Senior Sales Account Manager – Specialty Retail

About Cottage Door Press

Cottage Door Press is a fast-growing children’s publishing and consumer products company located in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. We create high-quality, engaging products designed to inspire curiosity, learning, and a love of reading. As we continue to expand our retail presence, we are seeking an experienced Senior Sales Account Manager to join our sales team.

Role Overview

The Senior Sales Account Manager will own and manage a portfolio of specialty retail accounts with responsibility for developing account strategy, driving profitable growth, and building strong, long-term customer relationships. This position will lead all aspects of the business across assigned accounts, including sales planning, buyer presentations, negotiations, forecasting, execution, and performance analysis.

The ideal candidate is an experienced, proactive sales professional who understands the retail environment, can independently manage buyer relationships and independent sales representatives, and has a demonstrated ability to identify and convert opportunities into profitable growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the sales strategy, annual budget, and overall performance of a portfolio of specialty retail accounts.
• Develop and execute account-specific growth plans aligned with company sales and profitability objectives.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with buyers and other key customer decision-makers.
• Identify and pursue new product placements, programs, departments, and other opportunities to expand the business within existing and prospective accounts.
• Independently lead customer meetings, presentations, negotiations, and ongoing account communication.
• Negotiate pricing, terms, programs, and vendor agreements while maintaining company profitability objectives.
• Manage the complete customer presentation and submission process, including presentations, product samples, item submissions, pricing, product information, and follow-up.
• Develop and maintain accurate monthly, quarterly, and annual sales forecasts.
• Analyze sales performance, POS data, inventory, and account trends to identify opportunities, risks, and appropriate actions.
• Ensure customer deadlines, vendor requirements, product launches, and program commitments are executed accurately and on time.
• Manage promotional spending, placement fees, advertising allowances, markdown support, and returns as appropriate.
• Manage and provide direction to independent sales representatives, including establishing priorities, communicating sales strategies and product opportunities, monitoring performance, and ensuring alignment with company objectives.
• Partner cross-functionally with Marketing, Creative, Operations, Demand Planning, and other internal teams to execute customer programs and achieve account objectives.
• Provide customer and market insights to help inform product development, assortment planning, and broader sales strategy.
• Proactively resolve customer issues and develop solutions that support both the customer relationship and company objectives.
• Represent Cottage Door Press at customer meetings, trade shows, and industry events.
• Other duties as assigned.