About Awe Inspired
At Awe Inspired, we design fine jewelry as a vehicle for self-empowerment.
Our beloved Goddess Collection has been worn by some of the most inspiring women in the world (Madonna, Miley, Cardi, Demi, Tyra, SJP, Halsey, etc) and featured in Vogue, W, Marie Claire, Forbes, and People.
Celebrating intersectional feminism and diversity is at the core of who we are and what we do.
20% of all proceeds benefit our incredible charity partners, and to date we’ve donated over $600,000 to the causes we champion.
We’ve experienced 4x revenue growth in 2020 and have ambitious plans to continue on that growth path in 2021 and beyond.
We’re on a mission to enhance the human experience through gifts (beyond just the jewelry category) that celebrate individuality, give back, foster human connections, and leave people in awe.
Due to the pandemic, the team has been operating remotely, but will open a new Culver City office in Q3 2021.
Position Summary
We are looking for a scrappy and relentless Director of Business Development and Sales who will develop retail, wholesale, co-marketing, partnership, and pop-up activations with strategic retailers, peer brands, marketplaces, and showrooms that drive topline revenue growth while expanding our brand equity and awareness.
Our ideal candidate is enthralled with Awe’s mission to empower women through storytelling and activism and give back generously, and will do whatever it takes to expand Awe into new sales channels efficiently and effectively.
This is a commercial-centric role that will work cross-functionally to identify, negotiate, and nurture business development opportunities that open new sales channels and drive top line revenue growth.
These partnerships will require coordination across our entire team and frequent alignment with our founders.
The ideal candidate is a total self-starter who is fearless about leveraging our collective networks to get wholesale, retail, and partnership pitches from ideation to contract to execution (including full standup/project management) in rapid succession.
You will report directly to the CEO.
Key Responsibilities
Set the strategy to identify retail, wholesale, co-marketing, and pop-up activations with like-minded brands, retailers, marketplaces, and showrooms that 1) align with our community’s interests 2) drive business scale and 3) are brand accretive;
Build a transparent, strategic pipeline of potential partners, including managing inbound requests;
Represent the Awe brand with all external sales channel partners, including in person opportunities like trade shows, showroom appointments, and regional retailer visits (expect 10% travel time);
Pitch new opportunities, negotiate terms, and win new business;
Oversee and project manage all updates to sales channel pitch materials, including line sheets and presentation decks;
Work closely with internal partners including growth, social media, PR, merchandising, finance, and ecommerce to ensure flawless execution;
Develop KPIs and consistently analyze the performance and impact of new business opportunities and sales channels for constant growth and optimization;
Supplement our semi-regular industry and product category audits with market share research to help inform our decision making process about new categories for product development;
Internally communicate BD plans and performance to both educate and inspire the organization.
Preferred Qualifications
Bachelor’s in Business, Marketing or related field; MBA, a plus;
7-10 years of relevant Business Development/Partnership experience, preferably within a high-growth consumer company or management consulting;
Must have sales experience and a track record of building up wholesale and marketplace fashion and replenishment business for consumer brands, with a strong network of wholesale, sales representative, and retail contacts at independent and major retailers.
Experience building partnerships with key regional showrooms highly preferred.
Trade show experience highly preferred;
Experience negotiating terms including revenue-sharing agreements (or cost per acquired customer, wholesale terms or equivalent);
Active in the eCommerce industry and community with a high level of knowledge and interest across eCommerce and Tech trends, opportunities, and the competitive landscape;
Ability to independently lead both strategy and execution, gain internal consensus, and communicate effectively;
Ability to collaborate well with cross-functional teams and thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced, and highly-fluid environment;
Must be proactive, highly creative, and a self-starter/motivator;
Exceptional presentation, written and verbal communication skills; no hesitation to cold-call potential partners;
High aesthetic bar to consistently delight our users and elevate our luxury positioning;
Eager to jump aboard a rocket ship.
Benefits
Attractive base salary, performance-based bonus, and equity package;
Generous vacation and healthcare benefits;
Opportunity to create products that bring meaning and strength to women and minorities and supports those in need through our charity give back program;
Trajectory and history of success at a brand that is profitable and operates in a fast-growing, highly-attractive market segment;
Collaboration opportunity with enthusiastic founder team;
Caring environment that values the societal impacts of its operations as much as financial gain.