Director, Trade & Retail Marketing - North America

The Director of Trade & Retail Marketing for Tonies North America is responsible for translating brand strategy into retailer-ready plans, programs, and activations. This role drives sell-through, expands distribution, and elevates retail execution across physical and digital environments. It involves strategic leadership, operational excellence, and shaping the consumer experience to maximize lifetime value and strengthen loyalty among parents and caregivers. The director will lead a team and manage the U.S. trade marketing strategy and budget.

Must Have

• Own the full U.S. trade marketing strategy, planning, and execution across all retail channels
• Lead and develop a team of 3 across trade marketing, retail activation, and events
• Lead annual trade planning, including promotional calendars, retail activation strategy, and partner-specific plans
• Oversee the annual trade marketing budget (8–12% of revenue)
• Contribute to mid- and long-term commercial strategy (2–5 year horizon)
• Develop differentiated retailer strategies that drive incremental visibility, conversion, and category leadership
• Build retailer-specific promotional plans, and account-level activations
• Partner closely with Sales to optimize pricing decisions and Product to optimize assortment
• Research U.S. consumer and shopper behaviors, usage patterns, and buying triggers
• Monitor competitive landscape across toy and non-toy categories
• Own trade performance analytics and continuous optimization, and provide reporting
• Uncover insights that streamline the path to purchase and remove friction from conversion
• Shape the consumer journey within retail environments
• Identify key life-stage and milestone moments, and build targeted strategies
• Drive off-season demand through programs
• Lead the retail and trade adaptation of omnichannel campaigns
• Oversee toolbox creation, asset localization, and retailer-specific campaign deployment
• Manage creative and PR agency partners
• Set campaign KPIs, evaluate performance, and present insights
• Lead a high-performing trade and retail marketing team
• Partner with global marketing counterparts to share learnings and align global best practices
• Collaborate with the E-Commerce leadership to design a digital ecosystem
• Work closely with the Sales leadership to deliver retail experiences
• Influence stakeholders across Tonies US and Boxine GmbH
• Own the strategy, planning, and execution of Tonies’ presence at trade shows, retail conventions, and key industry events
• Define event objectives and success metrics aligned to commercial priorities
• Lead cross-functional coordination with Sales, Integrated Marketing, Product, and Operations for events
• Oversee booth design, collateral, and experiential elements
• Own event budgets, timelines, vendor selection, and contract negotiations
• Develop post-event follow-up frameworks
• Evaluate event performance and continuously optimize the trade show and convention strategy
• Serve as the senior marketing lead on-site for priority events
• 10–15+ years of experience in trade marketing, shopper marketing, retail marketing, or omnichannel marketing in CPG, toy, entertainment, or a related category
• Deep experience with major U.S. retailers (Target, Walmart, Amazon, etc.)
• Strong ability to translate consumer insights into commercially effective programs
• Proven leadership in managing teams and influencing cross-functional partners
• Budget ownership experience and strong financial acumen
• Exceptional project management, communication, and analytical skills
• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and represent marketing leadership with retail partners and executives

About tonies:

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TO APPLY FOR THIS ROLE, CANDIDATES MUST ATTACH A COVER LETTER ANSWERING THE PROMPTS AT THE END OF THE JOB DESCRIPTION. THOSE WHO DO NOT SUBMIT THE PROMPTS VIA COVER LETTER, WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

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You as part of tonies:

The Director of Trade & Retail Marketing owns the in-market engine for Tonies North America, translating brand strategy into retailer-ready plans, programs, and activations that accelerate sell-through, expand distribution, and elevate execution at retail. This role combines strategic leadership with operational excellence, ensuring the Tonies brand shows up with consistency, creativity, and commercial impact across all physical and digital retail environments.

In addition to driving our U.S. trade marketing strategy and execution, the Director plays a critical role in shaping the consumer’s experience with the brand, maximizing lifetime value, and strengthening loyalty among parents and caregivers who believe in learning through storytelling and play.

Your tasks and responsibilities will include:

Trade Marketing Strategy & Leadership

• Own the full U.S. trade marketing strategy, planning, and execution across all retail channels.
• Lead and develop a team of 3 across trade marketing, retail activation, and events, while driving strong cross-functional alignment with Sales, Brand, Finance, Supply Chain, and E-Commerce.
• Lead annual trade planning, including promotional calendars, retail activation strategy, and partner-specific plans.
• Oversee the annual trade marketing budget (8–12% of revenue), ensuring efficient allocation and strong ROI.
• Contribute to mid- and long-term commercial strategy (2–5 year horizon), including channel expansion, retail model evolution, and scalability of trade programs.
• Develop differentiated retailer strategies that drive incremental visibility, conversion, and category leadership.

Retail Activation & Shopper Marketing

• Build retailer-specific promotional plans, and account-level activations.
• Partner closely with Sales to optimize pricing decisions and Product to optimize assortment based on shopper insights.

Shopper Insights & Performance Analytics

• Research U.S. consumer and shopper behaviors, usage patterns, and buying triggers; integrate insights into all go-to-market plans.
• Monitor competitive landscape across toy and non-toy categories; identify trends, whitespace, and new market opportunities.
• Own trade performance analytics and continuous optimization, and provide reporting to Sales, Marketing, and Leadership.
• Uncover insights that streamline the path to purchase and remove friction from in-store and online conversion.

Brand & Consumer Strategy Integration

• Shape the consumer journey within retail environments, ensuring a consistent and compelling brand experience from discovery through purchase and repeat purchase.
• Identify key life-stage and milestone moments, and build targeted strategies to deepen emotional and functional connections with the brand.
• Drive off-season demand through programs that flatten traditional seasonal curves.

Campaign Development & Execution

• Lead the retail and trade adaptation of omnichannel campaigns, ensuring retailer relevance and executional excellence.
• Oversee toolbox creation, asset localization, and retailer-specific campaign deployment.
• Manage creative and PR agency partners to deliver high-quality execution on time and on budget.
• Set campaign KPIs, evaluate performance, and present insights to leadership and partners.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Leadership

• Lead a high-performing trade and retail marketing team.
• Partner with global marketing counterparts to share learnings and align global best practices.
• Collaborate with the E-Commerce leadership to design a digital ecosystem aligned with the shopper journey and retail priorities.
• Work closely with the Sales leadership to deliver retail experiences that meet both consumer needs and customer expectations.
• Influence stakeholders across Tonies US and Boxine GmbH; demonstrate strong executive presence and leadership.

Trade Shows, Conventions & Industry Events

• Own the strategy, planning, and execution of Tonies’ presence at trade shows, retail conventions, and key industry events across North America (e.g., retail buying shows, specialty toy fairs, and partner conferences).
• Define event objectives and success metrics aligned to commercial priorities (retailer relationships, sell-in support, product launches, brand visibility, and pipeline growth).
• Lead cross-functional coordination with Sales, Integrated Marketing, Product, and Operations to ensure:
• Clear event goals and messaging
• Strong product storytelling and demos
• Consistent brand representation
• Oversee booth design, collateral, and experiential elements in partnership with Brand and Creative teams.
• Own event budgets, timelines, vendor selection, and contract negotiations; ensure spend is disciplined and ROI-driven.
• Develop post-event follow-up frameworks to convert leads, insights, and retailer feedback into actionable next steps.
• Evaluate event performance and continuously optimize the trade show and convention strategy year over year.
• Serve as the senior marketing lead on-site for priority events, representing tonies with retail partners, distributors, and industry stakeholders.

Out of Scope / Partnered Areas

• Product assortment decisions (owned by Product)
• Licensing partnerships (owned by Global Licensing)
• Paid media execution

What we are looking for:

• 10–15+ years of experience in trade marketing, shopper marketing, retail marketing, or omnichannel marketing in CPG, toy, entertainment, or a related category.
• Deep experience with major U.S. retailers (Target, Walmart, Amazon, etc.).
• Strong ability to translate consumer insights into commercially effective programs.
• Proven leadership in managing teams and influencing cross-functional partners.
• Budget ownership experience and strong financial acumen.
• Exceptional project management, communication, and analytical skills
• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and represent marketing leadership with retail partners and executives.

Good to know:

To be considered for this role, please attach a cover letter with the responses to the three prompts below. Each answer should be no more than 250 words. Candidates who do not submit the written responses via attachment will not be considered. The tonies Talent Acquisition team will reach out to candidates directly who are selected to move forward in the interview process.

1. Prioritization & KPI Discipline

Retail and trade marketing asks are endless — displays, demos, endcaps, signage, retail media, content updates, events, etc.

How would you decide what marketing tasks and investments actually matter, and which ones don’t?

Walk us through how you would prioritize initiatives and tie them directly to KPIs such as sales velocity per door, in-stock lift, conversion, and repeat purchase — especially when attribution is imperfect.

2. Digital vs Physical Investment Trade-Offs

Tonies lives in both physical retail and digital ecosystems. Budget is finite.

How would you decide when to invest in physical retail levers (endcaps, demos, signage, events) versus digital levers (retail media, PDP content, search, social, CRM)?

What signals would tell you to shift spend from one to the other, and how would you defend that decision to Sales and Finance?

3. Always-On vs Bold, Concentrated Bets

Some marketing work needs to be always on and foundational. Other moments require bold, concentrated bets.

How do you decide what must always be funded versus when to make big, opinionated investments (e.g., a major retail moment, launch, or activation)?

How do you protect budget for bold ideas while still delivering consistent baseline performance?