Director, Sales Planning & Operations

 

 

 

Position Title: Director, Sales Planning & Operations 

Position Type: Regular - Full-Time ​

Position Location: Oakbrook Terrace 

Requisition ID: 26064 

 

 

JOB PURPOSE:

Reporting to the VP of North America Sales Operational Excellence, the Director, Sales Planning & Operations will play a critical role in partnering directly with cross functional departments including Supply Planning, Demand Planning, Business Units, Category Marketing & Finance.  The incumbent will be the ‘voice of the customer’, in the day-to-day & monthly consensus process, providing insights into customer trends and executing strategies that drive volume & revenue, while enhancing customer satisfaction and streamlining operations.  As a Director, the incumbent will shape the strategic direction of the department, leading a team that fosters cross-functional collaboration, and advanced the use of analytics to drive the success of sales initiatives and operations. The incumbent’s extensive experience, leadership qualities, and technical skills will be instrumental in achieving and exceeding our sales goals.

 

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

 

Appetizer Leadership Team (ALT) Member Responsibilities: 

• Advocate for and represent the North American Sales organization on the Appetizer Leadership Team (ALT); collaborating with cross-functional team leads as “the voice of the customer” to develop, execute and measure short and long-term organizational goals
• Responsible for providing comprehensive sales updates, including KPI measurement and providing action plans and/or requests to address gaps to plan through the use of data and insights

 

Sales Planning:

• Provide strategic leadership in the development of sales tools, materials, and initiatives in collaboration with the Customer Marketing & Category Leadership team. Formulate and execute key strategies for the long-term success of the sales department.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop and implement highly effective sales and customer strategies, encompassing both short-term and long-term planning. Ensure alignment with Annual Plans and set measurable KPIs
• Oversee and manage monthly and YTD business performance, analyzing trade spend reports. Recommend and implement corrective actions to meet annual plans and KPIs effectively.
• Work closely with the revenue management and finance teams to develop sophisticated pricing strategies that are customer-centric and adaptable to the industry environment.
• Develop and execute contingency plans to address seasonal fluctuations in product and service demand, ensuring uninterrupted customer satisfaction.
• Lead efforts to support and drive continuous improvement of demand planning and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes, enhancing operational efficiency.

 

Sales Operations:

• Lead & manage the sales forecast on demand vs forecast shifts to ensure timely development of an agreed upon forecast.
• Utilize category & customer analytics to provide accurate sales forecast through changes in distribution, volume assumptions on new product launches, promotional activities, price change impacts to volume & other category insights trends impacting forecast.
• Providing sales & demand planning teams with insights driving short-term demand fluctuations (ie: competitive impact, customer inventory etc.)
• Lead opportunity & risk logs to provide regular reporting to sales leads on securing customer asks.
• Ensure continuous sales planning accuracy by tracking and reporting against forecasting accuracy at sales channel level.
• Represent Sales and act as voice of the customer in the Demand Consensus process, maintaining a clear commercial perspective on demand drivers and recommended actions.
• Provide ad hoc analyses and projects to support demand variance analytics and customer prioritization.

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE/QUALIFICATIONS:

• Minimum of 7-10 years of relevant experience in Sales Strategy, Planning, Operations or similar
• A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field is required. An advanced degree and CPG experience is a strong asset.
• Demonstrate a high level of enthusiasm, accountability, and a consistent ability to achieve results, even under challenging circumstances
• Exhibit strong communication and interpersonal skills, enabling effective leadership and collaboration within a team environment
• Proficient in working with very large data sets, exceptional quantitative and analytic skills, and strong attention to detail
• Strong Excel skills requir