[Hiring] Head of Retail @Freebird

Role Description

Can you walk into a Walmart buyer meeting and walk out with more shelf space than you came in with? Can you look at a sell-through report and immediately know why a SKU is bleeding and exactly what to do about it? Have you actually built a retail business - not managed a book of logos, but built something - from early distribution to thousands of productive doors?

Freebird® is a 9-figure DTC brand serving over 2 million customers and redefining shaving for the modern consumer. We're looking for a Head of Retail to become Freebird's internal retail expert and owner - responsible for taking an emerging retail channel and turning it into a significant national growth engine.

This is not an account management role. This is a builder role. If you've built this before and want to build it again - keep reading.

What You'll Own

• Protect and Scale Walmart
  • Take full ownership of the commercial relationship - buyers, line reviews, assortment, pricing, programs, and commitments.
  • Ensure 2026 expansion, holiday program, and PDQ execute successfully.
  • Maintain real-time visibility into sell-through, in-stock, replenishment, inventory, and forecasts.
  • Own the Walmart P&L and all trade-spend decision making.
  • Build the roadmap for expanding men's, women's, refill, and secondary SKUs.
  • Develop the next line review and feature strategy.
• Launch and Internalize Target
  • Take direct ownership of the Target buyer relationship.
  • Assess what stays with external partners versus moves in-house.
  • Own the launch plan, assortment, economics, and all internal workstreams.
  • Execute a successful national launch with Freebird holding the direct relationship - no dependency on a broker as the sole relationship holder.
  • Build the infrastructure to manage Target internally following launch.
• Build the Path to 10,000+ Doors
  • Produce a prioritized 2-3 year U.S. retail expansion strategy within 90 days.
  • Segment retailers by fit, revenue opportunity, margin, brand value, and probability of success.
  • Identify the next 5-10 accounts to pursue - CVS, Walgreens, Ulta, Best Buy, Sam's Club, Costco, Kroger, H-E-B, Publix, and others.
  • Have multiple new retailer relationships actively progressing through buyer meetings, line reviews, or tests within 12 months.
• Build Freebird's Retail Assortment Strategy
  • Build a retailer-specific assortment architecture across men's kits, women's kits, refill blades, consumables, premium tiers, club bundles, and retailer-exclusive configurations.
  • Determine which products belong in which retailers, at what MSRP, with what pack architecture.
  • Define when new SKUs deserve shelf space and where exclusives create competitive advantage.
  • Protect DTC and retail pricing simultaneously across channels.
• Build the Refill and Consumables Business
  • Turn retail from a one-time hardware sale into a recurring ecosystem.
  • Develop the strategy for landing refill blades alongside devices at retail.
  • Use device velocity to justify additional refill doors and expanded placement.
  • Build retailer economics around repeat purchase and category value.
  • Identify opportunities in wet shave, care, and other consumable products.
• Own Retail Economics
  • Build and manage retailer-level P&Ls: wholesale revenue, gross margin, trade spend, promotions, markdowns, retail media, freight, deductions, returns, and contribution margin.
  • Ensure retail growth is profitable growth - not simply door count expansion.
  • Make commercial decisions grounded in unit economics and long-term account health.
• Build World-Class Retail Execution
  • Establish strong processes across forecasting, replenishment, in-stock, POs, EDI, OTIF, retailer portals, features, compliance, deductions, and sell-through reporting.
  • Know what excellent looks like in each area and build the capability underneath you.
• Build the Internal Retail Organization
  • Initially operate as a hands-on, lean retail leader, directly owning and executing the business without an immediate internal team.
  • Assess current capabilities and define the organizational structure needed as the retail business scales.
  • Over time, build the right internal team to support a 10,000–20,000+ door business, with hiring driven by growth and business needs rather than upfront headcount.
  • Progressively reduce dependency on external brokers as capabilities come in-house.

Qualifications

• Personally owned a meaningful Walmart business - buyers, line reviews, Retail Link, replenishment, features, and negotiations. Non-negotiable.
• Managed Target from the brand side with direct buyer relationships. Strongly preferred.
• Grown a consumer brand beyond Walmart and Target into drug, club, grocery, beauty, electronics, or specialty.
• Worked inside a consumer brand and understands how retail interacts with product, finance, brand, growth, supply chain, and executive leadership.
• Personal care, grooming, beauty, consumer electronics, appliances, or health and wellness background.
• Can present a 3-year retail strategy and troubleshoot an out-of-stock at Walmart.
• Can evaluate retailer margins, wholesale pricing, promotional economics, trade spend, inventory investment, and retail media ROI.
• Energized by ambiguity, building from scratch, and moving without a Fortune 500 support structure.
• Develops authentic, long-term buyer relationships - credible, commercially sharp, responsive, and trusted.
• Works extremely well cross-functionally with Product, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Brand, Creative, Growth, and executive leadership.

Requirements

• 10+ years in consumer products and retail sales.
• Senior Director, VP, Head of Retail, Head of Sales, or National Accounts experience.
• Personal ownership of Walmart; Target ownership strongly preferred.
• Experience managing a $25M+ retail business.
• Demonstrated expansion from limited distribution into thousands of doors.
• Retail P&L responsibility.
• Experience building teams and retail infrastructure.

Benefits

• Remote-first & flexible. Work from anywhere with autonomy and trust.
• Competitive compensation, rewarding the impact you make.
• Medical, dental & vision insurance. Health coverage for you and your family.
• 401(k) with company match.
• Unlimited PTO. Recharge when you need it.
• Own an entire channel with the authority and accountability that comes with it.
• Proven consumer demand and brand awareness already in place.
• A product portfolio built for retail: hardware with consumable refills and a growing grooming ecosystem.
• A leadership team that moves fast, makes decisions, and gives operators room to operate.
• No politics, just execution. We value ownership, collaboration, and solving problems together.
• The chance to write the retail playbook for a brand that has already proven it can win.