Director, Commercial & Specialty Sales

BENCHMADE•Oregon Remote, OR

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Benchmade is a premium American brand with decades of craft, a fiercely loyal customer base, products people are proud to carry for life, and meaningful momentum across the business. We are looking for a proven field builder to take that momentum deeper into specialty retail and priority commercial accounts. This role reports directly to the Vice President of Sales & Marketing and owns the build of the field engine. The Director will lead the national independent rep network, establish field standards, develop priority accounts, create the operating playbook, run the activation calendar, and personally model how Benchmade shows up, sells, and wins at retail. This is a hands-on role where the individual will help write the script for field sales success.

Requirements

Proven field builder experience.
Experience leading field sales, wholesale, specialty retail, national accounts, market development, or commercial growth for a premium consumer brand.
Experience may come from outdoor, performance, footwear, fashion, EDC, sporting goods, specialty hardgoods, or similar categories.
Evidence of building or transforming a territory, channel, team, rep network, account portfolio, or commercial system.
Evidence of growing measurable revenue or units.
Experience leading independent rep agencies or influencing teams that did not report directly.
Experience working successfully with independent specialty dealers and meaningful national accounts.
Experience turning product and brand stories into effective retail selling motions.
Experience using data to identify growth whitespace, prioritize markets, and make better field decisions.
Experience creating activations, events, trainings, or merchandising programs that drove sell-through.
Experience personally asking for and closing meaningful business.
Ability to operate with urgency without sacrificing relationships, judgment, or brand integrity.
Ability to move naturally from executive conversations to rep huddles to dealer floors.
Possession of commercial math, brand instinct, physical energy, direct communication, and low-ego leadership.
Willingness to travel extensively, as travel is considered the real job.

Nice To Haves

May already be a Director, or a high-performing regional or national leader ready to own the entire build.

Responsibilities

Own unit growth across existing and new specialty dealers and assigned priority commercial accounts, accountable for units per active dealer, reorder rate, sell-through, assortment depth, active displays, rep productivity, account expansion, and new doors.
Create the activity and operating system that drives commercial outcomes.
Captain the national rep network by establishing market plans, leading ride-alongs, setting expectations, training the selling motion, inspecting results, and making Benchmade the preferred line for partners.
Work the retail floor by walking stores, assessing business, improving displays, training staff, running product demonstrations, building events, presenting programs, asking for the order, and closing the next move.
Build the Benchmade field playbook, creating repeatable standards for dealer tiering, route planning, visit preparation, display merchandising, floor team training, program pitching, account expansion, whitespace unlocking, new door opening, and securing recurring orders.
Run the activation engine by building a national calendar of dealer activations, demonstrations, market visits, product drops, retail events, and territory-level Super Clinics to make Benchmade feel alive at retail.
Work across Marketing, Product, Go-to-Market, Events, Customer Experience, Revenue Operations, and field partners to drive unit movement.
Bring rigor to the field by operating with a visible scoreboard covering units, displays, turns, reorders, assortment, coverage, rep productivity, priority-account growth, and next moves.
Help shape the future structure, tools, resources, calendar, and capabilities of the commercial organization as the channel scales.