Sales & Trade Marketing Manager

Position Overview

Speedball Art Products is seeking a Sales & Trade Marketing Manager who will play a key role in nurturing and growing our existing customer relationships across channels. This role is focused on strong account stewardship, consistent execution, and thoughtful trade support to drive profitable, sustainable growth. Reporting to the President, this position works closely with Marketing, Operations, and Distribution to ensure customers are well-supported and programs are executed with care and follow-through.

Speedball Art Products is a growing and increasingly diversified company, and the retail landscape continues to evolve. We are looking for someone who enjoys working closely with customers, understands their needs, and takes pride in being responsive, organized, and reliable. The ideal candidate is energized by building long-term relationships, managing details, and being a steady, trusted point of contact for both customers and internal teams.

This is a hands-on role for someone who values service, ownership, and collaboration, and who wants their work to make a visible difference every day.

Responsibilities

Key Account Management

-         Manage and grow a portfolio of assigned national and house accounts, with a primary focus on strengthening existing relationships.

-         Serve as the primary point of contact for assigned customers for sales, trade, and non-standard service needs.

-         Ensure consistent communication of pricing updates, promotions, product changes, and new product announcements.

-         Support new product placement and periodically review assortments to ensure alignment with customer needs and performance.

-         Identify opportunities to improve distribution, assortment, and reorder activity within existing accounts.

Trade Marketing and Customer Support

-         Support customer-focused marketing efforts, including sell sheets, product information, samples, and other sales tools.

-         Lead customer-specific marketing initiatives and promotions in collaboration with Marketing and Product teams.

-         Coordinate merchandising efforts, including assortment and display recommendations where appropriate.

-         Support customer events such as distributor shows, meetings, demonstrations, and presentations.

-         Communicate and execute national and customer-specific programs with attention to detail and follow-through.

-         Manage relationships with independent retailer house accounts, providing consistent outreach and support.

-         Support and help cultivate select international account relationships.

-         Collaborate with Customer Service, Logistics, and other internal teams to help resolve service, pricing, or quality issues.

Who You Are

-         A relationship-oriented sales professional who takes pride in being dependable, responsive, and detail-oriented.

-         Comfortable working hands-on with customers, data, and internal teams.

-         Practical, thoughtful, and service-minded toward both external customers and internal partners.

-         Motivated by ownership, consistency, and the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution.

-         Someone who values trust, accountability, and doing quality work without unnecessary layers or bureaucracy.

-         The successful candidate will have a passion for winning and driving for results, while upholding Speedball’s core values in the process.

Qualifications

-         Bachelor’s degree preferred.

-         5+ years of experience in sales, trade marketing, or account management.

-         Experience working with consumer products and retail customers, fine arts, or craft experience desirable.

-         Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.

-         Comfort analyzing sales data and preparing reports.

-         Collaborative working style with the ability to manage multiple priorities.

-         Strong written and verbal communication skills.

-         Ability to balance strategic thinking and execution.

Benefits

• Competitive Health Insurance
• Paid Time Off
• (10) paid holidays
• 401k – dollar for dollar matching up to 6%
• STD, LTD, Life Insurance
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Paid Parental Leave

Salary will be commensurate with experience, skills, and qualifications.

Company Overview

Speedball Art Products is a leader in the art industry, marketing, manufacturing, and distributing high quality art supplies to artists, educators, students, and crafters throughout the world. The Speedball pen nib has been around since 1899, and Speedball has been an independent art supply company since 1997. Speedball is a lean, entrepreneurial enterprise that has been growing consistently and plans to continue to do so. Speedball invests heavily into its human resources and believes that its success is dependent upon the quality and passion of its people and their ability to work effectively together as a team. We serve national chains like Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, and Office Depot and ship to over (60) countries and source materials from around the globe.

Visit our website at www.speedballart.com to learn more.

Speedball Art Products, as an Equal Opportunity Employer, aims to attract and recruit individuals with diverse backgrounds, skills, and abilities, who will enhance the quality of service and contribute to the Company’s success. We are committed to the development of an organization that prioritizes talent, where people feel respected, appreciated, and free to fully express their human potential. Speedball Art Products strongly believes that diversity drives meritocracy and brings significant value at all levels of the organization, increases the possibility of capturing market opportunities and maximizing value for our customers and shareholders. Speedball Art Products bases its decisions on principles of equality, with evaluations based on the type of position and with a focus on best practices so individuals succeed based on their efforts and skills and their alignment with applicable job requirements.

-         Location: Statesville, NC. Up to 25% Travel. Relocation assistance available for the right candidate.