National Sales Manager - Licensed Products

Opportunity: YuMe Brands, an award-winning designer and manufacturer of licensed toys, is immediately seeking an organized, detail-oriented, and experienced National Sales Manager to join our team in Bentonville, AR. This role will focus on managing and creating relationships with key accounts and driving sustainable merchandising revenue growth in all distribution channels. The National Sales Manager helps define YuMe's toy and consumer product retail sales growth initiatives, executes seasonal sales with buyers, and activates key retail strategies that align with our strategic marketing, sales, and brand portfolio initiatives. The National Sales Manager will act as a brand ambassador, key influencer, and change agent with retailers, distributors, and licensors in order to achieve annual sales and growth targets. This tremendous opportunity to step into a leadership role collaborating with local and remote creative and account management teams, providing guidance and ideas to develop consumer products/retail programs for leading entertainment licenses, media properties, and retail partners. Key Responsibilities: Responsible for negotiating and securing retail sales at all channels of distribution. Developing and maintaining retail buyer relationships to achieve retail sell-in targets. P&L Responsibility, including budgeting and forecasting for targeted categories and retail programs. Collaborate on developing retail initiatives, including category and product development, identification of hot licensees, and managing marketing agencies to ensure all activity is in line with the brand strategy and guidelines. Develop relationships with key licensors, retail merchants, influencers, and marketing agencies while growing and maintaining existing business relationships to achieve product sell-in and sell-through. Identify and develop new business strategies and categories outside of traditional toy categories with an entrepreneurial approach to new business growth. Conduct and coordinate sales presentations with retailers & licensors. Attend and represent the company at key trade shows, maintaining up-to-date knowledge of industry trends and developments. Strategy and business planning: Define the strategic plan and priorities to grow the retail business. Build annual budgets, retail sales, and marketing plans. Communicate effectively in written, visual, and interactive formats. Identify new trends to maintain our position as an industry leader and innovator. Requirements: A bachelor's degree in business, advertising, marketing, or similar field is preferred. Minimum eight years experience in sales, ideally in the toy industry, with a proven track record of meeting and exceeding sales targets. High-level, existing relationships with mass, specialty, e-commerce, buyers, distributors, and marketing agencies at all channels of North American retail distribution. Walmart toy sales experience is highly preferred. A high-powered sales/marketing-oriented individual with highly developed relationship-building, presentation, and influencing skills, coupled with excellent leadership and managerial skills. Strong knowledge of the retail industry and retail operations, including planogramming and vendorization. Experience with Amazon Vendor Central preferred. Understanding of product development, product ranges, and key categories. Capable of analyzing market trends and identifying new sales opportunities and hot entertainment and gaming licenses. Proven and effective interpersonal skills and ability to develop relationships with personnel at all levels, both internally and externally. Fluent in Microsoft Office Suite - Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; able to create, understand, and interpret financial data in Excel, including sales forecasts and budgets. Frequent travel is required. Compensation/Benefits: Comprehensive compensation package, including competitive salary commensurate with experience, medical, dental, and vision coverage, HSA/FSA, 401K with company match, company-paid basic life and AD&D insurance, disability coverages, paid time off, performance bonus, and other valuable benefits. Application Process: Please submit your resume and a cover letter outlining why you are a good fit for this position. We will only respond to candidates we have an interest in interviewing. We thank all others in advance. All responses will be kept strictly confidential. YuMe is an equal opportunity employer that employs individuals based on job-related qualifications regardless of race, religion, sex, national origin, age, disabilities, or any basis prohibited by law. Key Words: National Sales Manager, Consumer Products, Toys, Collectibles, Plush, Licensed Goods, Entertainment Licensing, Promotions, Marketing, Walmart