About Us:
Grassroots is a retailer-owned trade organization serving 100+ independent specialty outdoor retailers and their vendor partners. We exist to help independent retail thrive: through data intelligence, direct member support, education, community, and twice-annual trade events that bring the channel together to do business and build relationships.
We are a small, fully remote team. Everyone here wears a lot of hats and cares deeply about the people we serve. Our culture is guided by five values:
Show Your Work
Be Direct and Show Respect
Embrace Agility
Be Intentional and Responsive
We Celebrate our Differences
The opportunity:
The people who own and operate independent specialty outdoor stores are some of the most creative, tenacious, caring, intelligent, and genuinely wonderful people we’ve had the chance to meet in life. They opened or purchased their stores because they love the outdoors and care about the local communities they serve. They show up every day to help people get outdoors, and they do it with a level of care and expertise that makes shopping with them personal and special.
But there is another side that gets seen less often. Off the shop floor, owners are carrying an enormous load on their own. Their job description, if they ever wrote one, would simply read: whatever is required. Buying, hiring, marketing, finances, customer service, facilities; all of it. Most members of Grassroots are exceptional in a few of these areas; a few are exceptional in most of them, and all of them deserve the best opportunity for connection to others who truly understand what the job is like.
This role exists to facilitate that connection and ensure Grassroots brings the same passion and focused attention to our members that they bring to their customers every day.
The Director of Retailer Development will be directly responsible for retailer development and community building within the Grassroots’ community. We see this role as a guidance counselor for all retail members, ensuring that each member is personally known over time and helping them on their unique personal and professional journeys.
When this role is working, retailers will be meaningfully connected to their peers and have dedicated opportunities to deepen those relationships. They will be growing in areas they find impactful. They will always have somewhere to go with hard conversations and easy ones alike. As a byproduct, the rest of the Grassroots team will be more attuned to retailers' needs, better understand their challenges, and ultimately prioritize the most impactful initiatives.
This is a new position at Grassroots and will take time to grow into its full impact. Genuine relationships at this scale don't happen in a quarter or even a year, and we are building this role knowing the right person will find the long game motivating and rewarding.
Reports To: President
Location: Remote (US)
What you will own:
The membership relationship. Every retail store owner and buyer in Grassroots should eventually be known by you and see you as their champion. You will build the systems that make that sustainable at scale and use what you learn to make every retailer's experience of Grassroots more relevant and more valuable.
Retailer development. Grassroots exists to help retailers build community, grow as professionals, and operate thriving businesses. Your job is to foster that at the individual level. That means connecting members to peers who are in a similar place, identifying where the membership collectively needs expertise it does not have, and building learning experiences around what retailers need to achieve their goals.
The full arc of membership. From initial inquiry through every stage of a retailer's time with Grassroots – onboarding, becoming an established member, mentoring others, board service, and whatever comes next (including the hard ones like selling a store or closing one) – this is your territory. When a member is struggling to meet requirements or going through a significant business transition, you will be the person who helps support them with clarity, care, and confidentiality.
Member communications and access. Retailers should always know what is available to them, what is happening at Grassroots, and where to find what they need. You will own that experience and drive internal conversations to make sure it stays current and useful.
The retailer voice inside Grassroots. Your community building and conversations with retailers will give you a well-rounded, nuanced perspective to share with the rest of the Grassroots team. When a retailer shares a concern on our direction or an idea to improve their experience, you see this as an example of why your role exists and employ curiosity to ensure you understand it fully before sharing. You work for retailers in how you think, and you hold that stance with purpose in our internal discussions.
Event participation and education. You will have a meaningful presence at Grassroots events, both operationally and relationally. You will own a large portion of education day programming at Connect: shaping the agenda, finding the right educators, and making sure the experience reflects what retailers actually asked for. In between events, education will likely take many forms across working groups, webinars, and potentially in-person gatherings born from your initiative.
What this role requires:
The most important work in this role will often be non-linear. The right person will find that energizing, not frustrating. That said, the relational work sits on top of operational responsibilities that are yours to own and have cross-organizational impact:
Maintaining accurate retailer records across the full membership (along with everyone else on the team)
Managing the retailer application process from inquiry through acceptance with care and consistency
Designing and running an onboarding experience that sets up new members for a valuable experience
Booking speakers, helping coordinate education logistics, and showing up prepared at shows
Sending member communications reliably to keep retailers informed and connected
Staying organized across a high volume of relationships and knowing how to implement systems and tools to make that sustainable
What we’re looking for:
A facilitator who loves to make connections and bring people together. Experience designing or leading peer learning, working groups, or community programming is a plus
A developer in every sense: you love to see others succeed by understanding their goals and helping them achieve them
Someone who is genuinely curious in a way that keeps you open to new ideas and capable of finding common ground across seemingly contrasting viewpoints
A strong listener and thoughtful question-asker. Approachable enough that people bring things to you, and perceptive enough to know what to do with what you hear
Someone who is comfortable offering honest, direct perspectives. The kind that helps someone see their situation more clearly, not just feel better about it
Enough business literacy to engage meaningfully in conversations about retail operations and financial health. Not an analyst, but not lost in those discussions either
Strong written and verbal communication skills, and tech fluency for a remote role including Slack, Google Workspace, CRM tools, and AI tools
Willingness to travel domestically 4 to 6 times per year
A genuine love of the outdoors and independently owned retail
Compensation, FLSA Status, Location, and Hours:
This is a 40-hour per week exempt, remote position that will require you to have a suitable workspace with secure internet and reliable phone reception. This position requires frequent phone and internet meetings.
Full-time, exempt, fully remote position
Compensation: $80,000 to $95,000 depending on experience
Professional development and flex funds
Retirement contributions
Annual PTO plus 8 paid holidays