Retail Development Specialist

• Proactively engage Home Depot and Lowe’s ProDesk associates through outbound outreach and relationship development. 

• Build trusted relationships with ProDesk associates, store leadership, and district leadership. 

• Use active listening and effective questioning to understand store needs, identify opportunities, and tailor conversations appropriately. 

• Schedule and independently conduct virtual Product Knowledge (PK) sessions for retail associates. 

• Educate associates on James Hardie products, applications, differentiators, and selling opportunities. 

• Help associates confidently discuss and recommend James Hardie products to homeowners and contractors. 

• Maintain professional persistence when working with difficult-to-reach or initially resistant stores and associates. 

• Follow up after training and store interactions to reinforce product knowledge, strengthen relationships, and identify additional opportunities. 

• Partner closely with Outside Sales representatives to coordinate store outreach, opportunities, and follow-up. 

• Gather and communicate store-level feedback, competitive insights, and opportunities to internal partners. 

• Utilize CRM, communication, and productivity platforms to document activity, manage relationships, and maintain organized follow-up. 

• Support targeted campaigns and initiatives designed to increase James Hardie engagement and sales within retail locations. 

• 2+ years of experience in retail sales, account development, customer experience, relationship development, or a related field preferred. 

• Strong verbal, written, and presentation skills. 

• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and positively influence others. 

• Comfortable initiating outbound conversations and developing relationships with new contacts. 

• Confident presenting virtually to individuals and groups. 

• Strong active-listening and problem-solving skills. 

• Tech savvy with the ability to quickly learn and efficiently navigate multiple systems and software platforms. 

• Highly organized with strong follow-through and time-management skills.

• Self-motivated and comfortable working independently while collaborating with a broader team.  
• Resilient and able to adapt communication strategies when faced with resistance. 
• Experience within home improvement retail, building products, decking, railing, or a related industry is a plus. 

• Positive attitude with customer-focused attention to detail.
• Ability to operate effectively across multiple platforms.
• Excellent communication skills, attention to detail, and follow-through.
• Creative problem-solving attitude that engages others.
• Strong interpersonal, motivational, and relationship-building skills.
• Great organizational, multitasking, and time management skills.

What We're Looking For 

We're looking for someone who enjoys building relationships, influencing others, and creating opportunities. You don't need to know everything about decking and railing on Day 1, but you should be curious, comfortable learning, and confident engaging with people. 

The right candidate will be able to turn a hesitant ProDesk associate into an engaged partner by listening first, understanding what matters to them, and demonstrating how James Hardie can help them better serve their customers.