Trade Director – Wise Foods Location: Philadelphia, PA

Trade Director – Wise Foods

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Wise Foods is seeking a Trade Director to lead the company's national trade strategy, investment governance, and promotional effectiveness across all channels as part of the redesigned commercial organization. This is a newly established enterprise role created to centralize trade planning, improve return on investment, and strengthen alignment between Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Supply Chain.

The Trade Director is accountable for developing and governing trade strategy at a national level, ensuring disciplined investment decisions, consistent execution, and data-driven evaluation of promotional effectiveness. This role plays a critical role in improving profitability, execution clarity, and cross-functional alignment across the commercial organization.

Areas of Responsibility

1. National Trade Strategy and Governance

• Develop and own Wise Foods' national trade strategy across all customer channels, including convenience, club, value, food service, and vending.
• Establish clear trade investment frameworks, guardrails, and approval processes to ensure disciplined and consistent decision-making.
• Define national trade objectives aligned with company sales, margin, and EBITDA targets.

1. Trade Investment Planning and Optimization

• Lead annual and long-range trade investment planning in partnership with Sales, Marketing, and Finance.
• Evaluate proposed trade programs for financial impact, ROI, and alignment with strategic priorities.
• Balance growth opportunities with margin protection through data-driven investment decisions.

1. Promotional Effectiveness and Analytics

• Develop and manage trade analytics capabilities to evaluate promotional performance across customers and channels.
• Establish standardized metrics, scorecards, and reporting to assess effectiveness, lift, and profitability.
• Use insights to refine future trade strategies and improve execution consistency.

1. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Sales leadership to align trade strategies with customer plans and execution requirements.
• Collaborate with Marketing on promotional design, timing, and messaging.
• Work with Finance to ensure accurate forecasting, accrual management, and post-event analysis.
• Coordinate with Supply Chain and Operations to ensure trade plans are operationally feasible.

1. Process Improvement and Standardization

• Design and implement standardized trade planning and evaluation processes across the organization.
• Reduce complexity and variability in trade execution by establishing clear guidelines and best practices.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

1. Leadership and Capability Development

• Serve as a subject matter expert on trade strategy and promotional effectiveness.
• Coach and support sales and account teams on trade planning, execution, and evaluation.
• Build organizational capability around disciplined trade management and ROI-focused decision-making.

Education & Experience Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA preferred.
• 8+ years of experience in trade marketing, commercial analytics, sales strategy, or related roles.
• Demonstrated experience managing large-scale trade investments and promotional programs.
• Strong analytical, financial, and cross-functional leadership skills.

Physical Demands & Work Environment

• Periodic travel to company offices, customers, and internal meetings.
• Standard office environment.

 

 

About Wise:
Wise Foods Inc. is a leading producer of salty snacks with a long heritage. Founded in 1921, Wise is a brand of tradition and authenticity that consumers have come to know and trust over the last 100 years. Since