Job Posting: Sales & Trade Development Manager

Location:

Chabanel, Montreal QC (in-person role)

Employment:

Full-time salaried role with a 4-day core work week. Some flexibility is required for occasional client needs, events, and time-sensitive sales opportunities.

Start Date:

August 2026

About The Role

We’re looking for a commercially minded person to help grow our trade, wholesale, and commercial sales channels. This role is ideal for someone who is organized, proactive, comfortable with outreach, and excited to help build structure inside a growing design business.

The role is being built as a full-time 4 days a week role with Fridays off. This is a salaried position.

This is a hands-on sales and business development role. You’ll work closely with the founder and operations lead to manage relationships, follow up with leads, build sales systems, and help turn interest from designers, retailers, and commercial clients into long-term accounts.

While the role will involve some marketing coordination and brand thinking, this is not a design role. The focus is on sales development, trade relationships, CRM systems, account management, and structured follow-up.

As the company grows, there is strong potential for this position to evolve.

This is not an entry-level role. We are looking for someone with existing experience in sales, account management, trade, wholesale, business development, interiors, retail, or a related client-facing role.

Key Responsibilities

Sales Development:

  • Identify, contact, and build relationships with interior designers, architects, retailers, stylists, and commercial clients.
  • Develop and manage a clear sales pipeline for trade, wholesale, and project-based opportunities.
  • Follow up with leads, quotes, sample requests, past customers, and open conversations.
  • Help convert existing interest into active accounts and repeat business.
  • Prepare outreach strategies for different customer types, including designers, retailers, hospitality projects, and commercial clients.

Trade and Wholesale Relationships:

  • Support the growth of our trade program and wholesale partnerships.
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with key design professionals and retail accounts.
  • Help create a more structured process for onboarding new trade clients.
  • Track account activity, sales history, follow-up timing, and future opportunities.
  • Represent the brand professionally in meetings, studio visits, events, and trade conversations.

CRM and Sales Systems:

  • Help set up and manage a CRM system.
  • Create practical systems for tracking leads, quotes, customer status, follow-ups, and sales opportunities.
  • Work with the founder and operations lead to keep sales information organized and actionable.
  • Help build basic reporting around pipeline value, conversion, account growth, and sales forecasts.

Marketing and Campaign Support:

  • Contribute to marketing initiatives that support sales growth.
  • Help coordinate product launches, trade outreach, newsletter cadence, event follow-up, and seasonal campaigns.
  • Work with existing photography, video, product stories, and collection launches to create better sales tools.
  • Help connect marketing activity to actual sales outcomes.

Product and Brand Understanding:

  • Develop a strong understanding of our products, materials, production timelines, pricing, inventory, and design language.
  • Communicate the value of handmade rugs clearly and confidently to different audiences.
  • Help clients navigate product options, stock availability, custom orders, lead times, and project needs.

What We're Looking For

  • A proactive, commercially minded person who is excited to help grow a small design business.
  • Strong communication skills and confidence building relationships with new and existing clients.
  • Experience in sales, account management, trade, wholesale, interiors, design, retail, or commercial development.
  • Strong organizational skills, ability to manage follow-ups, and comfort keeping multiple open conversations moving.
  • Comfort with an evolving role and a small, founder-led company.
  • A good understanding of design, aesthetics, and brand positioning.
  • Experience with CRM tools or a willingness to help build strong sales systems.
  • Ability to move between strategic planning and day-to-day execution.
  • Experience working with interior designers, architects, retailers, or trade accounts is a strong asset.
  • Experience in the homeware, furniture, textile, or design industry is a plus.
  • French speaking skills are an asset but not required.

Required Experience

  • Minimum 3 to 5 years of experience in sales, account management, trade, wholesale, business development, or a related client-facing role.
  • Experience managing client relationships, following up on leads, and moving opportunities through a sales process.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills.
  • Comfort working independently and taking initiative in a small, growing company.
  • Experience with interior designers, architects, retailers, trade accounts, furniture, textiles, homeware, or design-focused products is a strong asset.

Compensation

Salary will be based on experience and fit. The expected range is $55,000 to $65,000, with the possibility of a performance-based bonus structure tied to sales growth and business development goals.

To Apply

Please send your resume and a brief cover letter to dcowper@markkrebs.ca. Aim for your resume and cover letter to be one page each.

In your cover letter, please tell us what interests you about the role, what kind of sales or trade experience you bring, and how you would approach building relationships with designers, retailers, and commercial clients.