Job Summary

The Head of Trade Marketing is responsible for translating brand strategy into commercial programs that drive distribution, visibility, velocity and depletions across key retail and on-premise channels. This role sits at the intersection of Marketing and Sales, ensuring that brand initiatives are effectively activated in market through compelling trade programs, customer marketing initiatives, and retail execution strategies.



Reporting to the VP of Marketing, the Director of Trade Marketing will serve as a key strategic leader within the organization. This leader will develop the company’s trade marketing strategy, manage trade investment programs, and partner closely with Sales leadership customers, and distributor partners to accelerate growth across priority brands and channels. This role serves as a key commercial growth driver for the organization, owning the development of trade strategies and programming that drive depletion growth, velocity, and share gains across priority brands and channels.


Key focus areas will include:


Trade Strategy & Commercial Planning

•  Develop and lead the company’s trade marketing strategy across key channels including national accounts, regional chains, independent retail, on-premise, and e-commerce.

•  Translate brand strategies into annual and multi-year commercial programs that drive distribution, displays, features, menu placements, and retail visibility.

•  Identify opportunities to increase velocity within existing distribution, developing targeted programming, and merchandising initiatives that improve rate of sale per point of distribution.


Portfolio Strategy & Channel Architecture

•  Partner with Brand Marketing, Sales, and Innovation to shape portfolio strategy by channel, ensuring the right brands, price tiers, formats, and SKUs are prioritized to maximize distribution and velocity.

•  Define the role of brands within the portfolio across channels and translate these priorities into clear selling stories for distributor and customer engagement.

•  Partner with Sales and Marketing to ensure portfolio prioritization aligns with commercial opportunity, and channel strategy.


Customer, Shopper & Distributor Marketing

•  Develop customer-specific marketing programs and activation playbooks tailored to key national and regional accounts.

•  Partner with Sales leadership to create compelling insight driven selling tools, presentations, and activation plans that translate portfolio strategy into value for distributors and customers.

•  Ensure distributor sales teams are equipped with the materials, messaging, and activation programs necessary to drive field execution portfolio growth.


Trade Investment & Program Management

•  Develop and manage trade investment strategy, including allocation of spend across customers, channels, and brands to maximize ROI.

•  Partner with Finance and Sales to ensure trade investments align with commercial priorities and deliver measurable return. Establish frameworks to evaluate the effectiveness and ROI of trade programs and customer initiatives.


Activation Tools

•  Lead development of point-of-sale materials, merchandising programs, and retail activation tools (coupons, etc) that support brand priorities.

•  Support development of on-premise activation strategies including menu placements, by-the-glass programs, and experiential initiatives.

•  Ensure programs are scalable across markets while allowing flexibility for local execution.


Digital Shelf & E-Commerce Execution

•  Own the company’s digital shelf strategy across retailer e-commerce platforms and distributor portals.

•  Ensure product pages, imagery, descriptions, and brand content are optimized to drive search visibility and conversion.

•  Partner with Brand, Digital, and Sales teams to maintain consistent, high-quality product content across online retail environments.


Insights & Performance Tracking

•  Utilize market data (Circana, Nielsen, depletion data, distributor insights) to inform trade strategy and program development.

•  Track and evaluate trade program performance to continuously improve effectiveness and commercial impact.

•  Provide insights into market trends, customer dynamics, and competitive activity to inform sales and marketing strategies.

•  Analyze distribution vs. velocity performance across key brands and customers, identifying gaps and opportunities to drive increased velocity and depletion growth within existing placements.


Events & Industry Engagement

•  Lead the planning and execution of key internal and external events that support distributor engagement, customer relationships, and portfolio storytelling.

•  Key events include: Monthly Sales & Marketing Meetings, Global Sales Meeting, WSWA, & Regional and national trade shows


Education/Background

•  10+ years of experience in trade marketing, shopper marketing, or commercial marketing within CPG, beverage alcohol, or related industries

•  BA in Business Administration, Sales, Marketing or equivalent experience, MBA preferred



Experiences.

•  Deep understanding of the three-tier distribution system and beverage alcohol marketplace.

•  Strong experience working with distributor partners and national accounts.

•  Demonstrated ability to translate brand strategy into commercial programs that drive results.

•  Strong analytical skills with experience using market data platforms (Circana, Nielsen, etc.).

•  Proven leadership experience managing cross-functional teams.