Wholesale Director

The Opportunity

The Wholesale Director will lead nuuds' next chapter of wholesale growth, starting from a position of real strength: an established relationship with Nordstrom, one of the most respected names in retail. This is a rare opportunity to take a proven relationship and build on it - growing nuuds' footprint within Nordstrom while building out the wholesale pipeline that will define what's next: additional premium boutiques, and the next major retail partner.

This is a high-ownership, foundational role: you will drive the Nordstrom relationship, bring forecasting and sell-through discipline to the account, and own the operational excellence - EDI, compliance, fulfillment - that keeps a wholesale business running cleanly behind the scenes.

As wholesale scales, so does this role. You'll start as a hands-on, department-of-one owner and grow into a team lead, with a Wholesale Operations Specialist eventually joining to take on day-to-day compliance and fulfillment execution - freeing you to focus on strategy, relationships, and expansion.

You'll partner closely with the VP of Merchandising on milestone management, assortment and line planning, and translating merchandising strategy into a wholesale channel built to scale.

Key Responsibilities

Account Leadership & Buyer Relationship

• Serve as nuuds' primary point of contact for the Nordstrom buying team, deepening a relationship that has already earned real traction with one of retail's top department stores.
• Own, in collaboration with Planning and Merchandising, the wholesale revenue P&L, volume forecasting, and margin targets for current and future accounts
• Negotiate allowances, markdowns, and financial terms with buyers to maximize profitability while protecting brand margin.
• Partner with retail partners on visual merchandising execution, product training, and in-store presentation strategies.
• Represent nuuds at market weeks and buyer appointments, presenting the seasonal line and negotiating placement.
• Build nuuds' brand equity directly with the Nordstrom buying team as a dedicated, in-house advocate.

New Business Development

• Build and execute a pipeline of new wholesale accounts - premium boutiques and additional major or digital retailers - using the Nordstrom relationship as social proof.
• Own prospecting, pitching, and onboarding for every new account, start to finish.
• Evaluate new account opportunities for brand fit, margin, and operational feasibility before bringing them to leadership.

Wholesale Operations & Compliance

• Own end-to-end EDI transmissions (850 POs, 856 ASNs, 810 invoices) and item setup, imagery, and attribute matching within retailer portals.
• Track the PO lifecycle against production and shipping windows to avoid routing-guide violations and the chargebacks that follow.
• Review and escalate chargeback and deduction disputes. - elaborated with more detail and creating a process
• Work cross-functionally to adapt the DTC pipeline calendar, aligning design, merchandising, sampling, and production milestones to address wholesale needs.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner with VP of Merchandising on assortment and line planning so the wholesale buy reflects account-specific performance and opportunity.
• Coordinate with production and operations to confirm capacity, lead times, and shipping compliance ahead of key retail windows.
• Flag account or compliance risk early, with a recommended path forward, rather than after it affects margin.

Reporting & Analysis

• Own recurring wholesale performance reporting - sell-through, reorder health, chargeback trends - for leadership
• Translate account and portal data into clear recommendations: reorder candidates, at-risk styles, and new-door opportunities.

What You Bring

Required Experience & Skills

• 7+ years in wholesale sales and/or account management within apparel, with direct department-store or major-retailer experience - Nordstrom experience strongly preferred.
• Hands-on EDI and retailer-portal experience; comfortable personally owning data entry and compliance work, not delegating it, for at least the first 6-12 months.
• A full-cycle sales background - you've owned a relationship from cold outreach through a closed, onboarded account, not just managed existing business.
• Existing relationships with department-store or premium-boutique buyers a plus.
• Able to travel as needed

Leadership & Personal Qualities

• Inclusive Leadership: You actively create environments where everyone belongs (core value: "You Can Sit with Us")
• Customer-Centric Mindset: You understand that great employee experiences create great customer experiences (core value: "Don't %#@! The Customer")
• Integrity-First: You choose transparency and fairness over convenience (core value: "Do the Right Thing - Even When It Sucks")
• Excellence Pursuit: You're committed to building best-in-class people practices (core value: "Somebody Has to Be the Best")
• Action-Oriented: You bring solutions and move initiatives forward (core value: "Forward, Always Forward")
• Data-Driven: You use metrics to guide people decisions without emotional attachment (core value: "Success & Failure Are Not Emotional")

Communication & Relationship Skills

• Confident, credible presence with retail buyers and senior stakeholders - this person represents nuuds directly to Nordstrom.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to translate account performance into clear recommendations for leadership.
• Comfortable operating without a team initially, escalating appropriately as scope grows.

Industry Knowledge (Preferred)

• Experience in fashion, apparel, or consumer brands, particularly wholesale or department-store channels.
• Familiarity with EDI systems such as SPS Commerce or similar.