Job: Director of Strategy & Trade Marketing (Hookah, Shisha, Tobacco)

Our Client

The employer for this unique Director of Strategy & Trade Marketing career opportunity is a fast growing and the leading global brand for shisha/hookah consumables. They are turning a market driven by flavors into one driven by quality and branding.

Ideal Profile

We are looking for a highly accomplished, digitally savvy, brand builder, hands-on leader, and product advocate with a proven ability to develop and execute omnichannel growth and operating plans while driving customer engagement, enthusiasm and excitement for the leading global brand of shisha/hookah consumables.  The right candidate will have a deep passion and empathy for the shisha/hookah category and community, have a pedigree (and “PhD”!) in e-commerce, with an outstanding track record of consistently delivering superior results.  This leader will have direct oversight of the leading e-commerce platform within the shisha category and be responsible for the development and execution of strategies to ensure it reaches its full potential given the historic shift the category is experiencing from bricks to clicks.  Additionally, he/she must be passionate about the opportunity to develop, motivate, inspire, recruit, and drive accountability across our digital center of excellence as well as a growing team of field brand ambassadors/marketers and will be responsible for creating and implementing innovative trade and community engagement strategies.  This senior leader will be expected to be a high impact, action-oriented contributor and member of the US management team.

Objective

To summarize:

• Build a strong Trade  Marketing Strategy and supervise its implementation
• Manager Social Media presence to increase brand awareness and build a community
• Supervise the e-commerce activity

Responsibilities

• Oversight and responsibility for the delivery of sales and EBITDA plan for the brand’s US digital platform (a portfolio of leading shisha e-commerce sites)
• Develop and execute optimal route-to-market strategy to maximize brand reach and distribution to fully penetrate lounge, retail, and on-line markets while maximizing financial returns for the brand
• Build the culture, establish the processes, set the tempo/cadence for a winning trade marketing and community engagement team capable of supporting the company we are focused on becoming, one 5X as valuable as the one we are today
• Develop the company’s long-term strategy to position the brand as the preferred choice amongst the arbiters of shisha, the influencers within the category and by extension the broader shisha/hookah community
• Engage our consumers and trade partners digitally, socially, with authentic, relevant content and messaging to drive category engagement and enthusiasm and passion for the brand
• Own the delivery of strategic and financial outcomes across ecommerce, field sales, and local marketing
• Build strong and professional external relationships while gaining preferred placement and positioning within all customers
• Analyze market/territory data to drive category growth and market share gains while positively impacting consumer engagement, advocacy and brand loyalty
• Build the A-Team! Hire, coach, and develop highly skilled, passionate, and impactful current and future team members to who want to join the global leader in shisha to spread our love for shisha across the US and Americas
• Deliver world class shisha experiences to our customers, our community, wherever, whenever they are looking to enjoy and share their love of shisha … and the rest will take care of itself!

Requirements

• 10+ years of progressive sales and marketing leadership experience in the FMCG industry with an emphasis in ecommerce and omni channel sales within both startup and established brands
• Proven track record of growing brand awareness, customer engagement, and frequency of purchase and developing industry/customer specific metrics and KPIs to measure progress
• Strong desire to directly impact shareholder returns through the development and execution of market leading and defining strategies to grow sales and increase profitability
• Comfort working in a fast paced, entrepreneurial environment where you without reliance or dependency on “big corporate” infrastructure
• An innate desire to be EPIC in everything they do and fearless in the face of eggshells
• Exceptional communication skills without a fear of over communication. This role will require effective collaboration and coordination across internal and external stakeholders and global time zones!
• Appreciated previous experience: Bacardi, Diageo, Moet Hennessy, Pernod Ricard, Medmen, Cura CS, Kush Bottles, Mammoth Distribution, RJ Reynolds, Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco.
• Appreciated previous titles: Marketing Director, Brand Director, VP Marketing