Wholesale Manager, Women's Lifestyle - North America

ABOUT VEJA

Since 2005, VEJA has been creating sneakers in a different way, mixing social projects, economic justice, and ecological materials. VEJA uses Brazilian and Peruvian organic cotton for the canvas and laces, Amazonian rubber for the soles, and various innovative materials from recycled plastic bottles or recycled polyester. VEJA sneakers are produced in high-standard factories in Brazil.

Job Description:

We are currently looking for a Wholesale Manager to join our growing team in North America.

In this role you will oversee our key account and independent store businesses, primarily focused on women’s lifestyle and kids accounts. You will report to the Wholesale Director and manage a team of Account Executives and Wholesale Assistants.

Our office is based in New York City and offers a hybrid work environment.

Main Responsibilities:

Account Development & Analysis

• Partner with Account Executives to manage and grow existing accounts in North America, ensuring strong customer relationships, sales target achievement and profitability.

• Identify new wholesale opportunities to continue business growth and increase awareness of the VEJA project.

• Develop and implement sales plans and strategies for existing and future accounts that align with the brand position and direction.

• Communicate and deliver business updates and recommendations to Wholesale Director and leadership. Provide regular sales reports and analysis to retailers to ensure successful partnerships.

• Appropriately manage seasonal budget allocation across all accounts. Proactively present in-season stock opportunities to accounts.

Account Management

• Present seasonal collection to retail partners twice per year and manage the order process including order entry and confirmations along with Account Executives and Wholesale Assistants.

• Build and maintain relationships with key retail counterparts by providing exceptional customer service and support through market visits, business meetings and day-to-day communication.

• Partner with Wholesale Operations to manage and track shipping activity for all accounts, proactively communicating and resolving delays and issues with accounts.

• Ensure wholesale KPIs are achieved each season with particular attention to pre-order bookings and on-time shipping.

• Provide diligent follow-through and management of accounts receivable.

• Partner with communications on seasonal product knowledge meetings and tradeshow execution.

Team Development

• Effectively manage the work of the designated team to ensure organization, productivity, and targets achieved.

• With the Wholesale Director and HR team, plan training and development for Account Executives and Wholesale Assistants.

• Evaluate the performance of team together with the Wholesale Director suggest action as needed, i.e. promotion, reorganization, departure, etc.

Requirements

• Commitment to the VEJA project and vision; passionate about fair-trade brands.

• 5+ years of prior experience in a similar role with a likeminded fashion brand, footwear preferred. Existing relationships with retail partners such as Shopbop, Revolve, Fwrd, Kith is a plus.

• Minimum of 1-2 years managing and developing a team. Confident in managing and mentoring junior members as it relates to business and professional development.

• Strong analytical and retail math required. Proficient in Microsoft Excel with the ability to perform a variety of functions including Pivot Tables, V-Lookup, Sumif, etc.

• Strong knowledge of working with ERP systems, ideally with SAP. Ability to train team members as needed.

• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively with strong sense of initiative and results-driven approach. Must be able to work with the North America team and Paris HQ.

• Clear, concise communication and organizational skills. Positive “can-do” attitude, ability to adapt to a fast-growing organization.

• Willingness to travel up to 30% of the time, both domestically and internationally.

• Bachelor’s degree in business, fashion merchandising or similar area, French speaker is a plus.

• The estimated compensation range for this role is $120,000-$140,000 annually to align with experience, plus a comprehensive benefits package.