Vice President North American Sales

Vice President – Sales – North America

A. T. Cross through its subsidiaries, designs, and markets fine writing instruments throughout the world; production occurs via Contract Manufacturers. Report directly to the CEO and have significant contact with the Board. The VP will serve as a key member of the executive management team.

Location: Preferably on the North East Coast of the United States

The NA Sales leader will work in conjunction with the CEO and other members of the executive team to develop and achieve all commercial and financial objectives. This individual will understand what it means to balance the short- and long-range objectives, and EBITDA objectives while implementing plans consistent with the Company’s strategic and financial goals and overall company mission.

Through a respectful, constructive, and energetic style, guided by the objectives of the company, the NA Sales leader will provide the leadership, management, and vision necessary to ensure that A.T. Cross has the proper plans, people, and systems in place to achieve its financial and sales goals.

Specific Responsibilities:

This position is at A.T. Cross, the legendary brand that sells premium and luxury products through global eCommerce, Business Gift, Distribution and traditional Retail channels. The Company is looking for a full-time Sales leader of North America to complement our existing team and drive top line revenue by managing, guiding, and directing our direct sales teams, distributor relationships, and ecommerce strategies in-region. In this role, you will be responsible for developing and driving sales and partner relationships to drive revenue growth in a highly strategic geography (i.e., 40-50% of A.T. Cross global sales).

Additionally, you will serve as the regional point of contact, management representative and corporate liaison for key sales and sales support functions across our teams in North America. The Sales leader will be expected to actively set regional commercial strategies, oversee, and direct sales teams in domestic and international markets and guide distribution relationships in countries where the Company does not have a direct sales presence.

• Recognizing key white space opportunities in geographic or channel coverage and identifying, on-boarding, and managing distributors/retailers to drive growth.
• Managing distributor sales team in gathering, synthesizing, and reporting sell-through and inventory trends and utilizing data to drive sales plans.
• Managing sales teams and distributors in preparing and maintaining detailed sales budgets and monthly sales reports and forecasts.
• Analyzing and synthesizing sales performance and revenue drivers by region and channel and clearly communicating results and recommendations to US-based management.
• Leveraging sales expertise and product knowledge to establish, execute, and monitor sales plans for retailers and distributors including in-store, wholesale, and ecommerce marketing programs and promotions.
• Partnering with Finance (AR team) to manage Gross-to-Net, and vendor deductions, and to collect AR on time and in full.
• Attending and coordinating trade shows.
• Creating and offering sales presentations to prospects and existing accounts.
• Developing, maintaining, and sharing product knowledge with dealers and retailers.
• Coordinating and managing in-region sales team as well as providing leadership to Sales Ops and Customer service.
• Developing and executing strategies to increase market share and profits across retail, wholesale, business gift, and e-commerce channels.
• Synthesizing and communicating local marketing and product requirements to US-based product development and marketing teams.

Required 12 Months Accomplishments:

• Build strong partnerships and establish credibility internally and externally
• Implement specific initiatives to reduce Gross to Net Compression
• Create a “cost to serve model” to improve customer level profitability
• Partner with other leaders to migrate to lower cost packaging solutions
• Partner with CFO to drive improved payment terms compliance and DSO
• Develop a collaborative working relationship with all members of the China CM team;
• Be the consummate team player, who can operate in a complex, multi-faceted business environment which is undergoing significant transformation;
• Develop relationships with key accounts across each channel served
• Develop a trusted working relationship with other leaders across the business team while understanding the critical issues currently impacting the business and to identify key growth opportunities;
• Gain a detailed knowledge of all aspects of the business. Understand the key issues, challenges and business opportunities by product line and global geographies;
• Bring transparent and diligent reporting and key performance measurements resulting in sales enablement programs
• Bring an immediate focus to the company’s operational flow from forecasting & planning to sales activation

Desired Skills and Attributes:

Qualified candidates possess a bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university and 15+ years’ experience in a senior consumer-oriented sales role with a proven track record in meeting sales targets and managing international, cross-channel sales teams. Other requirements include:

• Expertise in designing and implement Sales compensation models – variable pay, pay for performance, commission based structure
• Superior organizational skills with keen attention to detail and quality
• Proven coaching expertise and ability to elevate sales team performance
• Hungry mentality, “bias for action” and aggressive sales-oriented mindset
• Exceptional communication oral/written and interpersonal relationship skills
• Transforms data into knowledge into actionable initiatives
• Strong problem-solving capabilities – ability to persevere through adversity
• Articulate and fluent communicator, written and verbal, and at ease with public speaking.
• Experience in driving ecommerce sales growth in a meaningful way
• Ability to prioritize and multi-task in a flexible, fast paced and challenging environment.
• Leading a team to drive improved proactive account management
• Advanced Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel proficiency (required)
• Data-driven and analytically minded – comfortable running analysis and “rolling up your sleeves” to diagnose and address performance issues
• Demonstrated customer service focus with proven experience in relationship building and providing quality customer service solutions.
• Experienced in managing successful multi-geographic sales teams with 15+ direct reports
• Secondary language skills in Spanish would be helpful
• Demonstrated and proven track record of sales successes in consumer-oriented role
• Ability to maintain flexibility to travel (50% of time))
• Experience selling into distributor and retail channels (ecommerce is plus)
• Sales experience in premium / luxury consumer market
• Focused on pipeline development – closing new channels, markets, accounts