VP, Strategic Partnerships at Kendra Scott

About Kendra Scott

We are a fun, talented and driven team dedicated to providing our customers with gorgeous products and a WOW! experience. Family, fashion and philanthropy are at the core of our company and though we move at a very fast pace, we are committed to maintaining a family-oriented work environment and giving back to our community. A passion for great design, dedication to innovation and a strong social media presence are our building blocks for creating a unique and engaging lifestyle brand across all channels, including retail stores, wholesale accounts and e-commerce. Our headquarters are located in the heart of Austin, Texas, and we embrace the unique vibe and energy of our hometown as an inspiration for our brand and company culture.

Position Overview

This role will lead Kendra Scott’s strategic growth through major retail partnerships, international travel retail, international wholesale, licensing, category expansion, and future franchise opportunities. The ideal candidate brings deep experience building and scaling strategic partnerships through major retailers, with a strong understanding of how majors operate, how to build durable relationships with key buyers and category leaders, and how to protect the brand while driving growth.

This leader will be responsible for identifying and cultivating strategic partnerships that drive sustainable growth while protecting and elevating the Kendra Scott brand.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a key member of the Senior Leadership Team, helping to set and execute short and long-term plans

• Set the overarching majors wholesale, strategic partnerships, licensing, and international expansion roadmap, including operating plans and organizational structure needed to support growth

• Drive sales across Majors, international travel retail, and international wholesale accounts, with an emphasis on building and scaling meaningful major retailer relationships

• Establish and execute a comprehensive wholesale roadmap that aligns with the overall company strategy, including a clear plan to strengthen and grow the majors business

• Achieve and exceed quarterly and annual revenue and profitability goals

• Develop strong strategic partnerships, including models that may extend beyond traditional wholesale such as licensing, franchise, and other brand-right partnership structures

• Build and lead the playbook for international wholesale expansion

• Evaluate and develop licensing and category expansion strategies, including when and how to bring in specialized expertise to support long-term growth

• Lead, train, manage, mentor and motivate the team

• Work cross-functionally to optimize the company’s inventory and supply chain management process; deliver industry-leading service while balancing the company’s working capital requirements

• Influence and partner effectively across Product, Merchandising, Marketing, Technology, Logistics, Sourcing, and other functions to deliver the business in a highly cross-functional environment

• Attend market, trade shows and publicity events; meet with key buyers and retailers

• Manage relationships to ensure quality of service, sales and profit goals are being met

• Demonstrate intimate understanding of our products, mission, and philosophy; Be able to help anyone understand any aspect of the company

• Continuously brainstorm novel ways to make interacting with the company more surprising, enriching, and wonderful

• Ensure strategies and plans are understood, aligned across the organization and executed with result

• Create structure, process, and clarity in an evolving business environment where systems, resources, and workflows are still developing

Our Ideal Candidate Will Have

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience

• 15+ years’ experience as wholesale director for a high-growth company

• Deep experience working with major retail partners, including an understanding of how majors operate and a track record of building trusted relationships with key buyers and category decision makers

• Proven experience building international wholesale businesses

• Experience developing or supporting licensing, franchise, or category expansion strategies within a consumer, fashion, accessories, lifestyle, apparel, or brand-led organization

• 10+ years’ experience managing a functional team

• A proven ability to define and inspire others to achieve corporate objectives and strategies

• Experience developing domestic and international wholesale strategies that improve brand awareness, expand distribution, and preserve brand equity

• Ability to build and manage wholesale sales department at scale

• Success selling into leading national and regional retailers

• Established business relationships with buyers and/or category managers at retailers and wholesalers

• Background in brand-right growth environments with sophisticated wholesale, licensing, and international partnership models preferred

• Experience with planning and forecasting

• Demonstrated ability to balance multiple competing priorities

• Highly successful at cultivating collaborative internal and external relationships

• Ability to influence quickly, gain partnership across the organization, and build a business from the ground up in an evolving, highly manual environment

• Clear written and verbal skills with exceptional follow-through

• Excellent interpersonal skills - can navigate all personality types and emotions gracefully

• Strong ability to anticipate long term needs and develop plans with achievable timelines

• A solutions-oriented mentality with a data driven approach

• A growth mindset: track record of leveraging past learnings, demonstrates entrepreneurial spirit, always imagining what’s possible

• Proven ability to build cross functional partnerships to ensure corporate alignment

• Strong executive presence with ability to compel and inspire internal and external audiences

• High commitment to employee growth and development: track record of empowering and inspiring teams as well as having significant impact on other’s careers

• A shared appreciation for our 3 core values of Family, Fashion and Philanthropy

• Preferred location is Austin, Texas

• International travel may be required as partnerships expand.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company.