Strategic Brand Development Manager

Summary: 

The Strategic New Business Vendor Brand Manager is responsible for driving vendor growth by supporting sales teams, managing vendor programs, and strengthening retail partnerships. 

This role ensures new Vendor’s and Key EMG Vendor’s products, promotions, and pricing programs are executed with accuracy while providing actionable insights to expand Vendors’ business opportunities. 

The ideal candidate combines strong sales acumen, analytical skills, and organizational excellence to maximize vendor market share and profitability within EMG.

Key Responsibilities: 

·  Strengthen Partnerships: Collaborate with EMG and Outside Sales Representatives to conduct vendor meetings with current and prospective retail partners, building long-term relationships that drive growth.

·  Expand Retail Opportunities: Identify and target key accounts to broaden vendor business opportunities and share actionable insights with sales teams.

·  Promote Vendor Initiatives: Ensure new items, promotions, programs, and sales specials are consistently communicated to EMG Sales Teams and retail partners.

·  Educate & Influence: Present vendor solutions to retailers to broaden product depth, increase adoption, and drive incremental sales.

·  Deliver Compelling Presentations: Create tailored sales decks for line reviews, product launches, and other strategic retailer meetings.

·  Manage Pricing & Product Data: Complete retailer-specific product IQs, pricing submissions, and other administrative requirements.

·  Ensure Pricing Accuracy: Partner with vendors and EMG Sales Teams to validate pricing for all retail accounts.

·  Streamline Execution: Centralize administrative tasks for pricing, promotions, special-buy rollouts, and excess/obsolete inventory opportunities.

·  Support Forecasting: Develop and submit monthly vendor product forecasts and annual brand plans to support long-term growth.

·  Provide Actionable Insights: Build and maintain reports, dashboards, and forecasts to support sales teams, vendors, and management.

·  Optimize Assortments: Analyze and create retailer assortment lists based on opportunity gaps, growth patterns, and trends.

·  Track Competitive Activity: Maintain ongoing analyses of competitor products, pricing, and strategies at key accounts.

·  Communicate Promotions: Share vendor promotions with EMG Sales Teams while tracking commitments, performance, and results.

·  Improve Processes: Identify areas to optimize forecasting and reporting   along with providing recommendations for efficiency.

·  Act as a Subject Matter Expert: Serve as EMG’s internal resource for vendor programs, promotions, and product offerings.

·  Align on Strategy: Participate in weekly and bi-weekly vendor recap calls to review business performance and uncover new opportunities.

Key Qualifications:

•              Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience preferred

•              3+ years of experience in consumer products account management or retail buyer role is highly preferred

•              Proven track record of success selling into key retailers and omni-channel accounts, - with eCommerce experience a special plus

•              Excellent verbal and written communication skills

•              Self-starter capable of working individually and as a team member

•              Ability to interpret data and metrics to drive fact-based decision making

•              Proficiency in Excel and related MS Office program is a plus

•              Willingness to travel to visit retailers or to company HQ, as needed (<10% travel)

•              Position could be based in-office at EMG’s Green Bay, WI or Cleveland, OH locations – or potentially remote for those outside those area

Behavioral attributes 

ADA requirements