Manager of Channel Strategy (Remote Available)
S&S Activewear
Date: 1 day ago
City: Bolingbrook, Illinois
Contract type: Full time
Remote
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About Us
S&S Activewear is a leading North American, tech-enabled specialty distributor of imprintable apparel, including t-shirts, fleece, athletic wear, headwear, workwear, scrubs and accessories. We pride ourselves on being the “critical link” that enables our 100+ brand partners such as Adidas, Columbia and Gildan to reach our hyper-fragmented base of customers, comprised of apparel decorators, eRetailers and promotional products distributors that embellish apparel items for diverse end consumer use cases (e.g., everyday wear, concerts, fitness attire, life events, team sports, etc.). At S&S, we differentiate in the market through a customer service focus, strategic product portfolio, world-class distribution infrastructure, a collaborative growth culture and a relentless focus on technology and innovation.
Our success has compounded since the Company’s humble beginnings in 1988 as a regional t-shirt distributor to a leading, multi-billion-dollar value-added distribution platform that drives market penetration for our suppliers while enabling the growth, operations and fulfillment for a diverse range of customers across channels and business sizes. We strive to be the apparel distributor of choice while inspiring and fostering growth for customers, employees and suppliers through our core values of service, deep relationships, innovation, continuous improvement and accountability.
About The Role
The Channel Manager – Promotional Product Distributors (PPD), supports the commercial organization in driving performance across the PPD segment, a segment of customers that purchase undecorated products for resale and customization. This role does not manage individual customer accounts or own channel P&Ls directly, but instead provides analytical, strategic, and operational support to improve sales effectiveness, marketing return, and align product offerings with the needs of each channel. The Channel Manager – PPD is responsible for creating the overall PPD Channel Strategy, as well as the supporting training and sales materials that enable the sales teams to effectively execute the aligned strategy for the given channel. The Manager will work with key sales, marketing, merchandising, and analytic resources to understand core business needs and drivers and leverage these functions to deliver plans, activities, and tools that meet these needs and enable sales to execute agreed plans. The Channel Manager - PPD plays a key role in supporting strategic customer planning sessions, preparing for top-to-top meetings with key customers, and developing customer solutions to be implemented within the channel.
Qualified candidates must possess excellent strategy, communication and presentation skills, be comfortable interacting with sales leadership, customers and internal collaborating teams, and have a demonstrated ability to analyze data to identify strategic and tactical opportunities to grow the business.
Monday-Friday, Full-Time, Exempt
Remote Available
What You Will Do
Channel Support & Sales Enablement
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or listen.
Working Environment
This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Equal Opportunity Employer
S&S Activewear welcomes people of all backgrounds and experiences and are committed to creating a diverse culture and supporting human growth. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal opportunity for all employees and applicants. We conduct business without regard to sex, race, creed, color, religion, marital status, national origin, citizenship status, age, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, military status, status as a veteran, or any other protected characteristic. Our policy is to recruit, hire, train, promote, assign, transfer, and terminate employees based on their own ability, achievement, experience and conduct and other legitimate business reasons. S&S participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm you are authorized to work in the U.S. This job offer is contingent upon the completion of a satisfactory background check.
About Us
S&S Activewear is a leading North American, tech-enabled specialty distributor of imprintable apparel, including t-shirts, fleece, athletic wear, headwear, workwear, scrubs and accessories. We pride ourselves on being the “critical link” that enables our 100+ brand partners such as Adidas, Columbia and Gildan to reach our hyper-fragmented base of customers, comprised of apparel decorators, eRetailers and promotional products distributors that embellish apparel items for diverse end consumer use cases (e.g., everyday wear, concerts, fitness attire, life events, team sports, etc.). At S&S, we differentiate in the market through a customer service focus, strategic product portfolio, world-class distribution infrastructure, a collaborative growth culture and a relentless focus on technology and innovation.
Our success has compounded since the Company’s humble beginnings in 1988 as a regional t-shirt distributor to a leading, multi-billion-dollar value-added distribution platform that drives market penetration for our suppliers while enabling the growth, operations and fulfillment for a diverse range of customers across channels and business sizes. We strive to be the apparel distributor of choice while inspiring and fostering growth for customers, employees and suppliers through our core values of service, deep relationships, innovation, continuous improvement and accountability.
About The Role
The Channel Manager – Promotional Product Distributors (PPD), supports the commercial organization in driving performance across the PPD segment, a segment of customers that purchase undecorated products for resale and customization. This role does not manage individual customer accounts or own channel P&Ls directly, but instead provides analytical, strategic, and operational support to improve sales effectiveness, marketing return, and align product offerings with the needs of each channel. The Channel Manager – PPD is responsible for creating the overall PPD Channel Strategy, as well as the supporting training and sales materials that enable the sales teams to effectively execute the aligned strategy for the given channel. The Manager will work with key sales, marketing, merchandising, and analytic resources to understand core business needs and drivers and leverage these functions to deliver plans, activities, and tools that meet these needs and enable sales to execute agreed plans. The Channel Manager - PPD plays a key role in supporting strategic customer planning sessions, preparing for top-to-top meetings with key customers, and developing customer solutions to be implemented within the channel.
Qualified candidates must possess excellent strategy, communication and presentation skills, be comfortable interacting with sales leadership, customers and internal collaborating teams, and have a demonstrated ability to analyze data to identify strategic and tactical opportunities to grow the business.
Monday-Friday, Full-Time, Exempt
Remote Available
What You Will Do
Channel Support & Sales Enablement
- Serve as a strategic partner to channel sales teams (Retail, Strategic Accounts, Teams/Uniforms, E-Commerce) by delivering insights, tools, and planning support related to the PPD Channel and Customers.
- Develop PPD channel-specific playbooks, product bundles, and sales enablement materials to help sales teams position offerings effectively.
- Assist in preparing for key account engagements, including top-to-top meetings and joint business planning sessions, by compiling sales data, market trends, and customized proposals.
- Deliver customer solutions that bring to life the unique benefits of S&S
- Support ongoing refinement of customer segmentation models within each channel.
- Contribute to cross-functional initiatives that align pricing, distribution, and brand strategies with channel goals.
- Track channel-level trends, performance metrics, and competitive movements to inform commercial strategy.
- Identify opportunities to incrementally, and dramatically, grow business within assigned channel customers
- Partner with the Merchandising team to recommend the optimal product mix and brand assortment for each sub-segment within a channel.
- Analyze product performance by customer segment to identify gaps and opportunities.
- Support seasonal line planning and product launches with segment-specific input from the field and market feedback.
- Work closely with Sales, Merchandising, Marketing, and Supply Chain teams to ensure alignment between commercial objectives and operational execution.
- Coordinate communication and project tracking across teams for large account initiatives or channel-wide promotions.
- Bachelor’s degree in Business , Marketing, Merchandising, or related field.
- 4+ years of experience in sales support, channel strategy, merchandising, or category management within a B2B or distributor setting.
- Familiarity with customer segmentation and product lifecycle planning.
- Strong Understanding of sales enablement, customer segmentation, and go-to-market execution.
- Exceptional leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, strong understanding of commercial analytics including market performance, growth drivers
- Experience in the decorated apparel, promotional goods, or mass customization sectors.
- Understanding of B2B2C value chains and multi-channel sales models.
- Strategic account engagement and joint business planning success.
- Familiarity with CRM tools and processes
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or listen.
Working Environment
This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Equal Opportunity Employer
S&S Activewear welcomes people of all backgrounds and experiences and are committed to creating a diverse culture and supporting human growth. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal opportunity for all employees and applicants. We conduct business without regard to sex, race, creed, color, religion, marital status, national origin, citizenship status, age, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, military status, status as a veteran, or any other protected characteristic. Our policy is to recruit, hire, train, promote, assign, transfer, and terminate employees based on their own ability, achievement, experience and conduct and other legitimate business reasons. S&S participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm you are authorized to work in the U.S. This job offer is contingent upon the completion of a satisfactory background check.
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