Director Key Accounts Ulta

Reporting to: VP Business Development

Department: Retail

Location: Hybrid NYC - 3 Days a week (Tues, Wed, Thurs) in SOHO Office

Salary: $135k-$180k DOE

Bubble Skincare is hiring for an experienced sales executive with a deep understanding of Ulta to join us as a Director, Account Management to support our Ulta business. Bubble was recently awarded ‘2023 Breakout Brand of the Year’ with Ulta Beauty, the right candidate will take a lead role on this strategic account. Using your extensive experience in sales planning, you will lead the short to medium-term planning of core and new products, sets, promotional planning, and marketing strategy. Reporting directly to the VP Business Development, you will collaborate with cross functional partners such as operations, retail marketing, field sales, education & finance teams, to support Ulta on ideation, account vision, and building blocks. This position will allow you to drive and deliver a sustainable growth plan for the brand in Ulta, as well as driving day to day execution in addition to managing both retail sales and net sales targets on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis. The right candidate will also be an experienced leader, with a proven track record of growing and developing a team of junior to mid-level employees. 

PRIMARY EVALUATION METRICS Retail Sales, net sales, retailer P&L, team management & development

Responsibilities:

Strategic Planning:

• Extensive understanding of retailer and market nuances to help set overall account plan that guides priorities, marketing campaigns, assortment, merchandising, promos/GWP/sets, events and all other parts of the business. Deep understanding of competitors and overall landscape. 
• Leads the Bubble at Ulta retail team to work with Marketing to develop full calendar of tailored activities for retailer and retailer.com, leveraging overall brand category and marketing objectives and maximizes resources between B&M and .com
• Provides guidance to sales planning and demand planning to negotiate seasonal stock & sales plans. Works hands on with internal and retailer teams to drive orders and hit net sales targets.
• Collaboration across retail marketing, field and education leaders to create a seamless omni-channel experience.
• Leads weekly sales analysis and feeds to senior leadership team weekly. Provides in depth findings and recommendations for next steps to deliver growth.

Forecasting & stock/sales plans:

• Provide plans and forecasts for seasonal stock and sales plans.
• Oversee the monthly feedback process for stock and sales plans, offering guidance to retail ops and developing high-level monthly re-projections and investment strategies by SKU/category.
• Support annual and rolling monthly forecast process in conjunction with the VP of Business Development.
• Manage overall gross profit margin, providing commentary and analytics, including calling out risks or opportunities in improving account profitability. Experience in P&L management. 

Business Development:

• Lead your team in executing the end to end process for Ulta ‘Style Out’ store modular. This includes but is not limited to the pitch meeting, shelf modular planning, Ulta style out admin, PIM set up, and NPD forecasting. 
• Work closely with the brand product team to accurately and effectively build product pitch decks in conjunction with the ‘Style Out’ timings. 
• Collaborate with the VP of Business Development to build strategic decks for market meetings; comfortable in leading meetings and presenting information and strategy for business advantage. 

Marketing:

• Partner with marketing to ensure strong visual presence in store, in market and on retailer.com (e.g., onsite exposure, Ulta magazine, mailers, email); spend for account; identifying opportunities to maximize marketing ROI and targeting efficiencies.
• Partner with Social/Digital teams to deliver a support plan in collaboration with the retail partner. Maximizing brand and retailer exposure across various touchpoints. 

Team Development & Management

• Oversee the daily activities and deliverables of your team, ensuring alignment with company goals and strategic priorities. Monitor progress through regular performance reviews, offering constructive feedback, and implementing performance improvement plans where necessary.
• Conduct weekly one-on-one meetings with each direct report to offer personalized feedback, discuss progress, address challenges, and set clear expectations. Use these sessions to build strong working relationships and ensure continuous alignment with team and organizational goals.
• Efficiently manage team resources, ensuring that workloads are balanced and that team members are optimally utilized. Make strategic decisions about resource allocation to maximize team productivity and effectiveness.

Qualifications: 

• 6+ years in Account Management or Category Management (brand or retailer side). Experience working directly with Ulta Beauty is required.
• Strong analytical skills and advanced Excel skills (ie Pivot Table, VLookup, Index/Match); ability to interpret data and create actionable insights. 
• Strong presentation skills and ability to present strategy and ideas to key stakeholders. 
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across departments. 
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail. 
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Team management and coaching skills.