National Development & Training Leader

Strategic Group; United States; Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Strategic Group is seeking a National Development & Training Leader – Trade Advocacy & Field Activation to drive leadership, performance, and operational excellence across our Gallo-supported programs. This senior, field-first role requires about 80% travel, acting as a mobile coach to Directors, Managers, and frontline teams, ensuring KPI delivery, brand standards, and proactive issue resolution.

The ideal candidate combines organizational rigor, emotional intelligence, and hands-on leadership

Qualifications

• Significant leadership experience in beverage/alcohol, experiential marketing, hospitality, field sales, or trade advocacy.
• Proven multi‑market field team management and accountability.
• Strong coaching, leadership, and performance development experience.
• Exceptional organizational skills for managing multiple priorities.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills to influence at all levels.
• Must be 21+ and able to obtain liquor licenses; valid driver’s license and travel ~80%.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership, coaching, and accountability to field teams across programs nationally.
• Travel approximately 80% to conduct in-market assessments, coaching visits, and audits.
• Evaluate field execution against KPIs, standards, and objectives; identify gaps and opportunities.
• Deliver coaching and action plans to improve execution and accountability.
• Maintain visibility into communication cadence, coaching structures, and team engagement.
• Collaborate with SG leadership to identify development opportunities and address performance concerns.

Skills

Leadership

Field coaching

Multi-market leadership

Communication

Organization

Travel readiness

Education

B.A. or B.S. in Business Administration/Marketing/PR/Communications

Tools

Microsoft Office

Canva

Adobe Suite

Job description

Strategic Group is a full-scale marketing agency specializing in experiential programming and sales support initiatives. For more than two decades, we’ve built a reputation for creating meaningful connections between brands, retail customers, and hard-to-reach consumers through innovative, insight-driven activations.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The National Development & Training Leader – Trade Advocacy & Field Activation is a senior field leadership position responsible for driving executional excellence, leadership accountability, operational consistency, and market performance across Strategic Group’s portfolio of Gallo- supported programs, including but not limited to Activation to Impact (A2I), Brand Ambassador, Brand Specialist, Market Activation Manager, Innovation, Wine, and Trade Advocacy initiatives.

This role serves as the critical bridge between Strategic Group Executive leadership, field leadership teams, program personnel, distributor partners, and Gallo stakeholders to ensure all programs consistently deliver against KPIs, brand standards, operational expectations, and field execution goals.

Unlike a traditional operational or administrative management role, the National Development & Training Leader is a highly visible, field-first leadership position requiring approximately 80% travel. This individual will operate as a mobile coach, performance driver, and executional leader capable of identifying opportunities and challenges in real time, supporting Directors and Managers in-market, developing field personnel, and proactively addressing operational gaps before they impact program success.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, operationally excellent, emotionally intelligent, performance-driven, and comfortable leading in fast-paced, evolving environments requiring both strategic oversight and hands‑on field leadership.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

1. National Field Leadership & Performance Oversight

• Provide leadership, coaching, and accountability oversight to Regional Directors, Managers, Brand Ambassadors, Brand Specialists, Market Activation Managers, Activation Specialists, and Trade Advocacy personnel across all assigned Gallo- supported programs nationally.
• Travel extensively across markets (approximately 80%) to conduct in‑market performance assessments, coaching visits, ride‑withs, and execution audits.
• Evaluate field execution against established KPIs, program expectations, brand standards, account engagement objectives, and operational deliverables.
• Identify performance gaps, operational inconsistencies, leadership development needs, and market‑level opportunities in real time.
• Deliver immediate coaching, feedback, and action planning to field leadership and personnel to improve execution and accountability.
• Ensure field leaders maintain strong communication cadence, coaching structure, prioritization, and visibility with their respective teams.

2. Coaching, Development & Leadership Accountability

• Act as a mobile field coach focused on developing leadership capability, communication effectiveness, accountability, prioritization, execution consistency, and professional development across field leadership teams.
• Support Directors and Managers in developing field personnel through structured coaching, market planning, KPI management, account strategy, and execution optimization.
• Maintain visibility into field leadership communication cadence, travel schedules, coaching structures, 1:1 processes, and team engagement.
• Partner with SG leadership to identify leadership development opportunities and proactively address performance concerns.
• Assist in onboarding, field training, and continued development of all Gallo program personnel as programs evolve and expand.

3. Strategic Execution & Operational Excellence

• Ensure consistent, high-quality execution of approved merchandising standards, trade advocacy initiatives, staff education programs, visibility standards, experiential activations, and field marketing strategies nationally.
• Support optimization of field processes, communication workflows, reporting structures, dashboards, and operational tools to improve efficiency and execution consistency.
• Evaluate program effectiveness in‑market and provide recommendations to improve execution, accountability, communication, resource deployment, and operational structure.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with SG leadership, Gallo stakeholders, recruiters, operations, compliance, and program teams to ensure alignment between national strategy and field execution.
• Maintain proactive oversight into launch readiness, market momentum, KPI pacing, staffing readiness, and escalation management.

4. Stakeholder Communication & Relationship Management

• Serve as a highly visible field leadership presence representing Strategic Group professionally with Gallo stakeholders, distributor partners, account personnel, and agency leadership.
• Provide proactive communication regarding market performance, operational risks, execution quality, leadership observations, staffing concerns, and emerging opportunities.
• Participate in integrated meetings, conference calls, planning sessions, market visits, and business reviews regarding program performance and field execution.
• Ensure stakeholders maintain confidence that programs are operating proactively, efficiently, compliantly, and with strong accountability standards.
• Support development of executive recaps, market summaries, performance evaluations, operational recommendations, and strategic planning initiatives.
• Monitor national and regional KPI performance to ensure markets are progressing toward established objectives across all assigned programs.
• Analyze market intelligence, execution quality, competitive activity, field reporting, and team feedback to identify trends and improvement opportunities.
• Maintain oversight into reporting accuracy, dashboard utilization, communication consistency, operational follow‑through, and accountability standards.
• Partner with field leadership to implement corrective action plans where performance gaps or execution concerns exist.
• Support evolution of training materials, onboarding resources, communication processes, leadership tools, and operational best practices as programs mature and expand.

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Strategic Leadership: Ability to translate brand strategy into actionable field leadership and performance management.
• Field Coaching Excellence: Strong ability to assess, coach, motivate, and develop leaders and field teams in real‑time environments.
• Operational Excellence: Strong understanding of experiential activation, trade advocacy execution, KPI management, staffing, and field accountability.
• Executive Presence: Ability to communicate confidently and professionally with senior leadership, distributors, account stakeholders, and field teams.
• Problem Solving & Adaptability: Ability to identify operational gaps quickly and implement practical solutions in dynamic field environments.
• Data‑Driven Decision Making: Ability to utilize reporting, KPIs, and market intelligence to improve performance and execution quality.
• Compliance Stewardship: Deep understanding of federal, state, and local alcohol beverage laws and compliance expectations.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Significant leadership experience within alcohol beverage, experiential marketing, hospitality, field sales, agency management, or trade advocacy environments.
• Proven experience managing multi‑market field teams and driving accountability across geographically dispersed organizations.
• Strong background in coaching, field leadership, execution management, staffing oversight, and performance development.
• Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to influence at all organizational levels.
• Must be 21 years of age or older and able to obtain any required local or state liquor licenses.
• Valid driver’s license with safe driving record required.
• Ability and willingness to travel approximately 80% nationally.

EDUCATION AND CRITERIA REQUIREMENTS

• 5–7+ years leadership experience in beverage alcohol, experiential marketing, hospitality, field sales, trade advocacy, or related industries.
• 7-10+ years leadership experience managing field staff across several markets.
• B.A. or B.S. in Business Administration, Marketing, Public Relations, Communications, or related field preferred.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office products (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook), Canva, & Adobe Suite.
• Strong understanding of: Alcohol beverage compliance
• Distributor and supplier relationships
• Hospitality and on‑premise execution
• Trade advocacy and activation strategy
• KPI management and field reporting systems
• Multi‑market field team leadership

REPORTING RELATIONSHIP

Reports directly to Strategic Group’s Vice President.

Works closely with:

• Brand Ambassadors
• Brand Specialists
• Gallo Leadership & Brand Teams

TRAVEL EXPECTATION

This is a highly travel‑intensive role requiring approximately 80% national travel. The National Development & Training Leader is expected to maintain a strong in‑market presence and regularly travel across all assigned markets to support execution, coaching, accountability, leadership development, and performance oversight.

This role is not intended to be primarily desk‑based or administrative in nature.