Manager, Retail Activation

About the role

Together, WE enable individuals to look, feel, and be their true selves. Wella Company is one of the world’s leading beauty companies, comprised of a family of iconic brands such as Wella Professionals, Clairol, OPI, Nioxin and ghd. With 6,000 employees globally, presence in over 100 countries, Wella Company and its brands enable consumers to look, feel, and be their true selves. As innovators in the hair and nail industry, Wella Company empowers its people to delight consumers, inspire beauty professionals, engage communities, and deliver sustainable growth to its stakeholders.

The Manager, Retail Activation is responsible for developing, executing, and optimizing shopper marketing and retail activation programs that drive brand growth, shopper conversion, and market share across Wella's U.S. Hair and Nail portfolio. This role leads activation planning across displays, couponing, merchandising, shelf navigation, and retail media, while partnering with Sales, Channel Trade Marketing, Brand Marketing, Finance, and external agencies to ensure strong execution, measurable results, and continuous optimization through actionable learnings.

Responsibilities

• Retail Activation Planning & Execution – Lead planning and execution of retail activation programs, including displays, couponing, merchandising, shelf navigation, retail media, and shopper marketing initiatives; develop customer-specific activation plans that align with brand strategies, retailer priorities, and commercial objectives; translate annual business plans into activation calendars, agency deliverables, and execution milestones; partner cross-functionally to deliver best-in-class activation programs that drive growth and shopper engagement.
• Promotional Effectiveness & Optimization – Establish KPIs and measure promotional and activation effectiveness using syndicated, retailer, and performance data; manage activation and promotional budgets, including annual planning, investment allocation, forecast tracking, and in-year optimization to ensure spending aligns with business objectives and delivers maximum ROI; conduct post-event and post-promotion analyses to evaluate ROI, identify learnings, and recommend future actions; optimize promotional investments, activation strategies, and shopper engagement programs based on performance insights.
• Agency & Cross-Functional Leadership – Manage agency and vendor relationships, ensuring deliverables, timelines, budgets, and performance expectations are met; coordinate execution across Sales, Brand Marketing, Category Management, Finance, Supply Chain, and external partners; identify executional risks, improve processes, and establish tools that enable operational excellence.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• 5+ years of experience in Shopper Marketing, Retail Activation, Trade Marketing, Customer Marketing, or related CPG functions.
• Experience managing shopper marketing, retail media, merchandising, display, or coupon programs.
• Experience developing and executing retail activation and promotional programs.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to evaluate program effectiveness and translate insights into action.
• Experience managing agencies, vendors, budgets, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Strong project management, communication, and organizational skills.
• Advanced Excel and PowerPoint capabilities.

Pay

Pay Range: $90,000 - $100,000 salary per year. Actual salaries will vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to location, experience, skills and in comparison to internal incumbents currently in similar roles.

Benefits

In addition to base pay, Wella Company offers an annual bonus plan or variable pay (depending on the role), health insurance, life and disability insurance, 401(k) retirement plan, paid holidays, and paid time off (PTO).

Schedule

Hybrid – 3 Days Onsite.