Senior Manager, Sales Planning

Job Description:

Champion Petfoods is expanding! We are excited to announce we are looking for a Senior Manager, Sales Planning to join our rapidly growing company.

Champion Petfoods is an award-winning pet food maker with a reputation of trust spanning 35+ years. Founded in a small town in Alberta, Canada, Champion – with its ORIJEN® and ACANA® brands – is a key player in the global premium pet food industry across three major geographic regions.

We would love to hear from you if you are passionate about personal and professional growth and see yourself as a key player contributing to our continued success as an award-winning company.

Here's the Scoop – Summary

The Senior Manager, Sales Planning plays a critical role in translating commercial strategy into actionable sales plans, ensuring alignment across Sales, Marketing, and Finance teams. 

This role is responsible for driving target setting, territory and coverage design, performance management, and trade investment governance to enable sustainable growth and maximize return on resources.

The position acts as a central connector across cross-functional teams, ensuring that plans are data-driven, execution-focused, and aligned with strategic priorities.

This position will be working out of our Louisville (CO), Nashville (TN) or New York City (NY) office and work on a hybrid schedule with 3 days in-person.

Responsibilities:

Commercial Planning (Strategy & Targets)

• Translate business strategy into revenue, volume, and distribution targets
• Define channel and customer priorities
• Develop growth plans (“where to play / how to win”)
• Support Annual Operating Plan (AOP) development and forecasting alignment with leadership

Territory & Coverage Design (Field Sales & KAM)

• Define territory structure, sizing, and store prioritization (80/20 focus) Design coverage models and call frequency strategies
• Optimize sales productivity (impact vs. cost to serve)
• Support sales organization redesign toward higher-impact coverage

Performance Management & KPI Framework

• Define KPIs aligned to business objectives (distribution, advocacy, activation, ROI)
• Track performance against plan (gap-to-target, risks, opportunities)
• Ensure clear accountability across Field Sales and Strategic Accounts Enable performance-driven decision-making

Customer Strategic Segmentation

• Develop customer segmentation based on size of prize, strategic relevance, and growth potential
• Define customer tiers with differentiated strategies and engagement models
• Enable focused resource allocation and tailored commercial approaches

Customer Performance Tracking (Contracts & JBP Execution)

• Track performance against customer contracts, trade agreements, and Joint Business Plans (JBPs)
• Audit and validate compliance with agreed terms (investments, activations, commitments)
• Ensure agreements are executed effectively and deliver expected value

Trade & Investment Planning

• Support trade allocation decisions by customer and channel
• Evaluate ROI and effectiveness of trade investments
• Ensure investments align with strategic priorities and growth objectives

Sales–Finance Bridge (Trade Promotion Governance & Execution)

• Act as the key connector between Sales and Finance for trade planning and execution
• Align trade budgets, accruals, and phasing across customers and channels
• Ensure visibility of planned vs. actual trade spend
• Track performance vs. expected ROI and manage variances
• Enable fact-based decision-making on investment allocation
• Support governance routines (forecast alignment, trade reviews, period reviews)

Lead Customer Planning & JBP Orchestration

• Own the annual customer planning calendar, including Joint Business Plans (JBPs), range reviews, and key commercial milestones, coordinating cross-functional inputs from Category Leadership, Key Accounts, Brand, and Shopper Marketing to develop aligned and compelling customer-facing sell-in materials.

What are we looking for?

• Minimum of a BA/BS in a business related field
• MBA or advanced degree or comparable experience is an asset
• Minimum 5 years of business experience in CPG industries, working in sales planning, Commercial Strategy or related roles
• Solid understanding of industry and trade channel
• Ability to travel up to 20% of the time
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking capabilitie