Sales Manager - Footwear

Sales Manager – Footwear

Location: Milton Keynes
Salary: £40,000 + Commission
OTE: £60,000+
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8.00am – 4.00pm
International Travel: Approximately twice per year

The Opportunity

We are looking for an experienced and commercially driven Sales Manager to join a successful and growing footwear business based in Milton Keynes.

This is a varied, hands-on role combining sales, account management, range development and commercial strategy. You will work closely with designers, customers and manufacturing partners to develop trend-led, commercially successful footwear ranges, whilst identifying opportunities to grow existing accounts and develop new business.

Previous footwear industry experience is essential and candidates without this experience will not be considered.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and develop relationships with existing retail and online customers, identifying opportunities to increase sales and grow accounts.
• Work closely with the design team to create customer-specific footwear ranges that are commercial, trend-led and aligned with individual customer requirements.
• Regularly present ranges to customers, gathering feedback and using market insight to continually develop the product offering.
• Develop strategies to increase sales across existing channels whilst identifying and opening new customer and online opportunities.
• Make commercially informed buying and range decisions, considering seasonality, anticipated demand and sales potential.
• Manage sample development calendars, ensuring ranges and samples are completed accurately and within agreed timescales.
• Negotiate pricing in collaboration with customers and manufacturing partners to achieve commercially viable outcomes.
• Consider material costs and overall product pricing throughout the range-building process.
• Undertake international travel approximately twice per year to work closely with manufacturing partners and support key customer activity.
• Attend relevant trade fairs, retail stores and industry events to remain informed about emerging footwear trends, technologies and innovations.
• Monitor competitor activity and wider market trends, sharing relevant insights with customers and internal teams.
• Build strong, trusted relationships with buyers and key stakeholders, becoming a knowledgeable and credible partner.
• Maintain a strong understanding of sales performance, margins and commercial opportunities across customer accounts.

About You

To be successful in this role, you will ideally have:

• Previous sales, buying or commercial experience within the footwear industry – essential.
• Strong knowledge of footwear products, trends, materials and the wider retail market.
• Proven experience managing and developing customer accounts.
• A strong commercial mindset with the ability to identify opportunities to grow revenue.
• Experience working alongside designers and/or product development teams.
• Confidence presenting ranges and ideas to retail buyers and senior stakeholders.
• Strong negotiation and relationship-building skills.
• An understanding of pricing, margins and material costs.
• Excellent organisation skills with the ability to manage multiple ranges, customers and deadlines.
• A proactive, entrepreneurial approach and the confidence to bring forward new ideas.
• Flexibility to undertake international travel twice a year, alongside occasional UK and European travel for customer meetings, store visits and trade fairs.

Package

• £40,000 basic salary
• OTE £60,000+
• Commission structure with current business levels generating approximately £22,000 per annum
• Monday to Friday working hours
• 8.00am – 4.00pm
• Milton Keynes based
• International travel opportunities

Interested? Apply today with your most recent CV.

MKTEMP

By applying to this job advertisement, you confirm you have read and understood our Data Protection and Privacy statement and give OA Group authorisation to hold your provided data. Thank you for your interest in this vacancy, which is being advertised by OA Group, who are acting as an employment agency/business. Your application will be considered in competition with others and we will contact you within 3 working days.