Channels and is expected to understand the unique customer, distributor, education, promotional, and relationship requirements that distinguish these channels from mass retail.

Working closely with the Vice President of Growth and cross-functional partners in Marketing, Product Development, Supply Chain, Operations, and Finance, the Director will translate channel growth objectives into clear, measurable execution plans and deliver sustainable sales and profit improvement.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on sales and business development leader with demonstrated experience growing professional beauty, beauty supply, specialty retail, or related consumer product channels.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Channel Leadership

• Develop, own, and execute the long-term strategic vision for Professional Beauty, Beauty Supply, OTC, Specialty Retail, International Distribution, and Emerging Channels.
• Establish annual business plans, sales objectives, revenue forecasts, and channel growth strategies.
• Identify, evaluate, and prioritize new market opportunities, customer segments, and distribution partnerships.
• Develop channel-specific go-to-market strategies aligned with corporate growth objectives
• Monitor competitive activity, consumer trends, and industry developments to identify growth opportunities and competitive advantages.

Broker Management

• Direct and manage the activities of outside brokers representing Developlus within assigned channels.
• Establish clear broker expectations, sales goals, account priorities, and reporting requirements.
• Conduct regular broker calls, pipeline reviews, account reviews, and performance evaluations.
• Ensure brokers are actively pursuing agreed-upon opportunities and completing assigned follow-up actions.
• Provide brokers with the product information, samples, pricing, presentations, training, and promotional materials needed to represent Developlus effectively.
• Evaluate broker performance and recommend changes when representation is not producing expected results.

Account and Distributor Management

• Serve as the primary sales contact for assigned customers, distributors, and strategic partners.
• Build and maintain productive relationships with professional distributors, beauty supply accounts, specialty retailers, and other channel partners.
• Conduct regular business reviews to assess sales, distribution, inventory, promotions, opportunities, and performance concerns.
• Develop joint account plans designed to increase sales, distribution, product assortment, and customer profitability.
• Coordinate product education, promotional support, and sales initiatives with customers, distributors, and brokers.
• Ensure customer commitments, follow-up items, and internal requirements are clearly documented and completed.

Business Development and Distribution Expansion

• Identify and pursue new customers, distributors, and channel opportunities aligned with Developlus' brands and capabilities.
• Maintain an active and measurable pipeline of new business opportunities.
• Develop customer-specific presentations, proposals, pricing recommendations, and sales materials.
• Support negotiations involving pricing, promotions, product assortment, and commercial terms in coordination with the Vice President of Growth and Finance.
• Represent Developlus at customer meetings, distributor meetings, trade shows, and industry events.
• Evaluate opportunities based on revenue potential, profitability, strategic fit, operational requirements, and likelihood of execution.

Channel Expertise and Market Development

• Maintain a strong understanding of Professional Beauty and Specialty Channel structures, customers, distributors, competitors, and market trends.
• Educate internal teams on how these channels differ from mass retail in areas such as product education, distributor engagement, field selling, promotional support, and customer relationship development.
• Monitor competitive activity, emerging brands, distribution changes, and customer needs.
• Recommend channel-specific sales approaches, product opportunities, and promotional strategies.
• Provide customer and market feedback to support product development and commercialization decisions.

Product Launch and Commercialization Support

• Partner with Marketing and Product Development to evaluate the fit of new and existing products within assigned channels.
• Develop channel-specific sales plans for new product launches.
• Coordinate broker, distributor, and customer education prior to launch.
• Track new product placement, initial orders, sell-through, reorders, and customer feedback.
• Recommend adjustments to assortment, positioning, pricing, education, or promotional support based on market response.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Marketing to develop channel-appropriate promotional programs, sales materials, education, and customer support.
• Work with Supply Chain and Operations to support forecasting, inventory planning, order fulfillment, and customer service.
• Collaborate with Finance to evaluate pricing, customer profitability, promotional spending, commissions, and return on investment.
• Coordinate with Product Development and Marketing to communicate customer feedback and identify channel-specific product opportunities.
• Ensure internal teams understand customer requirements, launch dates, sales commitments, and execution priorities.

Forecasting, Reporting, and Performance Management

• Own the sales forecast for assigned channels and accounts.
• Monitor sales, gross margin, distribution, customer profitability, broker performance, and new business activity.
• Prepare monthly and quarterly channel performance reviews.
• Maintain accurate account plans, opportunity pipelines, forecasts, and action-item tracking.
• Identify performance gaps and recommend specific corrective actions.
• Ensure channel strategies are supported by defined execution plans, responsible parties, deadlines, and measurable outcomes.

Key Performance Indicators

• Net Sales Growth
• Gross Margin Contribution
• Performance Versus Sales Plan
• Existing Account Growth
• New Account Acquisition
• Distribution Expansion
• New Product Placement and Reorder Performance
• Broker Performance
• Customer Profitability
• Forecast Accuracy
• New Business Pipeline Development
• Execution of Strategic Initiatives

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position has no direct employee reports.

The Director is responsible for directing, coordinating, and evaluating the performance of outside brokers and other third-party sales representatives assigned to the Professional and Specialty Channels.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing, Sales, or a related field preferred.
• 8-10 years of progressive sales, business development, account management, or channel management experience within beauty, personal care, consumer packaged goods, or a related industry.
• Demonstrated experience in Professional Beauty, Beauty Supply, Specialty Retail, OTC, distributor-managed, or similar relationship-based sales channels.
• Experience managing outside brokers, independent sales representatives, or distributor partners.
• Proven ability to develop and execute account and channel growth plans.
• Demonstrated success generating new business, expanding distribution, and growing existing accounts.
• Strong understanding of pricing, customer profitability, forecasting, promotional planning, and sales reporting.
• Experience working with branded consumer products and within a manufacturing environment preferred.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong understanding of Professional Beauty and Specialty Channel sales models.
• Demonstrated ability to turn strategy into specific execution plans.
• Strong broker, distributor, and customer-management skills.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation abilities.
• Strong financial and analytical skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and maintain consistent follow-through.
• Self-directed, resourceful, accountable, and results-oriented.
• Ability to work effectively across Sales, Marketing, Product Development, Supply Chain, Operations, and Finance.
• Strong judgment and ability to evaluate opportunities based on growth potential, profitability, and strategic fit.

Work Environment

This position operates in a professional office environment and requires regular travel to customer locations, distributor offices, trade shows, broker meetings, and industry events.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those required to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

This position requires extended periods of sitting, computer use, communication, travel, and occasional lifting of product samples, marketing materials, or trade show materials.

This job description does not constitute a contract of employment and may be modified at any time to meet the needs of the business.