Director of Sales, Specialty & Trail Run - Merrell

Merrell exists to share the simple power of being outside with everyone. We believe the "outdoors" is a much broader space than just the mountain summit; it’s any space beyond your front door. Our mission is to help our community rethink the outdoors by building gear that works everywhere, from technical alpine ridges to urban city streets. We don't just follow the trail; we help define where it goes next.
We are a team that lives at the intersection of elite performance and modern style. Our history on the trail and commitment to innovation has made us the most awarded brand in the outdoor space. Recently, our MTL SpeedARC Peak won the prestigious ISPO Award for its breakthrough trail-racing tech, while the SpeedARC Surge BOA was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions for its modern, futuristic design and energy return. Whether it’s the Moab 3 being named “Best Hiking Shoe” by CNN Underscored and Popular Mechanics, or the Jungle Moc being recognized by HuffPicks as the gold standard for comfort, we are consistently recognized for building the most reliable, and most innovative, gear in the world.
The Director of Specialty Sales will play a key role in this transformation by leading the strategy to grow Merrell’s US Wholesale business, by overseeing sales across Run Specialty, Outdoor Specialty, and Sneaker shops, the key places where many consumers first discover and connect with our brand. This role leads a multi-region team made up largely of independent sales agencies, requiring a leader who can influence, align and motivate partners beyond direct reporting lines. The Director sets the long-term strategic direction for the channel to modernize hike, expand trail run, and boost lifestyle segments, bringing the brand platform to life with retail partners while building strong customer relationships. This is a rare opportunity to shape how Merrell grows at a true inflection point for the brand. Success requires inspirational leadership, selling with data-driven insights, executing impactful sales strategies, and strong executive presence and presentation skills.

Primary Duties:

Strategy & Vision

• Formulates and owns the multi-year (3–5 year) US Specialty channel strategy across Run and Outdoor Specialty, setting growth targets, building distribution plans, establishing growth priorities, and outlining the investment case for change.
• Apply a strategic view of the marketplace and customers, including retailer health, consumer and competitive trends and emerging channels, to anticipate shifts; bring insights and recommendations to Merrell executives to inform long-range planning.
• Serve as the voice of the specialty channel and its customers in global product creation and line planning, influencing assortment, pricing architecture and the product roadmap well beyond the current season.
• Analyzes the business and marketplace using qualitative and quantitative data to define the most relevant and systemic organizational issues and opportunities and drives action plans to address.
• Deliver recommendations to executives that are supported by robust analysis and documentation, communicate key insights clearly and crisply, and translate into action plans.

Executing Winning Sales Plans

• Aligns sales and brand priorities to support implementation of brand and corporate strategies.
• Lead the development of Annual Operating Plans for your channels that translates strategic initiatives into actionable plans and milestones and adjust activities and timelines as circumstances warrant.
• Lead the development of the channel’s annual sales budget and regional and key account sales plans, aligned to the multi-year strategy.
• Lead regular review of shipments and orders, sales and stock levels, merchandising and markdowns with Account Executives and Agents.

Customer & Account Leadership

• Strategically cultivate new accounts to penetrate new markets, targeting those with the greatest impact, while expanding business with existing accounts and maintaining executive-level customer relationships.
• Develop long-term strategic plans with key customers and communicate brand vision and strategy with impact to all relevant customers.
• Drive revenue and profitability through in-depth wholesaler knowledge, account and margin analysis, detailed progress reviews and creative thinking.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Build strong partnerships as an influential strategic business leader across Merrell and the brand, driving global alignment on business planning with financial partners, regional leads, product, merchandising, marketing and planning teams.
• Collaborate with product, merchandising and product creation on line plan and global assortment, in the context of the larger assortment and cost structure; review and approve seasonal business proposals for each customer.
• Collaborate with the brand’s marketing team to develop and execute sales and marketing programs for key retailers and deliver a strong return on co-op dollars.
• Work with internal and external resources to develop and manage go-to-market strategies, programs, assets and sales tools that support the strategy and meet or exceed sales plans.
• Oversee communications and feedback between customers and internal partners in Sales, Design, Production and retail coordinators.

Team Leadership

• Lead and develop a high-performance multi-region sales organization composed largely of independent agencies and agents, including agency selection, territory and coverage design, performance expectations, compensation and incentive alignment, and succession; ensure appropriate training, feedback and brand alignment to increase the commercial aptitude of the team.
• Play an active role on the North American Sales Leadership team, helping to support key corporate presentations and reports-outs, and running of sales meetings.

Other

• Performs duties consistent with the company’s AAP/EEO goals and policies.
• Performs other duties as required/assigned by manager.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field or equivalent work experience. 10+ years of sales experience in wholesale footwear, with at least 3 years of people management experience.
• Deep understanding of the competitive footwear landscape, with proven experience in Run Specialty, Outdoor Specialty and Sneaker channels.
• A track record of driving sales growth, through inspiring and building high-performance teams across the US and creating a culture focused on return on investment.
• Strong negotiation skills and ability to identify win-win solutions. Innovative mindset driving new ways of working and winning in the market.
• Proven history of building & inspiring high-performing sales teams, including managing and influencing independent agencies and agents, with excellence in recruiting, engaging, aligning and unlocking the potential of sales reps and agents (both internal and independent).
• Recognized as a change agent, driving continuous process improvements and introducing best practices across the organization in support of better outcomes and greater profitability.
• The ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships both internally and externally.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including a high comfort level with public speaking and presenting with impact.
• A strong collaborator able to work well in cross-functional organizations at all levels within multiple parts of the organization through interpersonal diplomacy.
• The ability to multi-task, combining strategy and execution; and a willingness to step in to get the job done. Proficient in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
• A track record of effectively working to a budget and measuring results.

Working Conditions:

Position may be remote. Normal office & field environment. Travel required.

#LI-KD

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW) is a global footwear and apparel company driven by a vision to Make. Every Day. Better. Founded in 1883, the Company builds and grows iconic brands including Merrell®, Saucony®, Wolverine®, Sweaty Betty®, Chaco®, Hush Puppies®, Stride Rite®, HYTEST®, and Bates®, along with footwear licenses for Cat® and Harley-Davidson®. Headquartered in Rockford, Michigan, the Company’s products are sold in approximately 170 countries and territories worldwide. For more information, visit www.wolverineworldwide.com.

In 2025, the Company was recognized by Footwear News as Company of the Year, by Forbes as one of America’s Dream Employers, America’s Best Employers for Women, and America’s Best Employers for Company Culture, and by Inspiring Workplaces as one of the Most Inspiring Workplaces Globally.

Wolverine Worldwide is a Certified™ Great Place To Work®.

Salary Minimum

$168,000.00

Salary Maximum

$220,500.00

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills which may be required.

Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. is committed to creating a company that is as diverse as our consumers. We value the differences in one another and believe our differences make us stronger. Our diverse and inclusive corporate culture starts with the recruitment process. We are committed to being an equal opportunity employer. We aim to create equal opportunities for our associates, customers, and suppliers regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other legally protected characteristic.