Customer Development Manager

About Maesa

Maesa is the world's largest independent beauty incubator, housing numerous, fast growing "it" brands within all categories of beauty. We are a high growth global company in the middle of the transition from founder lead to private equity owned. With an incubation flywheel ideating on new global brand launches, Maesa pushes creative and technical boundaries to deliver exceptional performance and establish global staying power. Maesa has a keen focus on marketing and white space analysis, which guides its thinking on marketing existing brands as well as development of new brands through its extremely unique structure. We are vertically integrated globally with inhouse marketing, branding, product development/formulation, packaging design/engineering and regulatory. With a focus on modernity and sustainability, we design innovative solutions and make proactive choices to achieve environmental neutrality and consumer wellness. Maesa has mastered "commercializing creativity," making itself a leader in the fundamental revolutionary change in the beauty industry. Headquartered in New York and Paris, with additional offices in Los Angeles, Vienna, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Dongguan, Maesa employs about 400 team members worldwide.

Maesa is currently seeking to hire a Customer Development Manager to support our growing portfolio of brands at Ulta and Walgreens, located in Chicago with additional accounts in the future. 

Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Customer Development, this role offers the opportunity to be part of a passionate group of individuals who love building some of the most exciting and fastest growing beauty brands at retail.  The Customer Development Manager will be responsible for all aspects of the business associated with account management as the key interface of the Maesa relationship with the customer.  This position will require the individual to build strong relationships with our retail partners, execute with excellence the sell in of the product portfolio, and implement promotional programs that drive profitable business performance. The incumbent will also be responsible for regular management of the 4Ps at the customer, ensures internal/external alignment, & grows/maintains relationships with key internal & external stakeholders.  The incumbent also participates in special projects as assigned by the supervisor. 

Product portfolio and implement promotional programs that drive profitable business performance. The incumbent will also be responsible for regular management of the 4Ps at the customer, ensures internal/external alignment, & grows/maintains relationships with key internal & external stakeholders.  The incumbent also participates in special projects as assigned by the supervisor. 

Responsibilities:

• Full execution and optimization of sales plan to drive net sales & market share growth across customer base to which the incumbent is responsible
• Develop and nurture strong relationships with all relevant stakeholders at our retail, distribution, and internal partners.
• Be a fierce negotiator that drives profitable growth for both Maesa & the customer
• Responsible for leading strong collaboration with multiple internal stakeholders, balancing needs of the brand with demands of the customer to deliver win-win scenarios, leaning on experts across stakeholder groups, and instilling followership in efforts to win with a highly dynamic/evolving customer
• Be the primary contact and liaison with your accounts. Be an expert for the full brand portfolio, being able to speak fluently about the brands’ product offerings.
• Be knowledgeable about competing brands and products at the specific customer and across the marketplace.
• Leads annual business planning process within the mass beauty business. Leverages business analytics to influence customer and company decision making at top-to-top levels.
• Coordinate with Business Analysts and Operations on special projects for prepacks, promotions, and incremental purchases.
• Responsible for accurate forecasting of monthly sales by franchise and/or brands.
• Serves as “voice of customer” to the company to address customer needs and accomplish goals and objectives, including launch of new items and optimal 4P execution
• Lead customer meeting and presentation preparations as well as account administrative responsibilities:

• Maintenance of items (SKU) information, updates, pricing, etc.
• Implement new items and planogram updates
• Completion of all paperwork and forms needed by each account i.e. new items setup, add/deletes, conversion kits and prepacks where a broker is not assigned
• Maintain store list & distribution history
• Lead analytic assessment with available data sources i.e. customer POS or syndicated data to develop customer presentation/stories

• Utilizes internal/customer business systems to manage and maximize plans. Regularly reconciles deductions/payments and updates promotional plans to remain within budget
• May have 1 or more direct reports.
• Additional ad hoc projects as needed.
• Travel to NYC office and customer locations up to 15% 

Requirements

• Undergraduate 4-year degree
• 5+ years of experience in account management/portfolio ownership
• Direct and recent experience working with Ulta and/or Walgreens is required
• Experience working with other national chains is required
• Experience in merchandising, retail or buying preferred
• A passion for Beauty
• Previous experience and the ability to work in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment
• Big picture orientation with attention to detail and accuracy
• Interpersonal skills; ability to work well with others while driving improvement of performance of the team
• You possess great communication skills; both verbal and written
• Exceptional organizational and problem-solving skills

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