Director, Commercial & Specialty Sales

BENCHMADE; Oregon City (OR); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Benchmade is seeking a Director, Commercial & Specialty Sales to own the field engine that drives Benchmade growth across specialty retailers and priority commercial accounts in the United States. You will lead the national independent rep network, establish market plans, train the selling motion, and ensure Benchmade is the preferred line with strong display, turn, and reorder performance.

The role requires building a repeatable field machine, managing field activations, and co-ordinating with

Qualifications

• Experience leading field sales, wholesale, and national accounts for a premium consumer brand.
• Proven track record of growing revenue and units.
• Experience with independent rep agencies is a plus.
• Ability to translate product stories into effective retail selling motions.

Responsibilities

• Own unit growth across dealers and priority accounts.
• Build and manage the national independent rep network.
• Develop and execute the field playbook and activation calendar.
• Lead staff training, product demonstrations, events, and programs.
• Deliver measurable field results and drive growth in the channel.

Skills

Field sales leadership

Channel development

Retail partnerships

Data-driven decisions

Job description

We are people powered — by makers, problem-solvers, and leaders who elevate everything they do. Guided by our core values and a relentless pursuit of better, we continue to set the bar for premium.

Start your Benchmade career today!

Benchmade is a premium American brand with decades of craft, a fiercely loyal customer base, products people are proud to carry for life, and meaningful momentum across the business.

Now we are looking for a proven field builder to take that momentum deeper into specialty retail and priority commercial accounts.

We are hiring a Director, Commercial & Specialty Sales to report directly to the Vice President of Sales & Marketing and own the build.

You will lead our national independent rep network, establish the field standard, develop priority accounts, create the operating playbook, run the activation calendar, and personally model how Benchmade shows up, sells, and wins at retail.

This is not a scripted job. You will help write the script.

YOUR MISSION

TURN MOMENTUM INTO A NATIONAL FIELD ADVANTAGE.

Your job is to build a repeatable field machine that compounds the momentum already underway across the dealer base and priority commercial accounts.

The Whole Game Is Straightforward

MAXIMIZE DISPLAYS. MAXIMIZE TURNS. GROW UNITS. MAKE IT RECURRING.

What You Will Own

Own the commercial outcome

You will own unit growth across existing and new specialty dealers and assigned priority commercial accounts. You will be accountable for units per active dealer, reorder rate, sell-through, assortment depth, active displays, rep productivity, account expansion, and new doors.

You will not simply report the number. You will create the activity and operating system that moves it.

Captain the national rep network

Our commercial sales run through independent multi-brand agencies. You will turn that network into a coordinated Benchmade field force.

You will establish market plans, lead ride-alongs, set expectations, train the selling motion, inspect results, and make Benchmade the line our partners are most prepared and excited to lead with. You will lead through presence, value, clarity, energy, and accountability - not through another email attachment.

Work the retail floor

This is a field role by design.

You will walk stores, assess the business, improve displays, train staff, run product demonstrations, build events, present programs, ask for the order, and close the next move. You will know what the numbers say before entering the store and what changed because you were there before leaving it.

Build the Benchmade field playbook

You will create the repeatable standard for how we tier dealers, plan routes, prepare for visits, merchandise displays, train floor teams, pitch programs, expand established accounts, unlock whitespace, open new doors, and secure recurring orders.

The playbook will not be created from a conference room. It will be built from what works in the market.

Run the activation engine

You will build a national calendar of dealer activations, demonstrations, market visits, product drops, retail events, and territory-level Super Clinics. The goal is to make Benchmade feel alive at retail - not simply available.

You will work across Marketing, Product, Go-to-Market, Events, Customer Experience, Revenue Operations, and our field partners to turn product stories and brand energy into unit movement.

Bring rigor to the field

Every field swing begins with the math. Every visit has an objective. Every order has a follow-up. Every program has an outcome.

You will operate with a visible scoreboard covering units, displays, turns, reorders, assortment, coverage, rep productivity, priority-account growth, and next moves. The system creates consistency. Your judgment creates advantage.

Help Shape What Comes Next

This role has meaningful freedom to influence the future structure, tools, resources, calendar, and capabilities of the commercial organization. As the channel continues to scale, you will help determine what Benchmade builds around it.

What Success Looks Like

In your first 90 days

• Spend meaningful time in market with our rep agencies, specialty dealers, and priority accounts.
• Understand the revenue, unit, assortment, display, reorder, and territory baseline.
• Assess the rep network, tier the dealer base, identify the highest-potential markets, and establish the first route and coverage cadence.
• Launch the field scoreboard and put the first visible wins on the board.
• The national field standard is operating in market.
• Rep agencies understand the plan, expectations, and connection between their activity and unit growth.
• Priority displays are being expanded and maintained; dealer training and activation are happening on a repeatable calendar.
• The first Super Clinics and marquee market events are complete or scheduled.
• Units per dealer, assortment depth, turns, reorder activity, and account growth are accelerating against the starting baseline.

By the end of year one

• Benchmade has a credible, repeatable national field-growth system.
• The commercial channel has a larger, more productive recurring revenue base.
• Rep productivity is visible and managed.
• More dealers carry the right assortment, present Benchmade to standard, and reorder on cadence.
• Priority commercial accounts have clear growth plans and measurable progress.
• The company can see how the field engine is compounding momentum, where to invest next, and how to scale the machine you built.

Specific commercial targets will be established with the Vice President of Sales & Marketing based on the starting baseline.

The Person Who Wins Here

You are a builder.

You have led field sales, wholesale, specialty retail, national accounts, market development, or commercial growth for a premium consumer brand. Your experience may come from outdoor, performance, footwear, fashion, EDC, sporting goods, specialty hardgoods, or another category where product, culture, retail, and community come together.

You may already be a Director, or you may be the high-performing regional or national leader who is ready to own the entire build. Your logo pedigree matters less than your fingerprints.

We are looking for evidence that you have

• Built or transformed a territory, channel, team, rep network, account portfolio, or commercial system.
• Grown measurable revenue or units rather than simply inherited them.
• Led independent rep agencies or influenced teams that did not report directly to you.
• Worked successfully with independent specialty dealers and meaningful national accounts.
• Turned product and brand stories into effective retail selling motions.
• Used data to identify growth whitespace, prioritize markets, and make better field decisions.
• Created activations, events, trainings, or merchandising programs that drove sell-through.
• Personally asked for and closed meaningful business.
• Operated with urgency without sacrificing relationships, judgment, and brand integrity.

You can move naturally from an executive conversation to a rep huddle to a dealer floor. You bring commercial math, brand instinct, physical energy, direct communication, and low-ego leadership.

Travel does not feel like an interruption to the real job. Travel is the real job.

The exact number of years on your resume matters less than what you have built recently and how much appetite you have for the work ahead.

A NOTE FROM THE HIRING LEADER

You will work directly with me.

I will give you room, and I will expect you to use it.

I want the truth early, the math before the opinion, and a recommendation with every meaningful problem. I move quickly, communicate directly, and care about the customer, the brand, and the commercial result at the same time.

You will not need permission for every smart move. You will have access, support, and air cover. I will help remove obstacles and connect the organization around the work, but I will not micromanage your route or write the playbook for you.

Bring a point of view. Challenge the thinking when you believe there is a better answer. Once we make the decision, commit and run.

We will celebrate wins honestly. We will call misses honestly. We will learn, adjust, and keep moving.

IF THIS IS YOU: GIVE ME THE BRAND. GIVE ME THE FIELD. LET ME BUILD IT.

That Is Exactly What We Are Doing.

The opportunity at Benchmade

You will be handed a premium brand, world-class products, major business momentum, direct leadership access, and the opportunity to build the field engine that carries the next chapter of growth.