What are the responsibilities and job description for the Business Development Manager position at GALE Pacific?
TITLE
Business Development Manager
REPORTING TO
VP, Sales & Trade Marketing, America’s
SUPERVISORY RESPONSBILITIES
N/A
LOCATION
Charlotte, Hybrid (remote Mon & Fri, in-office Tue-Thur)
THE COMPANY
From humble beginnings, GALE Pacific has grown to become a global leader in technical fabrics and consumer products that protect our customers day after day, year after year. With over 600 team members across locations in Australia, New Zealand, USA, China and the UAE, our global presence allows us to continually innovate and build on a rich history dating back to 1951. Our Coolaroo® consumer products sold through major retailers globally include Shade Sails, Shade & Garden Fabrics, Outdoor Blinds and Shade Structures. GALE Pacific Commercial Fabrics include knitted, coated and advanced polymer fabrics used for agriculture, construction, mining and packaging.
OUR VALUES
- Integrity
Respect
- Collaboration
- People
- Community
- Innovation
LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOURS
- Communicates Clear Vision Consistently
- Holds Self and Others Accountable
- Doesn’t Give Up
- Owns Successes and Failures Inspires us in Tough Times
- Willing to be Vulnerable
- Genuinely Cares for People on Their Team
- Words and Actions Match
- Makes Employees Feel Open and Comfortable
-
Has a Consistent Approach to Decision Making
- Provides Timely Open and Honest Feedback
- Empowers Individuals and Teams
- Makes Everyone Feel Valued for the Work They do
- Sets SMART Stretch Goals Gives People an Individual Growth Plan
- Develops Ideas With Input From Others
- Maintains an Open Mind and Listens
- Is Inclusive
- Drives Teamwork Between Functions Creates a Learning Environment
- Challenges the Status Quo
- Makes Tough Decisions
- Is Not Afraid to Have Difficult Conversations
- Actively Leads the Team Through Challenges
OVERVIEW OF ROLE OR HOW THE ROLE MAKES AN IMPACT
The Business Development Manager at GALE Pacific is responsible for initiating and building sales programs across key “white space” channels, including Distributors, Co-op retailers (e.g., ACE, True Value, Do it Best), Grocery, Farm & Ag, Pet, and Sporting Goods. This “hunter” role focuses on generating long-term profitable growth to achieve strategic business objectives, including sales and margin goals. The ideal candidate must be bilingual and will be responsible for managing our Latin American distributor relationships.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Account Relationships & Development:
- Develop and maintain strong relationships, serving as the main point of contact for our national distributors, co-op partners, and retail buying teams.
- Actively promote and position GALE Pacific as the category manager for our product lines.
- Represent GALE at trade shows and retail events as required.
- Identify new business opportunities and work with marketing to capture these opportunities.
- Alert management to competitive and market intelligence that could assist in the development of winning business strategies.
Strategic Account Management:
- Develop a vision and long-term channel strategy for profitable growth consistent with the long-range plans and strategy of the company.
- Develop a comprehensive knowledge of account’s share by product type, product line, and brand, including competitor share and competitive pricing.
- Develop or use account tools for evaluating productivity of the account’s business (e.g., item unit volume, profitability, sales per sq. ft., sales by linear foot, GMROI, inventory turns).
- Conduct business case processes, proformas, and postmortems for programs and promotions to estimate, execute, and measure success.
- Perform competitive analysis and market analysis of trends and products.
- Develop detailed insights of company and category performance.
- Assist with strategies to grow sales and improve margin, including promotional programs, marketing calendars, pricing, trading terms, and reporting and forecasting.
Sales Forecasting/Inventory Fulfillment:
- Prepare annual sales budgets.
- Develop collaborative monthly sales forecasts with the account for review with management, including purchase trends, on-hand inventory, POS, growth trends, seasonality trends, and promotional activity.
- Conduct weekly reviews of forward stock cover and work collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure that OTIF targets are achieved, and out-of-stocks are effectively managed.
- Review prices annually or as market or manufacturing changes dictate to ensure that prices are competitive while margins are maximized.
SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Sales, or a related field preferred.
- Minimum of 5 years’ experience with large retail customers at senior buyer levels preferred
- Strong selling and analytical skills.
- Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office and CRM systems.
- Proven track record of developing and implementing large-scale sales programs, achieving sales and margin objectives.
- Product line management experience of more than $25M per annum (experience with home décor, outside lawn and garden, or commercial textile products would be a plus).
- Fluent Spanish speaker is highly preferred
Skills and Attributes
- Foster and develop good working relationships with colleagues.
- Avoid the creation of silos and negative, non-team-oriented work habits.
- Generate presentations for annual PLR meetings and lead the company in the scope and breadth of the requirements of the invitations.
- Lead collaboration and review meetings with forecasting and logistics teams to ensure accuracy of forecasts and the achievement of fill rates to required levels.
- Ability to travel 20-40% of the calendar year.
- Excellent attention to detail, superior planning, and project management skills.
- Able to work in a team environment but also be a self-starter.
