Associate Director, Business Development (Brands)

About Minoan:

Minoan is a company at the frontier of a new way to shop — one we call “Native Retail.”

Have you ever stayed at a hotel and fallen in love with the soaps or shampoos? Maybe you had the best sleep of your life and wanted to know where you could get the mattress. Or maybe you were at your friend’s house and LOVED their speaker system, their coffee maker, or even their plants.

This is “Native Retail.” It’s about discovering products you love “in the wild” in environments where products are being used for what they are designed to do. And it requires an intricate ecosystem and carefully managed network of brands to bring to life.

At Minoan, we’re building a platform that’s connecting spaces, brands, and consumers to bring these moments to life. Tens of thousands of design-oriented hospitality partners use Minoan to manage their procurement across hundreds of incredible brands (think West Elm, Casper, Parachute, Ursa Major, Boll & Branch, Article, etc.) and also use Minoan to turn their spaces into immersive, shoppable showrooms. It’s a big, bold idea and it will take an army of intelligent, tough, ambitious, optimistic, and curious people to get there.

About the Role:

• We are looking for an Associate Director of Business Development (Brands) to oversee all of Minoan’s brand/supplier partnerships. This is similar to a General Manager role in that this person will be responsible for managing assortment, supplier onboarding, margin, negotiations, and all facets of supplier relationships.
• This role will report directly to our CEO and will be based in NYC. The position is remote, with a preference that this individual could easily get to NYC when needed, where most of our team is located.

What You’ll Do:

• Manage senior-level (VP and above) relationships across our network of brands and suppliers
• Pitch Brands on Minoan and negotiate costing as part of onboarding
• Work with suppliers to find win-win opportunities
• Monitor and ensure the competitiveness of Minoan’s offerings relative to the market
• Manage supplier onboarding and improve our current process to be more efficient and scalable
• Oversee data collection, the Minoan taxonomy, and assets (photography) from our supplier base
• Ensure product/supplier data within the Minoan platform is accurate and up-to-date
• Innovate new ways for us to leverage our supplier base and assortment to create better experiences for our users
• Schedule and run regular business reviews with Minoan’s leadership team
• Present in All Hands meetings to the entire company on a monthly basis
• Help lead technical integrations with brand partners (e.g. product data, inventory feeds, pricing, etc.)
• Assist in strategic client projects and coordinate with suppliers
• Collaborate with marketing to ensure we are featuring our supplier base in unique, engaging ways on a regular basis
• What We’re Looking For:
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited, four-year college or university.
• 10+ years of sales, merchant or general manager experience within early-stage high-growth startups, ideally working with retail brands or suppliers.
• Experience in cost negotiations, supplier and assortment setup, and partnership building.
• A self-starter who can operate autonomously with minimal supervision

What We Offer:

• An opportunity to help shape the future of retail.
• A challenging and fast-paced environment to grow and learn faster than you would elsewhere.
• A fun, transparent, and collaborative company culture that truly feels like a tight-knit unit.
• Regular team offsites to meet up in person (recent trips include Austin, Scottsdale, and NYC).
• Competitive compensation and benefits package including flexible PTO, health/vision/dental coverage, 401(k), paid parental leave, and generous equity.