Director of Sales - Major Box Retailer Account

The Garden Core Director of Sales - Big Box Retailer Account - is responsible for developing and executing the strategic business plan for one of the company's most important retail partnerships. This role leads all aspects of the relationship with the major big box retailer account, including sales growth, profitability, customer engagement, joint business planning, merchandising, marketing alignment, forecasting, inventory management, and cross-functional collaboration.

The Director of Sales serves as the primary executive contact for the big box retailer and is accountable for achieving revenue, margin, market share, and customer satisfaction objectives.

The Garden Core Director of Sales will be located in the Peachtree Corners, GA office. This position will work onsite 3-4 days per week with the ability to work remotely 1-2 days per week. This position will be required to travel 10% - 25% of the time.

• Develop and execute annual and multi-year strategic business plans for the big box retailer account.
• Establish growth strategies that align with company objectives and the big box retailer's merchandising priorities.
• Lead executive-level relationships with key stakeholders across merchandising, marketing, supply chain, e-commerce, and operations.
• Identify new business opportunities, product expansion initiatives, and category growth strategies.

• Deliver sales, profit, margin, and market share goals for the account.
• Drive sustainable revenue growth through effective pricing, promotional planning, assortment optimization, and strategic investments.
• Monitor business performance and recommend corrective actions to achieve financial objectives.
• Manage customer-specific budgets, trade funds, and investment plans.

• Serve as the primary point of contact and trusted advisor for senior leaders within the account.
• Build and maintain strong customer relationships that foster long-term partnerships.
• Lead negotiations involving pricing, contracts, merchandising programs, promotions, and annual business agreements.
• Represent the company in executive business reviews and planning sessions.

• Develop and lead annual Joint Business Planning (JBP) processes with the account.
• Collaborate with marketing, product management, operations, and finance teams to align customer plans with company priorities.
• Create actionable growth initiatives supported by data-driven insights and category analysis.
• Track and measure performance against agreed-upon objectives.

• Partner closely with supply chain, demand planning, marketing, category management, finance, and customer service teams.
• Ensure operational excellence, inventory availability, forecast accuracy, and on-time delivery performance.
• Champion customer’s needs internally while balancing organizational priorities and profitability goals.
• Lead cross-functional teams in support of major customer initiatives and strategic projects.

• Utilize customer, category, market, and POS data to identify trends and opportunities.
• Analyze sales performance, promotional effectiveness, inventory levels, and competitive positioning.
• Develop actionable recommendations that improve business outcomes for both organizations.
• Prepare and deliver executive-level presentations and business reviews.

• Lead, coach, and develop account management and sales professionals supporting the account's business.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, customer focus, and continuous improvement.
• Establish clear objectives and performance expectations for team members.
• Support succession planning and talent development initiatives.

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, or related field.
• 10+ years of progressive sales, account management, or business leadership experience.
  5+ years managing large national retail accounts, preferably The Home Depot, Lowe's, Costco or other major home improvement or buying club retailers.
• Demonstrated success managing multimillion-value revenue…