Single Malt Specialist-Texas

Whyteandmackayltd; Houston, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

Performance-based bonus

Medical, Dental, Vision & Life

401k with employer matching

Flexible hours

PTO & sick days

11 public holidays

Professional development opportunities

Job summary

Whyte and Mackay in Houston seeks a Single Malt Specialist to drive the brand portfolio (Dalmore, Fettercairn, Jura) across luxury retail and on-premise outlets in Texas, elevating mental availability and velocity.

You will train distributors, engage accounts, run tastings and events, manage e-retail opportunities, and sell rare expressions directly. 5+ years in US premium spirits, WSET Level 2 or CSS, and a business mindset are required.

Qualifications

• An exceptional understanding and passion for luxury spirits, ideally Single Malt Scotch Whisky.
• CSS or WSET Level 2 or equivalent certification or in process within 6 months of hire date.
• Minimum of 5 years experience with super premium spirits (Supplier or Wholesaler) in the US market, with at least one-year experience in TX.
• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Communications, Marketing, Hospitality, or Liberal Arts.
• Marketing capabilities in brand building and execution planning.
• Digital marketing and social media proficient.
• Event management.
• Fluency with the three-tier system.
• Has a business mind-set; understands sales process and key levers to making a sale.

Responsibilities

• Motivate and Influence Distributor Partners with brand programming and training.
• Develop and maintain a robust key account universe across Texas.
• Engage target consumers and drive velocity, brand equity and loyalty.
• Deliver annual allocation of rare whiskies and manage related budgets.

Skills

Luxury spirits passion

Brand building

Execution planning

Digital marketing

Social media proficiency

Event management

Relationship building

Three-tier system fluency

Sales mindset

Education

Bachelor's Degree (Business/Marketing/Communications/Hospitality)

WSET Level 2 or equivalent

Job description

Job Title: Single Malt Specialist

Function: Commercial - USA

Location: Houston

Contract: Full Time / Permanent - 40 hours per week. This is a full-time advocacy role, sometimes requiring atypical hours (evenings, weekends) as the demands of the market and regional travel dictate.

Date vacancy will close: September 18th 2026. Where we receive high numbers of applications we may close vacancies early.

Who we are:

Born in Glasgow, made in Scotland and enjoyed around the world. Whyte and Mackay is home to a collection of multi-award-winning global whisky brands led by The Dalmore, Fettercairn, Jura and Tamnavulin. Our mission is to be a driving force in whisky, renowned for building brands that stand-out. Enabled by our brilliant community of 700 colleagues, reaching across 16 countries and counting. We're led by our values, continuing to grow and invest and looking for great talent to join our brilliant community. Ready to hear more?

What the opportunity looks like:

The Single Malt Specialist, Texas, will be the face of The Dalmore, Fettercairn and Jura brands in market, tasked with step-changing the mental availability of our portfolio within our highest opportunity retail (Brick & Mortar and/or Online) and luxury on-premise outlets across Texas.

Responsible for driving the advocacy and activation of these world-class Scotch whiskies with our importer, wholesaler and trade partners, the Texas SMS will join a passionate team that is seen as a ‘cut above’ those of our competitors. This role will also be responsible for direct sales of The Dalmore’s rare and aged whisky offerings (RSP $6000+).

What you will do:

Motivate and Influence Distributor Partners.

• Work ‘hand in glove’ with WMA (Brand Owner) and E&J Gallo Winery (Importer/Wholesaler) to ensure The Dalmore, Fettercairn and Jura's off and on-premise brand programming is optimised and the field sales organisation is trained, motivated and appropriately equipped to maximise distribution in target accounts.
• Engage accounts and distributor personnel to ensure all e-Retail opportunities in marketplace are maximized

Develop and Maintain Robust Key Account Universe

• Identify & activate appropriate third-party partnerships (whisky clubs, law societies, Ivy League university societies, luxury brand partners) that introduce The Dalmore, Fetercairn and Jura brands to our consumer target.
• Make regular outlet calls to assigned target account list covering top opportunity retail and luxury on-premise outlets across Texas maximizing our brands' mental availability in-store and online, per our brand standards.
• Act as a valued partner and consultant to the customer, maximizing opportunities for promotional exposure/activation of our brands in these outlets.
• Ensure all staff at key accounts is transformed to passionate advocates for our brands.

Engage Target Consumers to Drive Velocity, Brand Equity and Loyalty

• Act as our in-market authority on our malt portfolio, delivering inspirational trainings and tastings on the Dalmore, Fettercairn and Jura brands.
• Manage and promote W&M brands via owned social media channels.

Deliver Annual Rare Whisky Allocation and Budget

• Execute a plan to sell assigned allocation of rare and limited expressions of The Dalmore (via wholesaler) to luxury outlets and collectors.
• Build a database of individuals and organizations whom this role can personally sell rare whisky to and through.

For this role we're looking for:

• An exceptional understanding and passion for luxury spirits, and ideally Single Malt Scotch Whisky
• CSS or WSET Level 2 or equivalent certification or in process within 6 months of hire date
• Minimum of 5 years experience with super premium spirits (Supplier or Wholesaler) in the US market, with at least one-year experience in TX.
• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Communications, Marketing, Hospitality, or Liberal Arts.
• Marketing capabilities in brand building and execution planning
• Digital marketing and social media proficient
• Event management
• Fluency with the three-tier system
• Has a business mind-set; understands sales process, and key levers to making a sale (on-premise and retail)
• Swift relationship builder able to penetrate a multi-layered organization with multi-functional know-how

We believe that everyone has the potential for growth in our roles! You may feel you don't tick every box for this role, but if you believe you have relevant experiences that could help you succeed

Why join us:

• Competitive base salary
• Performance based bonus opportunity
• Company paid Medical, Dental, Vision & Life Insurance through United Healthcare
• 401k plan with employer matching
• Flexible hours
• Competitive PTO / Sick day package
• 11 public holidays
• Professional & personal development opportunities

Never been a better time to join the Whyte and Mackay Community.

Whyte & Mackay committed to being a welcoming, inclusive Company. We believe in the respect, dignity and human rights of all people. We do business with respect for people's fundamental dignity and their human rights. This is anchored in our values, our policies and the commitments we have made to international standards. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, disability or any other protected class.

Our team read each and every application, therefore you'll hear back from us in due course. Should you require any adjustments to our recruitment process to help you be at your best then please contact us at [e-mail] and we'll do what we can to support.