Sales Director, Personal Care Retail Private Brands

PLZ, Corp•Downers Grove, IL

6d•$150,000 - $180,000•Remote

About The Position

The Sales Director – Retail Private Brands, Personal Care Solutions will build PLZ’s retail private-label personal care business from the ground up. The role develops a prioritized retailer and customer strategy, identifies attractive categories and assortment gaps, and differentiates PLZ through its manufacturing, innovation, quality, regulatory, and commercialization capabilities. The position combines an entrepreneurial builder and hunter mindset with influence, collaboration, and disciplined execution. Working closely with the Retail Category Director and other team members, the Sales Director will develop and execute the retail private-label growth strategy, win new business, manage broker relationships, lead retailer-specific product concepts, and coordinate internal teams to launch profitable programs. The position is remote, with up to 50% travel across the US and Canada. The preferred location is the Chicago area; Minneapolis may also be considered. The role owns customer development and the commercial pipeline from prospecting through commercialization, including opportunity qualification, RFP/RFQ processes, pricing, negotiations, onboarding, forecasting, and launch. It also partners cross-functionally to turn customer requirements into executable plans and ensure programs meet manufacturing, quality, regulatory, supply-chain, and service expectations. The base salary range is $150,000 to $180,000 per year, varying by geographic market and job-related factors.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Chemistry, Consumer Products, Supply Chain, or a related field.
7–10 years of progressive sales, business-development, or commercial-leadership experience in consumer products, retail, private label, personal care, beauty, or related industries.
Proven private-label experience, including direct involvement with retailer-owned or store-brand programs.
Experience selling directly to retailers, including mass, drug, grocery, club, specialty, beauty, or regional retail customers.
Experience managing brokers, sales agencies, or external commercial partners.
Understanding of retail customer development, private-label commercialization, category management, line reviews, RFP/RFQ processes, assortment-gap identification, and retailer decision-making.
Ability to develop retailer-specific product concepts and translate customer and category insights into commercially viable programs.
Ability to build, prioritize, and convert a strategic sales pipeline in complex retail environments.
Strong financial acumen, including pricing strategy, margin management, customer profitability, demand forecasting, launch economics, and business-case development.
Experience working cross-functionally with Product Development, Operations, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Chain, Procurement, Finance, Marketing, and Customer Service teams.
Strong executive-level communication, negotiation, presentation, influence, and collaboration skills.
Entrepreneurial, accountable builder/hunter who can create a new business while engaging the broader organization and leveraging existing capabilities.
CRM proficiency.

Nice To Haves

MBA.
Personal care experience, particularly in skin care, hair care, bath and body, sun care, deodorants/antiperspirants, shave, or related consumer-product categories.
Contract-manufacturing experience.
Branded-product experience.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a retail private-label personal care growth strategy with the Retail Category Director and other team members.
Prioritize target retailers, categories, and assortment gaps based on where PLZ can compete effectively; build and maintain an 80/20 target-account strategy.
Identify and pursue opportunities across skin care, hair care, bath and body, sun care, deodorants and antiperspirants, shave, and adjacent personal care categories.
Position PLZ as a private-label partner through product innovation, category insight, regulatory compliance, supply-chain reliability, scalable manufacturing, and speed-to-market execution.
Monitor consumer trends, retailer strategies, competitive activity, and category insights to identify growth and innovation opportunities.
Develop and maintain relationships with retail buyers, private-brand leaders, category managers, sourcing and procurement teams, brokers, and other customer stakeholders.
Lead customer presentations, innovation reviews, assortment discussions, line reviews, RFP/RFQ processes, pricing negotiations, and annual business planning.
Develop retailer-specific product concepts and account strategies aligned with customer needs and PLZ’s operational and financial objectives.
Serve as the primary commercial contact for assigned customers and prospective accounts, and represent the organization at conferences, retailer meetings, trade shows, and industry events.
Manage brokers, sales agencies, and other external partners; set expectations, account priorities, business-development objectives, and opportunity-tracking processes; drive accountability for results.
Own the sales pipeline from prospecting through commercialization, including qualification, bids, pricing, contract negotiations, onboarding, forecasting, and launch.
Drive accountability for new-business revenue, profitability, pipeline development, forecast accuracy, launch readiness, and post-launch performance.
Maintain accurate CRM reporting on opportunity size, probability, timing, financial impact, risks, customer requirements, and next steps.
Partner with Finance and business leadership on pricing, margins, customer profitability, investment decisions, and commercial trade-offs.
Manage the portfolio and opportunities to maximize strategic and financial value; analyze wins and losses and implement improvements.
Partner with R&D, Product Development, Operations, Quality, Regulatory, Procurement, Supply Chain, Marketing, and Customer Service to commercialize products and programs.
Translate customer requirements into project plans covering specifications, formulations, packaging, regulatory requirements, testing, timelines, and operational readiness.
Ensure customer commitments align with manufacturing capabilities, quality standards, lead times, and service expectations; resolve issues that could affect approvals, commercialization, or launches.
Support post-launch business reviews and account-growth initiatives.