Position Summary
The Vice President of Commercial is responsible for developing and executing Bask & Lather's entire commercial strategy across all revenue-generating sales channels outside of paid marketing and e-commerce optimization.
This executive will own retail, wholesale, distributor relationships, international expansion, marketplace partnerships, commercial planning, forecasting, and sales operations.
This is a builder role. We are not looking for someone to maintain an existing organization. We are looking for someone who has successfully scaled high-growth consumer brands and can build the commercial infrastructure required to support future growth.
This position will partner closely with Marketing, Brand, Supply Chain, Finance, Operations, and Executive Leadership.
Key Responsibilities
Commercial Strategy
- Develop and execute the company's long-term commercial growth strategy.
- Build annual and multi-year revenue plans across all commercial channels.
- Identify new channel opportunities and expansion strategies.
- Establish KPIs across every commercial function.
- Create scalable commercial operating processes.
Retail
Own national retail expansion.
Responsibilities include:
- Buyer relationships
- Line reviews
- Promotional planning
- Retail launches
- Assortment strategy
- Shelf expansion
- Retail velocity improvement
- Annual Joint Business Plans (JBPs)
Wholesale & Distribution
- Develop wholesale strategy.
- Manage distributor relationships.
- Expand independent beauty supply distribution.
- Develop salon partnerships.
- Increase specialty retail penetration.
- Build reseller strategy.
International
Lead international commercial growth including:
- Distributor selection
- Market entry
- International pricing
- Commercial partnerships
- Country prioritization
- Retail expansion
Marketplace Partnerships
Oversee strategic marketplace relationships including:
- Amazon, Tiktok Shop
- Walmart Marketplace
- Emerging retail marketplaces
Commercial Planning
Partner with Supply Chain and Finance to:
- Develop accurate demand forecasts.
- Improve inventory planning.
- Support S&OP.
- Build annual sales plans.
- Evaluate promotional ROI.
- Improve forecast accuracy.
Team Leadership
- Recruit and develop a world-class commercial organization.
- Build a high-performance sales culture.
- Coach directors and managers.
- Establish accountability.
- Develop succession plans.
Executive Leadership
Serve as a member of the executive leadership team by:
- Presenting commercial updates to leadership.
- Driving cross-functional alignment.
- Supporting strategic planning.
- Leading commercial initiatives.
- Identifying growth opportunities.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree required.
- MBA preferred.
- 12+ years of progressive commercial leadership experience.
- 7+ years leading high-performing sales organizations.
- Experience in beauty, personal care, wellness, or consumer packaged goods.
- Experience managing $100M+ annual revenue businesses preferred.
- Proven experience leading national retail accounts.
- Demonstrated success scaling omnichannel consumer brands.
Required Experience
Candidates should have significant experience in:
- Mass retail
- OTC (beauty supply stores)
- Amazon
- Wholesale
- International distribution
- Retail negotiations
- Joint Business Planning
- Forecasting
- Trade marketing
- Promotional planning
- Broker management
- Distributor management
- Pricing strategy
- Revenue management
Leadership Competencies
We are looking for someone who is:
- Highly strategic.
- Extremely proactive.
- Data-driven.
- Commercially minded.
- Operationally disciplined.
- Hands-on when needed.
- Comfortable in ambiguity.
- Highly accountable.
- Excellent at influencing cross-functional teams.
- Able to build systems from scratch.
- Strong communicator.
- Exceptional negotiator.
Success in the First Year
Within the first 12 months, this leader will have:
- Built a comprehensive commercial strategy.
- Strengthened key national retail partnerships.
- Expanded independent beauty supply distribution.
- Improved commercial forecasting accuracy.
- Established annual Joint Business Plans with strategic retailers.
- Built standardized commercial reporting and KPI dashboards.
- Implemented a scalable sales operating cadence.
- Hired and developed key commercial talent where needed.
- Created a disciplined commercial planning process with Supply Chain and Finance.
- Identified and launched new revenue opportunities across domestic and international markets.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
This role will be measured on:
Revenue Growth
- Net sales growth by channel.
- New account acquisition.
- Same-store sales growth.
- Distribution expansion.
- Retail door growth.
Retail Performance
- Shelf productivity.
- Velocity.
- Fill rate.
- On-time launches.
- Retail compliance.
- Promotional effectiveness.
Commercial Excellence
- Forecast accuracy.
- Trade spend ROI.
- Gross margin improvement.
- Customer profitability.
- Distributor performance.
Leadership
- Team performance.
- Cross-functional collaboration.
- Employee development.
- Retention of key talent.
- Execution against strategic initiatives.