Purpose of the Role

 

Part of the Commercial Operations leadership team, the Sr. Manager / Manager Channel Development & Planning enables all the human interface channels to perform at their best, ensuring effective planning, forecasting, reporting, capacity management, route-to-market (RTM) optimization. The incumbent is the key integrator between categories, the project-based organization (S&PD) and the channel deployment. The role is critical in guaranteeing the timely execution of the omni-channel commercial strategy, enabling the channel teams to focus mainly on consumers or on commercial partners, and supporting the Head of Commercial Operations in making informed strategic and operational decisions.

 

Core Accountabilities & Activities

 

Enable channel effectiveness through planning, forecasting (including inventory, volume), capacity management, trade spend model application, reporting and performance management across all channels (Indirect Retail, Brand Retail, Multicategory Sales Experts, B2B Frontliners, B2C Customer Care)

 

Participate in commercial programs, projects, and initiatives from idea generation to deployment planning, providing commercial omni-channel go-to-market (GTM) and route-to-market (RTM) expertise and driving ongoing optimization of channels capacity

 

Translate the consolidated programs, projects, and initiatives requirements into a coordinated commercial deployment plan for each channel – the plan includes and integrates the go-to-market of new product launches, that are led by Indirect Retail/Trade Marketing for human-interface channels

 

Ensure channel readiness to deliver omni-channel consumer experiences across all human-interface touchpoints, coordinating all the go-to-market activities (GTM), executed by different teams (incl. channels) but integrated into a single channel planSet up and coordinate the Commercial Operations governance, ensuring consistent commercial execution across channels and geographies

 

Optimize route-to-market (RTM) channel mix to drive commercial performance and effectiveness, providing clear recommendations to the Head of Commercial Operations and to the broader Commercial team

 

Drive the development and the optimization of the human-interface channel footprint and activities to achieve short and long term financial and commercial goals and to improve channels performance, gathering the inputs of the channel leads

 

Provide input for budget / forecast cycles to Finance, through the forecasting, planning, monitoring, and potential variances explanation for defined business KPIs for all the channels

 

Education & Experience Requirements

 

Bachelor’s or master’s degree in business, Management, Economics, Sales or a related field10+ years commercial experience in Commercial (Channel and/or Field Force), Business Development, Finance or similar, preferably in multinational environment and at least 3+ years of experience in omnichannel environmentAt least 5+ years of leadership experienceExperience in managing systems and processes in a fast-paced environment

 

Required Skills & Competencies

 

Strong business and financial acumenAdvanced strategic thinking and execution skillsStrong analytical skills and ability to drive insights into actionStrong presentation skills, comfortable speaking with all levels of external stakeholders and the organizationComfortable dealing with ambiguity, white space and unknown circumstancesStrong collaborator to connect different departmentsA skilled leader in leading and developing diverse cross-functional teams is requiredLanguage skills: German and English fluent in spoken and written