VP, Category Sales, Pet Consumables

ABOUT BARK 

Here at BARK, we love dogs and their people. We’re looking to make all dogs happy throughout the entire world (we’re not kidding).  BARK makes the most amazing products, with thoughtful insight and innovation, creativity and storytelling, and a dash of magic you won’t find anywhere else.  Our love for dogs is through the roof! 

We launched in 2011 with BarkBox, a monthly-themed subscription of all-natural treats and the most innovative toys. Since then, we've shipped more than 70 million toys and treats to dogs across the world; we use our direct customer feedback to inform new initiatives and ways to deliver joy for dogs and their people. 

Today, BARK leads the dog industry with our subscription and ecommerce products across toys, food, treats, toppers, dental, and accessories.  Outside of our owned platforms, pups can find us in over 40,000 retail stores and on Amazon.  Our social media following is robust and our customer service is best-in-class.  In the end, we aim to make every dog happy and to become THE Dog Company for every family with a belly-scratch-loving pup.

WHO WE'RE SNIFFIN FOR

BARK is seeking a Vice President of Retail Sales to lead the company’s growth in the consumables category. 

BARK is best known for its BarkBox and Super Chewer subscription products, and within those experiences, the very best dog toys on the planet.  But we are not stopping there.  Today, we are driving growth by bringing our creativity, innovation, and passion to the world of dog consumables across food, treats, toppers, and dental. 

We have more than a headstart on our mission.  We ship over 4 million bags of treats each month, making BARK a leading purveyor of dog treats.  In addition, we have extended our portfolio with food and toppers, successfully driving adoption and repeat among our current customer base.  And, within the world of dental, BARK is proud to feature BARK Bright, an innovative oral care routine that makes caring for your dog’s teeth both joyful and effective. 

As we look forward, our ambition is high and the opportunity is huge.  BARK’s goal is to achieve leadership in dog consumables through an innovative portfolio that delivers dog happiness on our owned platforms and in the world at large.  To achieve this vision, we seek an experienced wholesale leader with the heart of a start-up entrepreneur.  Our ideal candidate will have experience in shaping the vision and ambition for a new market offering and will have a proven track record of building a business from zero to scale across mass, grocery, club and other key points of retail distribution.  The best candidate will be inspired by BARK’s direct-to-consumer foundation and how the company can flex that muscle in further expanding it’s brand and business in traditional brick and mortar and omni-channel distribution.  

KEY DUTIES

• Create the vision, roadmap, and go-to-market strategy for establishing and growing BARK’s dog consumables business at Retail (omni channel brick & mortar and e-commerce) across food, treats, toppers, and dental, including established skus and new product launches.
• Be the steward of the BARK consumables brand at retail including leadership thinking regarding the brand’s competitive advantage across channels of trade.  Provide critical category and consumer insight to fuel business and product strategies.
• Build strong relationships with retail customers; drive transformative thinking to build the BARK consumables brand at retail.
• Own the channel P&L, with responsibility for topline revenue and margin; lead cross-functional partners to manage and deliver P&L goals.
• Partner with product, supply chain, and finance leadership to identify the optimized portfolio and operation for retail success.
• Build timely and accurate sales forecasts for a variety of product lines, across participating channels of trade; lead cross-functional partners in tracking to goal.
• Inspire customers to partner with BARK and to support mutual growth objectives through presentations that are exciting:  brand-forward, fueled by data, and that bring life to shared opportunity.
• Negotiate contracts with target accounts & lead the execution of the negotiation and implement programs with internal and external partners.  Develop national sales managers to do the same.
• Develop the vision and thinking for strong, strategic account promotions designed to drive growth and achieve maximum profitable sales volume.
• Build and lead a team of sales professionals that are creative, entrepreneurial, solution-focused, and have a passion for team-play.
• Inspire and retain talent through a commitment to individual growth and the development of a thoughtful and competitive sales plan.
• Drive communication and prioritization