Area Manager

Summary of Position

The Area Manager manages existing business and develops new opportunities across wholesale and resort channels within their assigned territory, serving as the primary day-to-day contact for dealers and driving sell-in, sell-thru, and service programs across all categories. The Area Manager also delivers door-level merchandising execution and clinic/product education at national accounts located within the territory, and resolves minor, on-the-spot operational issues at those doors, escalating account-wide or contractual issues to the National Account team.

The Area Manager supports Burton's DTC/Flagship locations, resorts, and digital consumer engagement through clinics, events, and education — without owning DTC strategy or P&L, which remain with the Retail and Digital organizations. The Area Manager also hires and manages seasonal sales support staff within the territory, and brings any proposed changes to territory account alignment to the Territory Business Director for review and approval.

Essential Functions (other duties may be assigned)

• Establish, develop, and maintain sustainable business relationships across wholesale and resort accounts within the territory; understand account needs and business challenges.
• Serve as primary day-to-day contact for dealers, driving successful sell-in, sell-thru, and service programs for all categories.
• Lead the meeting cadence with assigned territory dealer and resort accounts through GTM Phase 1, Phase 3, and Phase 5 — including preline meetings, line presentation, forecasting, and inline real showings — coordinated with category merchants (Hardgoods, Softgoods, Anon) and the Territory Business Director to meet planning needs and timelines.
• Execute and review preseason order writing for assigned territory accounts, ensuring alignment between account buys and demand plan.
• Partner with the Marketing Retail team during the Phase 3 process to align marketing/trade spend and account-specific build-out plans for assigned territory accounts, ensuring alignment is finalized before Phase 5 inline showings and retailer purchasing.
• Deliver door-level merchandising execution and clinic/product education at national accounts within the territory; resolve minor, on-the-spot operational issues on the spot; escalate account-wide, contractual, or multi-door issues to the National Account team. (National account planning cadence is owned by the National Account Lead; the Area Manager supports execution only.)
• Identify and pursue sales opportunities across all channels, anchoring decisions in brand guidelines and channel segmentation strategy.
• Bring identified new distribution opportunities and potential account alignment changes to the Territory Business Director for review; do not implement changes to territory account alignment without Territory Business Director approval.
• Hire, manage, develop, and — where necessary — terminate seasonal sales support staff within the territory, in partnership with HR and in accordance with company policy and local employment law.
• Educate consumers, DTC store staff, and dealer sales staff across all categories through seasonal clinics, product demos, showings, and regional events, utilizing virtual and digital tools where applicable.
• Provide best-in-class service to end consumers and dealers, building relationships and resolving issues across all channels.
• Support Burton/Anon DTC and Flagship locations through event support, staff training/clinics, and merchandising standards, in coordination with Retail and Marketing teams — without owning DTC strategy, P&L, or long-term planning.
• Work with the internal merchandising team to implement best-in-class merchandising standards throughout the assigned territory.
• Plan and manage optimized product assortments aligned with brand strategy, regionally and account specific.
• Collaborate with Account Specialists on preseason order confirmation and shipping strategy execution (Pull Forward, Priority Account, Fill Rates).
• Represent Burton/Anon professionally with accounts, consumers, and media as required.
• Analyze market, competitor, and consumer behavior; track sales and maintain accurate reporting.

Skills & Experience Required

• Bachelor's degree, preferably in Business.
• Minimum 3 years of sales experience in sporting goods, apparel, or outdoor business.
• Proven track record executing sales strategies and programs with well-known brands.
• Ability to visualize product assortments and influence dealer assortment planning in support of Burton's strategic objectives.
• Outgoing, agile, sales-driven attitude; strong self-organization and time management; ability to manage multiple issues simultaneously.
• Comfortable operating with digital/virtual tools for service, clinics, and consumer engagement.
• Ability to work remotely; extensive in-territory travel required, plus travel to Burton HQ as needed.