Director of Commercial Sales

Position Overview :

Le Monde Gourmand, a flagship brand of Tru Fragrance & Beauty, launched exclusively with Urban Outfitters in 2014 before expanding to Ulta and Nordstrom in 2023. In 2025 we established a global strategic partnership with Sephora, successfully launching in Europe & Australia. The partnership we’ve formed with Sephora International has demonstrated how a deep, strategic retail partnership can deliver long term growth and we are now seeking a Director/Senior Director of Commercial Sales North America to own and grow our Commercial Retail growth across the US, with a focus on building our business with Ulta.

This is a strategic, relationship-led account role, not a field sales role. The ideal candidate has managed Ulta from the brand side for emerging and indie beauty brands, has built businesses from launch and turned others around, and knows how to walk into a buyer meeting with a point of view on trend, category and growth. You will connect the dots between consumer insight, brand strategy and retail execution, and bring recommendations to the table from day one.

Reporting to the Global Brand Commercial Lead, you will partner closely with Brand, Marketing, Product Development, Finance, and Operations teams in New York and Chicago. The Global Brand Commercial Lead also leads Tru's International business, giving this role direct line of sight into the strategies, retailer relationships and learnings (including Sephora) driving our growth in Europe and Australia.

Key metrics of success include:

• Net sales growth and budget attainment across the Ulta business
• Sell-through, productivity and in-stock performance by brand, door and ulta.com
• Space, assortment and door-count expansion, including securing launch and promotional support
• Margin and trade spend efficiency against plan
• Forecast accuracy and quality of joint business planning

Summary :

1. Strategic Account Leadership

• Own the Ulta Beauty, Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack and Urban Outfitters relationships and P&L for Le Monde Gourmand, serving as the primary point of contact for merchant, planning, marketing and e-commerce teams.
• Maintain close working relationships, through the Global Brand Commercial Lead, with our International and EME commercial teams to ensure a consistent brand and retail strategy across regions.
• Develop and deliver annual and seasonal joint business plans that define how our space, assortment and door count will grow over time.
• Lead lines reviews, category reviews, trend presentations and launch sell-in presentations, bringing a clear point of view on trend, category performance and consumer behavior.
• Negotiate terms, promotional calendars, marketing investment and placement (endcaps, secondary placements, Ulta.com features) to maximize return.
• Own and align with Brand on retailer launch and activity cadence.
• Kickstart recommendations early: assess the current business, identify quick wins and turnaround opportunities, and build a roadmap for sustainable growth.

2. Analytics, Forecasting & Insights

• Analyze sell-in and sell-out data, retailer portals and syndicated data to track KPIs, diagnose performance and identify growth levers.
• Partner with Finance and Operations on demand planning, forecasting and inventory to ensure product availability and healthy weeks of supply.
• Monitor competitor and category activity at Ulta and share insights that shape brand strategy, innovation and pricing.

3. Cross-Functional Partnership

• Work closely with Brand, Marketing & Education/Activation teams to align launches, campaigns and in-store activations with retailers’ calendars and priorities
• Partner with Product Development to bring retailer and consumer feedback into the innovation pipeline.
• Translate learnings from our Sephora partnership into a U.S. playbook and help establish best practices for other Tru Brands as they scale at Ulta.
• Collaborate with Ulta’s digital and e-commerce teams to strengthen brand presence and conversion on Ulta.com.

4. Leadership & Growth

• Act as a trusted commercial advisor to senior leadership, presenting business reviews and recommendations with clarity and confidence.
• Support the growth and development of colleagues across the commercial team and build scalable processes as the business expands.

Desired Skills & Qualifications:

• 6+ years of key account management or commercial sales experience in beauty, fragrance, or personal care; Senior Director level candidates will bring 10+ years.
• Direct, brand-side experience managing the Ulta Beauty account is required; experience with Sephora U.S. is a plus.
• Track record with emerging, indie or challenger brands at Ulta, including at least one launch or growth success and one business turnaround.
• Experience in account-side and headquarters relationship roles; candidates whose background is primarily field sales will be less aligned to this role.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including P&L ownership, trade spend management, forecasting and margin management.
• Confident presenter and storyteller who can bring trend and category insight to buyers and senior stakeholders.
• Highly analytical and comfortable with retailer portals, syndicated data, Excel and AI-powered business tools.
• Entrepreneurial and hands-on, with the ability to operate strategically while staying close to day-to-day execution.
• Collaborative, relationship-driven approach and strong negotiation skills.
• Based in or able to commute to our New York office on a hybrid schedule, with travel to our Willowbrook, IL office at least once a month and to Ulta as needed.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, Marketing, or related field preferred.

Company Overview :

Founded in 1969 and operating out of Willowbrook, IL and New York City, Tru Fragrance & Beauty is a portfolio company of Monogram Capital Partners, which acquired a majority stake in the company in 2024. In addition to the company’s branded portfolio – namely Le Monde Gourmand, Lake & Skye, Supersuite, Leather Vintage Label and Yellowstone – Tru also develops fragrance brands exclusively for retail partners. Tru maintains a premier position as a multidisciplinary innovation engine and supplier, with a roster of A-list celebrity and retail partners that include ULTA, Nordstrom, Sephora, Blue Mercury, AEO, Target, TJ Maxx, and UO, among many others.