Retail Marketing Manager

The Trade & Retail Marketing Manager drives sell-through at the point of purchase across New Future Licensing's portfolio. The role owns trade marketing execution for our New Balance wholesale business—the primary focus—and serves as the connective tissue between FutureStitch, New Balance's retail organization, and our wholesale partners, turning shelf space into shopping experiences and store associates into informed brand advocates. The role also owns and scales our consumer insights program, and provides trade marketing support to Seconds—FutureStitch's wholly‑owned brand—and to FootJoy as those programs scale. This is a builder role for an operator who thrives in the field, understands how product wins at retail, and can move fluidly between strategic planning and execution on the floor. Key Responsibilities New Balance Wholesale Trade Marketing (Primary Focus) Develop and execute trade marketing plans that drive sell-through across NB wholesale accounts (Dick's Sporting Goods, Hibbett, Foot Locker, JD, Famous Footwear, and others). Partner with the National Sales Manager and Sales Manager to align trade marketing with account‑specific commercial plans. Manage in‑store presentation, fixtures, POP, and brand storytelling at retail. Build seasonal go‑to‑market trade marketing calendars by account. Own trade marketing budget tracking, account‑level investment decisions, and ROI measurement. New Balance Retail Partnership & Store Experience Build and own relationships with New Balance corporate retail leadership and key store‑level teams. Develop in‑store experience programs that elevate how consumers shop our product at NB‑owned retail. Partner with NB store leadership on visual merchandising, in‑store activations, and consumer engagement moments. Act as the day‑to‑day liaison between NFL and NB's retail organization, surfacing field insights back to product and design. Associate Training & Education Design and deliver training programs for New Balance store associates on product features, fit, segmentation, and brand storytelling. Build wholesale associate training programs for our key retail partners, with formats tailored to each account. Develop training content (short‑form video, decks, one‑pagers, in‑store guides) that scales across channels. Track training engagement and translate associate feedback into actionable product and merchandising recommendations. Seconds Brand Trade Marketing Support Support the Seconds retail and merchandising strategy, partnering with internal design, merchandising, and brand leads (including external consultants such as Gia DeFilippo). Contribute trade marketing frameworks, visual merchandising guidance, and partner‑facing materials as Seconds wholesale distribution expands. Support Seconds retail moments, account activations, and partner education, applying best practices from the New Balance business. FootJoy Trade Marketing Support Contribute trade marketing ideas, frameworks, and best practices to the FootJoy program. Support retail moments and partner activations as the FootJoy business scales. Identify opportunities to leverage NB and Seconds trade marketing learnings for FootJoy. Consumer Insights Program Take ownership of the NFL Division consumer insights program, with a mandate to grow it in both scale and output. Recruit, onboard, and retain a materially larger consumer cohort that is representative of the consumers we sell to across New Balance, Seconds, and FootJoy. Design and field ongoing research — wear tests, surveys, fit and comfort studies, and in‑store intercepts — that produces decision‑ready insight rather than raw data. Increase the volume, frequency, and quality of feedback coming out of the program, and translate it into clear recommendations for product, design, and merchandising decisions. Package and deliver insights back to our brand customers as a value‑added service that differentiates FutureStitch and strengthens those partnerships. Establish the reporting cadence and success metrics for the program — cohort size, participation and completion rates, and insight‑to‑action tracking. Cross‑Functional Collaboration Work closely with Design, Product, Sales, and Operations to ensure trade marketing aligns with the product roadmap and supply capability. Coordinate with external creative, design, and agency partners as needed. Provide field intelligence and competitive insights to NFL Division leadership. Qualifications Required 3+ years of trade marketing, retail marketing, or account marketing experience in footwear, apparel, accessories, or related consumer goods. Demonstrated experience working with national wholesale accounts and/or brand‑owned retail organizations. Proven ability to develop and deliver retail associate training programs. Strong project management skills with the ability to run multiple accounts and brands simultaneously. Excellent presentation, written, and verbal communication skills. Willingness to travel 25–35% for account visits, store walks, and training. Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience. Preferred Experience with New Balance, similar performance/lifestyle brands, or sporting goods and family footwear retail accounts. Experience launching or scaling an emerging or owned brand at retail. Background in socks, hosiery, accessories, or other softgoods categories. Experience building visual merchandising standards and in‑store fixture programs. Familiarity with retail data tools (Circana, NPD, retailer‑specific portals). Experience in consumer research or panel management — recruiting, managing, and generating insight from consumer or retail associate cohorts (wear tests, surveys, product feedback panels). What Success Looks Like in Year One NB wholesale trade marketing calendar published and executing on a per‑account basis. Active, working relationships established with NB retail leadership and key store‑level partners. First NB associate training program rolled out, measured, and iterated. Seconds trade marketing support in place — visual merchandising guidance and partner‑facing materials delivered to support expanding wholesale distribution. Wholesale associate training framework launched across at least two major accounts. FootJoy trade marketing contributions framed and scoped. Consumer insights program grown from approximately 100 participants today to 1,000 within 12 months, built on a mix of retail associates, consumers, and other end users. Regular insights readouts delivered to internal product and design teams and to our brand customers. Base Salary: $80,000–$90,000, commensurate with experience, with bonus potential About FutureStitch & New Future Licensing FutureStitch is a vertically integrated softgoods manufacturer and brand operator. The New Future Licensing (NFL) Division builds and operates licensed brand businesses, with New Balance as our anchor partnership. We're a small, fast‑moving team that builds with intention, closes the loop, and is ready to scale. #J-18808-Ljbffr