ABOUT THE POSITION
This new role has been created to strengthen our national sales organization and take our collaboration with Italy’s most important key accounts to the next level.
As Key Account Representative, you will own the commercial relationship with a portfolio of key accounts that together represent a significant share of Columbia Italy’s business. Your mission is to grow revenue, margin, and category share.
You will drive the sell-in process, build account-specific sales plans, negotiate and close seasonal orders, and monitor sell-out performance to ensure business targets are met. Beyond hitting numbers, you’ll play a strategic role in strengthening Columbia’s leadership position with major partners and in developing new commercial opportunities in the Italian market.
By taking full responsibility for these accounts’ performance, you will be a key driver of our growth ambitions.
HOW YOU’LL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
1. Manage the full sales cycle for assigned key accounts: pre-orders, reorders, closeouts, and in-season activities to achieve sales, margin, and category growth targets.
2. Build and implement tailored key account plans aligned with our European and national business strategies.
3. Provide accurate forecasts and regular business reports; monitor and analyze sell-in, sell-out, and competitor performance.
4. Deliver best-in-class product training and ensure perfect in-store execution with our partners’ sales staff.
5. Act as a problem solver and main point of contact for partners, ensuring quick and effective responses to operational challenges.
6. Identify business opportunities (assortment, pricing, promotional activities) and work cross-functionally with Marketing, Credit, Logistics, and Operations to make them happen.
7. Support the reactivation and development of department store partnerships and contribute to future partner store projects.
8. Be a visible, proactive presence for partners through frequent visits and relationship building.
YOU ARE
9. A relationship builder: You engage others with a positive, energetic, and “sunny” attitude, creating trust and lasting partnerships.
10. Data-driven & curious: You love analyzing KPIs and market trends to spot business opportunities and make informed decisions.
11. Ambitious & results-oriented: You thrive in a sales environment, set clear goals, and work with determination to achieve them.
12. Flexible & hands-on: You enjoy working in a lean, collaborative team where everyone rolls up their sleeves when needed.
13. Resilient & team-spirited: You manage stress effectively and contribute to a constructive, supportive atmosphere in a small-office environment.
YOU HAVE
14. A university degree and at least 2 years’ experience in sales (exposure to key accounts or buying groups is a strong plus) in the outdoor or sporting goods industry
15. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills in Italian and English (both spoken and written).
16. Solid analytical skills, with the ability to monitor KPIs, forecast accurately, and translate data into actionable insights.
17. Strong organizational and prioritization skills, with proficiency in MS Office (especially Excel); familiarity with order management systems is an advantage.
PERKS & BENEFITS
🎁 Significant discounts on Columbia and Sorel products
🚗 Company car
📚 Unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning
📖 A monthly Learning Hour for training, discovery and learning
👩🏫 Unlock your potential: access to in-house training courses (feedback, leadership, Insights®...)
🌈DEI initiatives to exchange and strengthen our involvement around these themes
ABOUT THE CULTURE
18. At Columbia Sportswear, we value an inclusive and open culture that emphasizes the absence of barriers between team members. We are committed to fostering a sense of belonging by encouraging personal connections at all levels, which creates a cohesive and supportive work environment.
19. Team members serve as ambassadors for our brand, finding motivation in being part of an organization dedicated to activities they are passionate about. This dedication reflects our commitment to building a team that takes pride in our products and values.
20. We offer the opportunity to work for a US-based company within a multicultural environment, where your job has an impact across different countries.
21. Our "Always Be Learning" culture of continuous learning enables our employees to identify and develop skills that will enable them to continue to grow within the company.
22. "Unlock Your Potential" is the spirit that characterizes our vision of employees' development: to offer them opportunities to grow, in their job, in their team or even to change jobs completely. We grow our people to grow our business.
To learn more about us and our culture, visit our page on Welcome To The Jungle:
ABOUT THE HIRING PROCESS
1️⃣ Ready to unlock your potential at Columbia Sportswear Company? Apply now to help us connect active people with their passion! The hiring team will review your application in the following weeks.
2️⃣ If your application is selected: a 30-45mn introductory interview with our Talent Acquisition Team to talk about yourself, your motivations and the role
3️⃣ Interview with the hiring manager (online)
4️⃣ Interview with the hiring team + case study presentation (on site)
5️⃣ Your unique strengths align perfectly with our team: we are thrilled to extend you an offer!
This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of duties and responsibilities, but constitutes a general definition of the position's scope and function in the company.