New 
Seasonal Sales Manager
 American Greetings Corporation | |
 United States, Ohio, Westlake | |
 Sep 09, 2025 | |
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As this is a hybrid role, working out of our Creative Studios in Westlake, Ohio, we will focus on candidates who currently reside in Northeast Ohio.
The Seasonal Sales Director will work with to manage and grow the American Greetings' Seasonal businesses profitability. In addition, the position will work closely with the Occasion and Category Teams, Insights & Analytics, Marketing, and Sales Operations to ensure strategic cross-functional collaboration and alignment. The Sales Director is responsible for the development of the sales strategy, growth plans for the Seasonal business, operations, and serves as a liaison for sales and marketing activities between the retailer and American Greetings. The Sales Director may have one or more direct reports. Responsible for managing strategically important account(s.) ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES: * Be an expert on the retailer, the consumer, the industry, and the American Greetings business and product categories. * Be customer-centric and solution-oriented; develops and maintains effective working relationships with buyers and other key retail partners while finding win-wins for both organizations. * Demonstrates a growth-mindset with a focus on relentless selling and results: profitable sales growth, market share growth vs. the competition, new store, new category or new placement growth. * Accountable for the strategic management of the retailer's Seasonal business, including but not limited to: o Working with the Senior Sales Director to set the pace of agenda items based on internal and/or retailer deliverable dates, relevance, or other key impetuses (ex. marketplace threat, opportunity, etc.) o Working with internal cross-functional partners to assess the business and coordinate and plan activities to meet retailer-facing deliverables o Evaluating performance / identifying key drivers, tracking, and contingency planning o Creating presentations rooted in insights (POS, trend, consumer, product), tailored to retailer key priorities, and highlighting thought leadership, category leadership and retailer benefits o Presenting performance recaps and sales plans to the retailer, effectively communicating materials, fielding questions, addressing key retailer concerns, and summarizing key takeaways and next steps o Updating internal cross-functional partners on retailer feedback, expectations, and status of programs/deliverables with goal of progressing work and/or driving outstanding issues to closure * Demonstrates financial acumen when managing the business, problem solving and decision making, setting and negotiating terms, and assisting in the development and execution of the joint business plan and internal financial plan * Responsible for delivering the sales and margin goals of both the internal plan and the joint business plan * Responsible for managing the marketing budget, in conjunction with Senior Sales Director and internal marketing partners; understand marketing tactics and evaluate and manage spend based on results and retailer obligations * Has deep knowledge and understanding of all retailer requirements including but not limited to key priorities, and financial, contractual, and distribution obligations and ensures flawless execution and service. Leverages knowledge of retailer requirements to influence business decisions internally and externally * Partners seamlessly with all internal cross-functional team members; articulates retailer strategies and commercial objectives while influencing and collaborating to execute against joint goals * May manage one or more direct reports; if so, must ensure deliverables are met and responsible for coaching, training, and talent development * May manage one or more Kroger divisions; if so, must ensure proper contact and discussions occur to meet the divisional expectations and drive sales performance * Other duties as assigned | |