Director of Retail Sales

At Lakeshore, we create innovative learning materials and world-class guest experiences for teachers, parents and children. Since 1954, we’ve grown into a global community—with a thriving e-commerce business, multiple catalogs, over 50 stores, a peerless national sales force, plus international offices that support our preeminent supply chain division. But today we’re working better, smarter and faster than ever—and setting our sights even higher. We’re building an infrastructure designed for scalability, embracing data-driven decision-making and using technology to improve efficiency and ensure the best tools for the best work. Most importantly, we continue to invest in a diverse team of inquisitive top talent who fuel each other’s passions and curiosity, take risks, try new things and believe that every new day brings opportunities for growth. We are seeking a Director of Retail Sales to set the sales strategy for Lakeshore’s retail stores. This role is a fit for an experienced multi-unit retail sales leader who brings analytical rigor, sets direction with confidence and holds every program to measurable results. Partnering directly with our Vice President of Stores, you’ll review sales and customer data from across Lakeshore, pinpoint the biggest opportunities, and turn them into plans that drive customer retention, revenue growth, and support institutional sales for the Retail Sales Division.  Your strategy comes to life through our Retail Territory Managers, who put it into action with Store Managers in every location. You’ll set clear priorities, evolve our selling standards as the business grows and measure what’s working, keeping cross-functional partners aligned along the way.  A day on the job looks like this:  - Driving the retail sales strategy with the Vice President of Stores, reviewing sales, transactions, UPT, AOV and customer data to identify the biggest opportunities and set clear priorities for each period  - Strategic partner who assists in setting and adjusting the annual retail sales plan and rolling forecast, defining recovery plans for opportunity stores and bringing executive leadership clear and actionable recommendations  - Leading chain-wide selling programs, from customer outreach and educator partnerships to community events and loyalty, and holding each one to measurable results  - Evolving the Lakeshore selling model and standards as the business grows, and keeping the playbooks and tools Territory Managers and Store Managers rely on current and effective  - Leading the retail B2B and outreach strategy across educator, school, childcare and community segments, and connecting stores with our sales teams so leads and opportunities move smoothly between channels Got the skills and experience? Here’s what we’re looking for:  Required:  - 7+ years of progressive sales leadership in multi-unit retail, including chain-wide or multi-region sales strategy ownership  - 3+ years carrying a revenue number or P&L line with demonstrated delivery against it  - Proven record designing sales programs and scaling them across a multi-unit fleet with measurable revenue results  - Strong analytical skills, with experience turning retail sales data into strategy  - Strong financial fluency, including budgeting, forecasting, opportunity sizing and margin impact  - Ability to travel up to 50% nationally for store diagnostics, pilots and field engagement Preferred:  - Experience building B2B, institutional or community outreach sales within a multi-unit retail business  What Sets You Apart  - You turn complex data into a clear strategy and can defend it with executives  - You hold programs to measurable results and know when to scale, fix or stop them  - You influence peers, executives and field leaders without relying on line authority  - You communicate concisely, lead with a recommendation and back it with evidence  And here’s our end of the bargain! - Salary: $120,000-$140,000 - Bonus eligible - Paid leave for new parents to support work/life balance and family bonding - Excellent medical/dental and vision coverage — EPO, PPO and HSA - 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution (because you will retire someday) - Flexible benefits — choose what you like, ignore the rest - On-site preschool for our employees' children - On-site employee gym for all levels/fitness needs - Generous employee discount - Casual dress…and we really mean itAt Lakeshore, we know our diversity makes us stronger, and when everyone feels included and valued, we all win. We strive to embrace our differences and create an intentionally diverse and inclusive community that is representative of the teachers, families and children we serve. We know we couldn't do the extraordinary things we're doing without the people on our team. Thanks to the passion and enthusiasm of this spectacular group, Lakeshore is more than a great place to work—it's a great experience to be part of. Day in and day out, we give everything we've got to create products that instill a sense of wonder and foster a true love of learning. To help maintain this high bar for success, we're constantly on the lookout for people to join us. So if you're a down-to-earth professional who shares our desire for making a difference, we'd love to hear from you. To learn more about Lakeshore, visit www.lakeshorelearning.com/careers Equal Employment Opportunity Policy    People are selected to become members of the Lakeshore family based on skill, merit and mind-boggling talent—not based on race, color, creed, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, marital status, domestic partnership status, military status, religion, age, national origin, ancestry, alienage, AIDS or AIDS-related complex status, genetic information, predisposition or carrier status, status as a victim of domestic violence, physical or mental disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. If things aren’t equal, we all lose.  To learn about how we collect and use Applicant information, please visit our Employee/Applicant Privacy Policy.  Lakeshore is an E-Verify employer. We use E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees.  Some of the recruiting platforms and tools Lakeshore uses rely on artificial intelligence to help identify potential candidates. The people at Lakeshore review candidates and make all hiring decisions. Please see the E-Verify Participation Poster and Know Your Rights Poster in English and Spanish for more information. INDRLL1