[Hiring] Channel Marketing Manager @WD-40 COMPANY

Role Description

Let’s be straight with you. This is not a role for someone who wants to walk into a finished machine and optimize the gears. The commercial channel at WD-40 Company— automotive, industrial, B2B distribution — is one of our biggest growth frontiers, and the honest truth is: the playbook is still being written. That’s not a warning. For the right person, that sentence is the most exciting thing they’ve read all week.

If you've spent your career doing real work in industrial or automotive channel marketing:

• If you know the difference between sell-in and pull-through,
• If you've sat across from a distributor and had to earn their confidence,
• If you can influence a results-driven sales team and the crew protective of our brand in the same afternoon - keep reading.

You’ll own the commercial channel marketing strategy for the US, which includes:

• Sitting at the intersection of distributor relationships, sales enablement, channel assortment strategy, and end-user pull-through.
• Accountability for revenue growth, margin performance, and program ROI.

This role requires real experience in industrial and/or automotive channels. You need to arrive with that wiring already in place.

If your background is in:

• MRO,
• Industrial distribution,
• Hardware,
• Auto parts,
• Fluid management, or
• Adjacent B2B channels — that’s the experience we’re looking for.

Bonus points if you’ve had to adapt your approach across different commercial routes to market.

You’ll work closely with the sales side, who are experienced, direct, and passionate. You’ll need to earn their respect and hold your ground.

Responsibilities

• Building and owning the US commercial channel marketing strategy — multi-year vision, fiscal year execution, and the messy middle between the two.
• Developing WD-40’s approach to mid-market commercial accounts where we currently lack a cohesive strategy — this is greenfield work.
• Bridging sell-in and pull-through: landing product with distributors AND creating end-user demand that drives sell-through and velocity.
• Leading SKU assortment, packaging requirements, and product lineup decisions for your channels.
• Creating account-specific activation plans in coordination with brand, digital, and sales — and making the internal case for the investment to execute them.
• Representing WD-40 at trade shows, distributor meetings, and sales team calls as a credible commercial voice.
• Building internal buy-in — the organization is growing its commercial fluency. You’ll be teaching as much as executing.
• Leading partnership and agency management for channel programs, activations, and content development – from brief through execution and performance review.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in channel marketing or distributor marketing — with substantive experience in industrial and/or automotive channels.
• You understand how product moves through a B2B distribution channel.
• Sell-in and pull-through aren’t concepts to you — they’re things you’ve actually managed, simultaneously, under pressure.
• You’ve influenced people who didn’t ask for your influence — sales teams, brand managers, senior leadership — and done it without burning bridges.
• You’re comfortable making a plan with incomplete information and adjusting it when the ground shifts.
• Strong financial acumen — you can build a business case, defend a budget, and hold a P&L conversation.
• No job is beneath you. If it needs doing and it moves the business, you do it.
• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, or related field. MBA welcomed; a strong track record is more important.
• Up to 25% travel.

Benefits

• A strong values-aligned organization where contributions are acknowledged and rewarded.
• A learning-based culture where 78% of our team believe they can achieve their career objectives.
• Over 94% employee engagement as of the January 2025 global employee survey results.
• 99% of our people report that they “love to tell people that they work for WD-40 Company!"

Company Description

At WD-40 Company, we believe that purpose-driven, passionate people guided by our values create amazing outcomes. Our "why" is refreshingly simple - we exist to create positive lasting memories in everything we do.

Please, only consider employment with WD-40 Company if you feel as strongly about our values as we do: We live, breathe, and play by our values every day.

Thank you for considering WD-40 Company in your career search!