[Hiring] Head of Design Accounts @Gantri

Role Description

We are hiring a Head of Design Accounts to lead our relationships with the design industry's major brands and retailers. This is a senior individual contributor role for someone who already knows these companies and the people who run them, and who can open doors we cannot open on our own.

The role covers two customer groups with two different paths to Gantri Made:

• Design retailers: Start as wholesale accounts for Gantri-branded products. Once Gantri is selling on their floors and sites, the next step is Gantri Made: exclusive and private-label products developed and manufactured for them.
• Design brands: Customers that develop and manufacture new products on demand, without tooling, minimums, or inventory. The sale is a product development and manufacturing partnership, made to product, brand, and sourcing leaders.

Our wholesale and Made business is built on a small number of large accounts. We open a few each year and each one grows significantly over time, so this role is measured on the depth and revenue of accounts, not the number of logos. You will own a short, named target list end to end, from first conversation through pilot, launch, and expansion.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in sales, business development, or partnerships at a design brand, design retailer, contract furniture or lighting manufacturer, or a manufacturers' representative serving them.
• A current network of decision-makers at companies like MillerKnoll, Haworth, Steelcase, Vitra, HAY, Flos, Design Within Reach, Room & Board, and leading European design retailers, with references who will confirm it.
• You have closed large, multi-year accounts with design brands or retailers, and can show the deals, the people, and the revenue.
• You understand how design brands develop and source products: development cycles, tooling, MOQs, landed cost, and how sourcing teams make decisions.
• You understand how design retailers buy and merchandise: assortment planning, margin structure, exclusives, private label, and the seasonal calendar.
• You can sell a manufacturing partnership, not just a product line. You can talk through unit economics, lead times, and quality with a sourcing lead as well as you can talk through a collection with a buyer.
• You run a disciplined pipeline, forecast accurately, and hold yourself to a revenue number.
• You are a direct communicator who takes ownership of outcomes and moves fast with little supervision.
• You travel regularly: trade shows, customer sites, and quarterly time at our Bay Area factory and showroom.

Requirements

• Experience in lighting.
• Experience on the buying or product side of a design brand or retailer, not only the selling side.
• A network among European design brands and retailers in Milan, Copenhagen, London.
• Experience with on-demand, made-to-order, or additive manufacturing and what it changes for a brand's product and inventory model.
• Experience with the contract and A&D channel through MillerKnoll, Haworth, or Steelcase dealer networks.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity options.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage.
• Paid time off and flexible vacation policy.
• 401(k) retirement plan with company match.
• Professional development opportunities and learning stipend.
• Collaborative, creative, and sustainability-focused work environment.
• Access to Gantri-designed products and innovation initiative.