Sales Manager, U.S. Specialty

Darn Tough Vermont®; Waterbury (VT); On-site; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Cabot Hosiery Mills seeks a Sales Manager, U.S. Specialty to lead and support a diverse portfolio of independent retailers, specialty dealers, regional chains, and mid-sized national accounts in the United States.

This role will strengthen relationships and identify new opportunities across the channel. Success requires strong relationship-building, field engagement, and channel expertise, with collaboration across sales, marketing, and operations to drive growth and a best-in-class customer

Qualifications

• BA or MBA; 7–10 years field experience in customer or sales management.
• Proficient with MS Office including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Experience with Excel features including VLOOKUPs and Pivot Tables.
• Strong organization, problem solving, customer service and multitasking.
• Excellent communication, sales, and customer service skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with targets.
• Willing to travel 50% of the time and weekends.

Responsibilities

• Lead sales strategy and account management across all U.S. Specialty accounts, including independent retailers, regional chains, and mid-sized national customers.
• Support and develop Territory Sales Principals to maximize performance, coverage, and customer engagement.
• Work closely with sales representatives to identify and secure new account opportunities.
• Protect and grow existing business through consistent account management and relationship development.
• Establish annual sales targets and business plans by territory and account segment.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with owners, buyers, category managers, and retail partners.
• Act as a conduit between retailers and internal teams to support merchandising, retail marketing, and promotional execution.
• Travel extensively within the field to support sales representatives, key customers, and strategic growth opportunities.
• Partner with Marketing to develop retailer programs that increase brand visibility and product sell-through.
• Analyze account performance and identify opportunities to improve productivity and profitability.
• Assist in developing annual sales forecasts, budgets, and territory plans.
• Track market trends, competitive activity, and emerging specialty retail opportunities.
• Work closely with Operations and Customer Service teams to ensure a best-in-class customer experience.
• Develop and maintain a robust pipeline of prospective accounts and growth opportunities.
• Lead planning and execution for key industry trade shows and specialty retail events.
• Work with the VP of Sales to identify strategic opportunities to strengthen market presence and expand distribution.
• Communicate regularly with Territory Sales Principals to ensure alignment on objectives, priorities, and execution.

Skills

Sales leadership

Customer service

Communication

Organization

Problem solving

Multitasking

Travel readiness

Education

BA or MBA in relevant field

7–10 years field experience in customer/sales management

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Excel: VLOOKUPs

Excel Pivot Tables

Job description

The Company

Founded in 1978, Cabot Hosiery Mills is an American manufacturer of premium socks with uncompromised comfort, durability, and fit. With a family of brands including Darn Tough Vermont, Wide Open, and Cabot & Sons, our mission is to make the world's best socks, in Vermont, USA, and back them with our Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee. We are family owned, three generations strong, and have yet to produce our best sock.

The Company

Founded in 1978, Cabot Hosiery Mills is an American manufacturer of premium socks with uncompromised comfort, durability, and fit. With a family of brands including Darn Tough Vermont, Wide Open, and Cabot & Sons, our mission is to make the world's best socks, in Vermont, USA, and back them with our Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee. We are family owned, three generations strong, and have yet to produce our best sock.

Job Summary

As we continue to scale one of the fastest-growing hosiery brands in North America, Cabot Hosiery Mills is seeking a Sales Manager, U.S. Specialty (USP) to lead and support a diverse portfolio of independent retailers, specialty dealers, regional chains, and mid-sized national accounts.

This channel represents the foundation upon which our business has been built over the past two decades. While individual account sizes vary, these customers collectively represent a significant and strategically important portion of the business.

This role is responsible for strengthening existing relationships, identifying new account opportunities, supporting Territory Sales Principals, and ensuring the continued growth and health of our specialty business.

Success in this position requires strong relationship-building skills, field engagement, channel expertise, and a balanced approach to both account retention and new business development. This role serves as a key conduit between retail partners, sales representatives, marketing, and internal stakeholders.

The role reports directly to the Vice President of Sales.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead sales strategy and account management across all U.S. Specialty accounts, including independent retailers, regional chains, and mid-sized national customers.
• Support and develop Territory Sales Principals to maximize performance, coverage, and customer engagement.
• Work closely with sales representatives to identify and secure new account opportunities.
• Protect and grow existing business through consistent account management and relationship development.
• Establish annual sales targets and business plans by territory and account segment.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with owners, buyers, category managers, and retail partners.
• Act as a conduit between retailers and internal teams to support merchandising, retail marketing, and promotional execution.
• Travel extensively within the field to support sales representatives, key customers, and strategic growth opportunities.
• Partner with Marketing to develop retailer programs that increase brand visibility and product sell-through.
• Analyze account performance and identify opportunities to improve productivity and profitability.
• Assist in developing annual sales forecasts, budgets, and territory plans.
• T rack market trends, competitive activity, and emerging specialty retail opportunities.
• Work closely with Operations and Customer Service teams to ensure a best-in-class customer experience.
• Develop and maintain a robust pipeline of prospective accounts and growth opportunities.
• Lead planning and execution for key industry trade shows and specialty retail events.
• Work with the VP of Sales to identify strategic opportunities to strengthen market presence and expand distribution.
• Communicate regularly with Territory Sales Principals to ensure alignment on objectives, priorities, and execution.

Success Measures

• Territory growth
• Account retention
• New account acquisitions
• Rep engagement and development
• Trade show ROI
• Specialty channel market penetration

Qualifications

• Education: BA or preferably MBA. Consideration will also be given to those having 7 to 10 years of field experience in customer and / or sales representative management.
• Proficient in Microsoft Applications including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Must have experience with Excel spreadsheets including VLOOKUP's and Pivot Tables
• Strongly skilled in organization, problem-solving, customer service and multitasking
• Excellent communication, sales, and customer service skills
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, and sense of urgency to meet targets
• Flexible nature to manage competing and changing priorities
• Travel between CHM facilities as needed
• Must be available to travel 50% of the time and work weekends

Working Conditions

• Manufacturing environment - exposure to machinery, noise and other adverse conditions for periods of time depending on the role
• Ability to lift at least 50lbs.
• Flexible nature to manage competing and changing priorities
• Travel locally to all CHM sites and locations
• Occasional travel on as needed basis

This job description should not be interpreted as a complete list of all the duties, qualifications and responsibilities performed by the jobholder. To maintain organizational flexibility, the organization has the discretion to add, drop or change at any time the duties, responsibilities and expectations of this position. This job description does not constitute an offer of employment, continuous employment or an employment contract. Reasonable accommodations will be considered to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

The Pay Range For This Role Is

95,000 - 125,000 USD per year (Waterbury)