Key Account Manager – Pet Specialty Retail
Are you passionate about pets?
Love building relationships, opening new doors, and seeing the impact of your work directly at store level? Join Hagen Group as a Key Account Manager and take ownership of growing our business across
You’ll be the face of Hagen in your territory, building strong relationships with independent pet retailers, distributor partners, and other customers while expanding the presence of some of the pet industry’s most recognized brands.
Why Join Hagen Group:
Hagen Group is a trusted, family-run business with over 70 years of experience, founded in 1955 in Montreal. With U.S. operations headquartered in Mansfield, Massachusetts, and a global presence, we’re known for our commitment to innovation, quality, and improving the lives of pets and the people who love them.
This is an opportunity to take real ownership of your territory while representing a broad portfolio of trusted brands, including Catit, Fluval, Exo Terra, Marina, Hari, BIONIC, and more.
About the Role:
Hagen Group is seeking an experienced Key Account Manager to manage and grow key multi-store retail customers within the U.S. pet specialty channel.
Reporting to the Director of Sales, this role will own the day-to-day and strategic management of assigned accounts, including sales performance, customer relationships, forecasting, promotional planning, and new business development.
The successful candidate will understand the complexities of managing large retail customers and will combine strong relationship management with analytical and commercial skills to identify opportunities, solve problems, and deliver profitable growth.
Key Responsibilities:
Account Leadership & Growth
- Serve as the primary relationship owner for assigned multi-store pet specialty retail accounts
- Develop and execute account plans to achieve annual sales and profitability objectives
- Build strong relationships across customer buying, merchandising, inventory, and planning teams
- Lead customer meetings, business reviews, line reviews, and annual planning
- Identify opportunities to expand distribution, assortment, shelf presence, and promotional activity
- Present new products, programs, displays, and merchandising opportunities that support customer and Hagen growth objectives
- Support negotiations involving pricing, trade terms, promotions, and other commercial programs
Business Performance & Forecasting
- Own revenue, volume, margin, trade investment, and monthly sales forecasts for assigned accounts
- Analyze purchases, POS, syndicated data, inventory, distribution, and promotional performance to identify trends, risks, and growth opportunities
- Monitor performance against budget and develop action plans when results fall below expectations
- Partner with customers and internal Supply Chain teams to manage inventory requirements, out-of-stocks, and changes in demand
- Evaluate promotional and trade investments to improve effectiveness and return on investment
Retail Execution
- Coordinate new item launches, promotional programs, displays, and assortment changes from sell-in through execution
- Monitor new product and promotional performance and recommend actions to maximize sell-through
- Ensure customer programs, pricing, and trade agreements are accurately communicated and executed
- Proactively identify and resolve issues impacting customer performance
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Partner with Sales, Marketing, Product, Supply Chain, Customer Service, and Finance to deliver customer objectives
- Communicate customer priorities, opportunities, risks, and market insights across the organization
- Coordinate internal resources to ensure customer commitments and deadlines are met
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Sales, or a related field preferred
- 5+ years of experience in key account management, retail sales, consumer products, or a related commercial role.
- Proven experience managing multi-store retail customers; pet specialty or comparable specialty retail experience strongly preferred
- Experience working directly with retail buyers, merchants, inventory planners, and category managers
- Strong commercial and financial acumen, including revenue, margin, trade spend, forecasting, and account profitability
- Ability to analyze POS, sales, Nielsen and inventory data and translate insights into action
- Experience with line reviews, new item presentations, promotional planning, and annual business planning
- Strong communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint
- Ability to manage multiple priorities independently in a fast-paced environment
Work Environment
- Remote Position, ideally located in the Midwest. Availability to travel 50% of the time.
- Collaborative, fast-paced team environment
- Attendance at customer meetings, industry trade shows, and company meetings as required
Benefits & Perks
- Paid Time Off – Vacation, holidays, and floating holiday
- Comprehensive Health Coverage – Medical, dental, vision, disability, and more
- Health Savings Account (HSA) with company contribution
- 401(k) with Employer Match
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- STD, LTD and Life Insurance
- Pet Insurance
- Accident Insurance
- Critical Illness Insurance
- And more!
Equal Opportunity Employer
Hagen Group is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status
