Royal Canin | Pet Specialty Independent Director
Location: Remote, United States
Reports to: General Manager
Travel: ~50%Division

Role Intent and Enterprise Mandate

The Pet Specialty Independent Director is a senior enterprise leader accountable for the full commercial performance, strategic evolution, and operating effectiveness of Royal Canin’s Independent and Regional Chain retail business.

This role is designed to feed our GM pipeline. The leader in this role is expected to operate with enterprise mindset, owning end-to-end outcomes across strategy, financial performance, operating model design, talent development, and cross-functional execution. Success requires the ability to make complex trade-offs, lead through ambiguity, and balance short-term performance with long-term enterprise value creation.

Job Purpose

The Pet Specialty Independent Director exists to transform and scale Royal Canin’s Independent Retail business to deliver accelerated, profitable growth in a rapidly evolving specialty retail landscape. This role defines and leads the channel strategy, operating model, and execution agenda across Royal Canin and Eukanuba, while building future-ready commercial capabilities.

As a member of the Healthy Pet senior leadership team, this role influences enterprise strategy, shapes investment decisions, and partners closely with the GM and North American Leadership Team to drive sustained business performance.

Strategic Scope and General Management Accountability

This role carries full accountability for commercial outcomes, including revenue growth, margin delivery, trade investment effectiveness, resource allocation, and organizational capability. The Pet Specialty Independent Director is expected to think and act beyond functional silos, integrating Sales, Marketing, Finance, Supply, Data & Analytics, and HR perspectives into a cohesive business plan.

The role regularly engages with senior leaders across Royal Canin North America, Global teams, and Mars Petcare, and represents the Independent Retail business in enterprise-level forums such as S&OP and strategic planning cycles.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Leadership

• Act as a core member of the Pet Specialty Retail Omnichannel Leadership Team, contributing to enterprise strategy, annual operating plans, and multi-year growth agendas.
• Partner closely with the General Manager and Finance Business Partner to shape business priorities, investment decisions, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Demonstrate P&L ownership, balancing growth, margin, working capital, and long-term brand health.
• Lead with enterprise perspective, making decisions that optimize total Royal Canin value rather than sub-channel outcomes.
• Represent the Independent Retail business in senior governance forums, including S&OP, strategic reviews, and performance deep dives.

Independent Retail Strategy and Business Transformation

• Own and evolve the Independent Retail vision and multi-year strategy, including channel segmentation, portfolio strategy, pricing architecture, and route-to-market design.
• Lead transformation of the field sales operating model to reflect omni-channel dynamics, productivity expectations, and customer value creation.
• Drive Farm & Feed Strategy deployment as a strategic growth lever, including localized testing, portfolio optimization, and coverage model innovation.
• Define and implement selective distribution strategies in partnership with Global and Regional teams, with clear success metrics and disciplined execution.
• Identify emerging retail models, distributor opportunities, and capability gaps that inform future growth strategy.

Financial Ownership and Commercial Discipline

• Own volume, trade, and profitability forecasts for the Independent Retail channel, ensuring delivery of OMNI BU and enterprise financial commitments.
• Lead rigorous resource allocation decisions across people, trade investment, and customer prioritization to maximize return on investment.
• Partner with Finance & Sr. Marketing Director to ensure disciplined financial governance, transparent performance tracking, and proactive risk management.
• Establish clear KPIs, incentive structures, and operating rhythms that drive accountability and sustained performance.

Organizational Leadership and Talent Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a geographically dispersed sales organization, including direct leadership of Regional Managers and indirect leadership of District Managers and Account Managers.
• Build bench strength for future leadership roles through intentional succession planning and capability development.
• Foster a high-performance culture grounded in accountability, learning, and inclusion, particularly through periods of transformation and change.
• Serve as a role model for enterprise leadership behaviors, preparing the organization for scale and complexity.

Financial and Organizational Scope

• P&L Ownership

Direct Reports

• 2 Regional Managers
• 1 Team Lead, Distributor & Specialty Regional Chains

Indirect Reports

• 14 District Managers
• 6 Account Managers

Experience and Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required
• MBA or equivalent advanced degree strongly preferred

Experience Profile (GM Feeder Caliber)

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in sales, commercial strategy, or general management within complex, multi-channel businesses.
• Experience leading leaders and geographically dispersed teams.
• Demonstrated success owning and influencing P&L outcomes, including trade-offs between growth, margin, and investment.
• Proven experience leading business or operating model transformation at scale.
• Track record of influencing senior stakeholders and leading cross-functional initiatives without direct authority.
• Strong thought leadership, financial acumen, and systems thinking capability.
• Evidence of enterprise leadership readiness and potential to assume broader Senior level sales leadership.

Leadership Level and Core Competencies

• Financial Acumen
• Strategic Mindset
• Balances Stakeholders
• Drives Results
• Builds Effective Teams
• Drives Vision and Purpose

Key Supporting Competencies

• Practices breakthrough thinking
• Strategic and Systems Thinking
• Organizational Leadership and Talent Stewardship
• Change Leadership
• Executive Presence and Influence

Functional and Technical Capabilities

• Enterprise Strategy and Commercial Design (Expert)
• Advanced Financial and Analytical Acumen
• Portfolio and Category Leadership
• Omni-Channel Go-to-Market Strategy
• Sales Force Effectiveness and Performance Management

What can you expect from Mars?

• Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles.
• Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.
• A strong focus on learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
• An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.