Director of Retail Marketing

Location: Remote (Austin, TX preferred)

Type: Full-time

APPLY -> https://waterboycan.typeform.com/RetailMDirector

About Waterboy

Waterboy makes hydration formulas that help you bounce back, keep going, and feel like a functioning human again... and we try not to take ourselves too seriously while doing it. We’re sold online and in major retailers nationwide (20k+ stores).

We're growing fast, our voice is playfully loud, and we're looking for a Director of Retail Marketing to build and lead our retail activation strategy across key customers and channels.

Role Description

This role is responsible for turning distribution into velocity; ensuring Waterboy doesn’t simply get on shelf, but wins at shelf and drives trial, conversion and repeat.

The ideal candidate is a highly commercial retail marketer who understands how to bring brands to life across mass, drug, grocery, club and other retail environments. They know the retailer landscape, understand shopper behavior, have strong agency and vendor relationships, and can move seamlessly from strategy to execution.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own Waterboy’s retail and shopper marketing strategy across key customers and channels.
• Partner closely with Sales and retailer teams to develop customer-specific activation plans designed to drive velocity, trial and repeat purchase.
• Build annual and seasonal retail marketing calendars aligned with key retailer priorities, promotional windows and Waterboy brand moments.
• Develop customer-specific programs including displays, secondary placements, endcaps, sampling, retailer media, digital activation, shopper promotions and in-store experiences.
• Identify opportunities to secure incremental visibility and merchandising beyond the primary shelf.
• Develop scalable activation playbooks that can be deployed across retailers while allowing for customer-specific customization.
• Own relationships with shopper marketing agencies, display/POP vendors, sampling partners and other retail activation vendors.
• Partner with Creative and Brand teams to translate Waterboy’s brand into compelling retail experiences without losing the personality that makes the brand distinctive.
• Partner with Category Management and Sales to identify retailer-specific opportunities based on distribution, velocity and shopper insights.
• Work with retailer media networks and digital commerce teams to connect physical retail activation with digital shopper marketing.
• Build activation strategies around new product launches, seasonal moments, retailer exclusives and key brand initiatives.
• Manage retail marketing budgets, agency partners and vendor negotiations with a strong focus on ROI.
• Establish measurement frameworks for retail programs and use performance data to continually improve investment decisions.
• Track performance by account and activation, identifying which programs materially increase velocity and should be scaled.
• Serve as the internal expert on emerging retail marketing capabilities, shopper behavior and best-in-class CPG activation.

Requirements:

• 8–12+ years of experience in Retail Marketing, Shopper Marketing, Customer Marketing, Trade Marketing or related CPG roles.
• Significant experience working with major mass, drug, grocery, club and/or specialty retailers.
• Experience in VMS, supplements, wellness, beverage, food or another high-velocity consumer category preferred.
• Deep understanding of the retail activation ecosystem, including displays, POP, sampling, shopper promotions, retailer media and digital commerce.
• Established network of agencies, vendors and partners capable of executing high-quality retail programs quickly.
• Demonstrated ability to build customer-specific programs that drive measurable increases in sales and velocity.
• Experience managing retail/shopper marketing budgets and measuring program ROI.
• Strong understanding of retailer calendars, promotional planning and customer-specific marketing requirements.
• Excellent cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to partner closely with Sales, Brand, Creative, Category Management and Operations.
• Highly execution-oriented - equally comfortable developing the strategy and getting into the details required to bring it to life.
• Entrepreneurial, resourceful and comfortable building capabilities within a fast-growing organization.

What we offer:

• Competitive salary + equity
• Health, dental and 401k match
• Unlimited Waterboy (obviously) and generous time off
• Small team, big impact, minimal bureaucracy

APPLY -> https://waterboycan.typeform.com/RetailMDirector