Company
“A perfume is a world you can return to over and over again–a keyhole into far off places–material and imaginary.”
D.S. & Durga is a Brooklyn fragrance house on a quest to create thrilling perfumes inspired by music, myth, and the mundane. Founded in 2009 by David (D.S.) and Kavi (Durga) Moltz, the brand is known for its uniquely distinguished perfumes, candles, and aromatic products. All fragrances and design worlds are original compositions, rooted in specificity, surrealism, and clarity.
With distribution across 600 doors globally and five freestanding stores in NYC and LA, the brand is entering a new phase of growth following Manzanita Capital’s majority investment in 2024.
Role Overview
We're looking for a Regional Sales Manager to bring D.S. & Durga's perfumes – inspired by music, myth, and the mundane – to life across our department store and specialty doors on the East Coast. As the face of D.S. & Durga in the region, you will drive sales performance, sell-through, and brand presence across a territory of approximately 50 doors spanning the NYC metro area, Long Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, DC/Baltimore, and the Southeast, as well as Holt Renfrew in Canada. Key accounts include Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Bluemercury, Bergdorf Goodman, and Todd Snyder.
Reporting to the Commercial Director, North America Wholesale, you will run the territory like your own business: setting the plan, deciding where to invest your time and resources, and owning the results, with full autonomy over how you get there. This includes ownership of the territory's freelance team and its travel and expense budgets. Key functional partners include the North America Account Manager and the Commercial Operations Coordinator.
This role combines strategic account management with hands-on field leadership. Success means a territory that meets or exceeds plan, with growth at our most important doors; store teams who know, love, and sell D.S. & Durga; freelance, event, and travel spend that earns its keep; and a reputation with retail partners and colleagues as proactive, organized, and commercially sharp.
This position is eligible for the North America Wholesale quarterly bonus program. The bonus is calculated as a target bonus multiplied by a weighted scorecard (sales versus plan, comparable growth, Tier A door performance, and input KPIs), with the sales component paid on a multiplier curve. Program details will be confirmed in the offer letter.
Key Responsibilities
Territory & Sales Planning
• Own and grow the sales plan for the East Coast territory.
• Build the territory plan door by door and tier by tier, using each retailer's calendar to decide where time and investment go.
• Turn sell-through data into conversations that grow the business, always within each retailer's way of working.
• Keep the right product in the right doors; spot stock issues early and come with the fix.
• Keep leadership informed on performance, competition, and opportunities, with recommendations, not just updates.
Retail Partnership & Brand Presence • Model the D.S. & Durga selling standard and position the brand as the most proactive, best-educated partner in each store.
• Keep every D.S. & Durga space immaculate, on-brand, and true to our merchandising standards.
• Reach beyond the counter to top sellers, stylists, and personal shoppers who become advocates for the brand.
Education, Events & Clienteling • Make every associate a confident D.S. & Durga storyteller, in person and virtually, sharing the worlds behind the scents, not just the notes.
• Plan and lead high-touch in-store events, masterclasses, and clienteling initiatives across key luxury markets that feel unmistakably D.S. & Durga and drive sell-through.
• Develop and grow an active client base in partnership with each store, using the retailer's clienteling tools.
Team & Budget Management • Recruit, hire, train, schedule, and develop freelance across the territory.
• Manage and develop one direct report.
• Manage T&E and freelance budgets with care and good judgement.
Competencies: To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following.
Achievement Focus - Demonstrates persistence and overcomes obstacles. Measures self against standard of excellence. Recognizes and acts on opportunities. Sets and achieves challenging goals. Takes calculated risks to accomplish goals.
Continuous Learning - Assesses own strengths and weaknesses. Pursues training and development opportunities. Seeks feedback to improve performance. Shares expertise with others. Strives to continuously build knowledge and skills.
Communications - Exhibits good listening and comprehension. Expresses ideas and thoughts in written form. Expresses ideas and thoughts verbally. Keeps others adequately informed. Selects and uses appropriate communication methods.
Managing Customer Focus - Develops new approaches to meeting customer needs. Establishes customer service standards. Monitors customer satisfaction. Promotes customer focus. Provides training in customer service delivery.
Planning & Organization - Integrates changes smoothly. Plans for additional resources. Prioritizes and plans work activities. Sets goals and objectives. Uses time efficiently. Works in an organized manner.
Problem Solving - Develops alternative solutions. Gathers and analyzes information skillfully. Identifies problems in a timely manner. Resolves problems in early stages. Works well in group problem solving situations.
Teamwork - Balances team and individual responsibilities. Contributes to building a positive team spirit. Exhibits objectivity and openness to others' views. Gives and welcomes feedback. Puts success of team above own interests.
Use of Technology - Adapts to new technologies. Demonstrates required skills. Keeps technical skills up to date. Troubleshoots technological problems. Uses technology to increase productivity.
Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Education/Experience: • Bachelor's degree in Business or a related field preferred.
• Minimum of 4–5 years of field sales or account management experience in prestige beauty or luxury fragrance, at the department store or specialty retail level.
• Demonstrated success managing a multi-door, multi-state territory and driving results through events, education, and clienteling.
• Strong fragrance knowledge, with the ability to translate notes, materials, and inspiration into compelling selling stories.
• Confident trainer and presenter, both in person and virtually.
• Strong business acumen, with proficiency in analyzing door-level sell-through data in Excel and presenting insights in PowerPoint.
• Curiosity about AI and a willingness to learn and apply AI tools to support sales analysis, reporting, and business review preparation. Prior experience with AI is welcome but not required.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and strong attention to detail.
• Proven ability to influence and collaborate with retail partners and cross-functional teams.
• An owner's mindset: entrepreneurial, self-directed, and team-oriented, with a commitment to running the territory as one's own business.
• A strong passion for fragrance, luxury client experience, and the D.S. & Durga brand.
Language Ability:
Read, analyze and interpret business, professional, technical or governmental documents. Write reports, business correspondence and procedure manuals. Effectively present information and respond to questions from managers, customers and the public.
Mathematical Ability:
Add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals. Compute rate, ratio and percent, and draw and interpret bar graphs.
Reasoning Ability:
Solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
Computer Skills: • MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint)
• Retailer clienteling and sell-through reporting tools
Benefits: • The salary range for this role is $90K-$100K dependent upon experience
• Full-Time employees are eligible for medical, dental and vision insurance, employer paid life insurance, 401k plan, pretax commuter benefits, quarterly gratis, employee discount, long-term & short- term disability leave and much more.
Supervisory Responsibilities: This job has one direct report and oversees the territory's freelance team, including recruiting, hiring, training, scheduling, and development.
Work Environment: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
This is a field-based position in the New York metro area, working primarily on retail selling floors in department store and specialty doors. The standard schedule is Tuesday through Saturday, with Tuesday as an office day. Sunday work is limited to approved events, with a day off in lieu. Flexibility to work during peak retail periods is required as business needs dictate.
The position requires approximately 30% overnight travel across the territory, including Canada; a valid passport is required. A valid driver's license and reliable transportation are also required.
The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate, and may be higher on busy selling floors and during in-store events.
Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand and walk for extended periods on retail selling floors and at in-store events. The employee is frequently required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel and talk or hear, and to travel by car and air. The employee may occasionally lift and carry product, testers, and event materials up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision.
The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as assigned by their supervisor.
D.S. & Durga is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, gender (including gender identity or expression), pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, marital status, domestic violence, sexual violence or stalking victim status, ancestry, national origin, alienage or citizenship, age, disability, military or veteran status, genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristic, or other protected status.