Sales Director for Women's Contemporary Wholesale

Our client, an established advanced contemporary fashion brand, is seeking an experienced Sales Director to lead and expand its department store and wholesale business across North America. This individual will own key retail partnerships, drive revenue growth, analyze account performance, and identify new opportunities within existing and targeted channels. The ideal candidate brings strong relationships within the department store community, a sophisticated understanding of the contemporary fashion market, and the analytical ability to translate selling trends into actionable strategies. This is a highly visible role requiring someone who is both commercially driven and hands-on, with the ability to manage day-to-day account needs while taking a broader strategic view of the business. The strongest candidate will come from an advanced contemporary or premium fashion brand, have personally managed meaningful department store relationships, and be equally comfortable selling a collection, analyzing weekly performance, meeting with buyers, identifying white-space opportunities, and presenting recommendations to senior management. This person should bring both the relationship skills traditionally associated with wholesale sales and the analytical sophistication required to manage today's department store business.

• The salary range for this role is $150-175,000 based on experience.

Responsibilities:

Wholesale Sales & Account Leadership

• Manage and grow relationships with major department store and wholesale partners, including accounts such as Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom.
• Serve as the primary business partner for assigned accounts, overseeing sales, service, order management, and ongoing communication.
• Develop customized strategies by account to drive revenue, strengthen partnerships, and maximize opportunities.
• Identify opportunities for additional distribution, account expansion, and new business development.
• Oversee off-price opportunities and inventory sell-through strategies as appropriate.
• Maintain a high level of responsiveness and service across the brand’s wholesale network.

Sales Planning & Business Analysis

• Partner with senior leadership to establish seasonal sales plans, account budgets, and growth objectives.
• Analyze weekly and monthly selling performance, identifying trends, opportunities, and potential areas of risk.
• Evaluate performance by account, product, region, and season to inform future sales strategies.
• Monitor key wholesale metrics including sell-through, markdowns, dilution, and end-of-season performance.
• Provide leadership with meaningful market intelligence and recommendations based on account performance and customer feedback.
• Conduct post-season analysis to help guide future merchandising and product decisions.

Market & Seasonal Selling

• Lead selling appointments during New York market and other important regional markets.
• Present seasonal collections and product strategies to department store buyers and key wholesale partners.
• Follow up with accounts regarding assortments, order recommendations, product questions, and order status.
• Review order composition and recommend opportunities to strengthen assortments and maximize sales potential.
• Collaborate closely with internal teams to ensure orders are entered accurately and managed through delivery.
• Coordinate samples and brand-approved product materials for important regional and account initiatives.

Market Intelligence & Business Development

• Develop an annual strategy for key market and account visits.
• Meet regularly with retail partners to understand business performance, competitive activity, assortment opportunities, and evolving customer needs.
• Translate market observations and account feedback into actionable recommendations for senior leadership.
• Provide comprehensive recaps following key market visits, highlighting opportunities, competitive insights, and recommendations for future growth.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Work collaboratively with Merchandising, Design, Production, Operations, Marketing, and senior leadership.
• Represent the commercial needs of wholesale partners internally while maintaining the brand's positioning and objectives.
• Share customer feedback and selling trends with merchandising and product teams to help influence future assortments and seasonal strategies.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Fashion Merchandising, Marketing, or a related field preferred.
• 8+ years of progressive wholesale sales experience, ideally within advanced contemporary, designer, or premium fashion.
• Strong experience managing major department store accounts and building senior-level relationships with buyers and merchandising teams.
• Proven ability to manage and grow multimillion-dollar wholesale businesses.
• Strong understanding of seasonal selling, open-to-buy considerations, sell-through, markdowns, and account profitability.
• Highly analytical with strong Excel skills and the ability to interpret selling data and translate findings into action.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office; experience with NuORDER and/or Skypad is a plus.
• Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-management skills.
• Entrepreneurial and collaborative, with the flexibility to work beyond a narrowly defined scope.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Ability and willingness to travel for customer meetings, markets, and business development.

If you meet the required qualifications and are interested in this role, please apply today.

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