Team Leader, Club

Position Purpose:

The individual in this position is responsible for leading the Club Channel business in supporting the Lindt & Sprungli USA long-term strategic vision for sustainable, profitable sales and category growth. This position can be managed remotely from anywhere in continental USA, with reasonable travel to Lindt USA HQ in Stratham, NH.

Leadership and Strategy

• Leads, develops & maintains consolidated club strategy which aligns to Lindt's corporate growth strategy,
• Develops and reviews annually the 3-5-year growth strategy with manpower, infrastructure and resource recommendations that support the corporate growth goals established by the sales leadership.
• Guides development of annual strategic business plans for each channel customer, leveraging in depth analysis, shopper and consumer insight, category management, shopper marketing and P&L management to drive accelerated profitable growth for Lindt & Sprungli USA
• Maintains close partnership with Go to Market (GTM team) to ensure ongoing alignment on plans for channel and compelling new product pipeline to meet or exceed channel growth expectations
• Builds strategic relationships with Club Customer Buyers and Senior Management, to influence and maximize relevance of Lindt's initiatives at each customer, complementary to the work of each individual NAM.
• Develops and maintain multi-year channel growth projection, including resources and tools required to achieve those goals
• Provides direct leadership for a team of 3-4 talented business professionals leading individual club accounts for Lindt, USA including goal setting, performance management and development.
• Maintain visible presence in and among headquarters teams and in partnership with the Director, continually advocate for the needs of the channel
• Partners with Category and Consumer Insights teams to ensure development of adequate insights to guide customer-specific strategy and guide product development
• Works collaboratively with internal departments to ensure proper function and coordination of Customer Marketing GTM, RGM, Planning, Logistics and Customer Service teams in support of the business

National Sales & Account Management

• Ensures execution of long-term strategic vision for the Lindt & Sprungli businesses that includes the identification and development of customer specific initiatives across seasonal and non-seasonal portfolios.
• Ensures execution of short- and long-term strategic and tactical objectives that fully support brand-positioning strategies.
• Ensure customer/division/channel needs are met without compromising the defined L&S market channel strategy; market and sell products appropriate to the channel as defined within strategy guidelines.
• Develop and grow collaborative internal cross-functional relationships as a means to provide clarity into strategic customer initiatives as well as to secure necessary support while achieving long-term profitable growth.
• Develop and support professional, strategic presentations internally and externally. Presentations will include seasonal and non-seasonal line reviews, pre-line review planning meetings, customer planning, and joint business planning (JBP).
• Proactively manage and lead joint business planning (JBP) process between customer and Lindt & Sprungli as it relates to collaborative planning, annual planning, and sales and financial reporting.
• Oversees rollup of monthly forecasts to ensure the accurate demand signals are provided to the organization that capture the state of the business, including risk and upside/downside assessments

Fiscal Responsibility

• Consistently meets or exceeds sales and profitability targets for the channel to contribute to the overall profitability of Lindt & Sprungli USA.
• Develops and recommends annual budget requirements to support total company growth targets while maximizing profit levels within the defined area of responsibility.
• Oversees accurate rolling sales forecasts monthly through ongoing dialogue with account teams and monthly forecast reviews with Revenue Growth Management (RGM) contact
• Identifies and escalates high profile needs or challenges within the organization to ensure Lindt meets forecasted customer demand while understanding and balancing production capabilities and limitations
• Proactively manages customer teams to optimize the planning and utilization of Trade Promotion Funds to develop and expand business at assigned customers within allocated trade budgets
• Proactively manages customer teams to ensure compliance with deductions policies and minimize exposure

Experience:

• Minimum 5-8 years Account Management.
• Experience managing a team
• Category Management experience preferred

Skills & Knowledge:

• Strong interpersonal, negotiation, and fact-based selling skills; results oriented
• Highly collaborative, strategic thinker with strong problem-solving skills
• Analytical mindset to engage, lead and resolve complex strategic issues
• Excellent verbal, written, and formal presentation skills
• Exceptional executive sales leadership and motivational skills
• Creative, self-starter capable of translating Sales & Marketing strategy into customer growth plans
• Highly organized to multi-task in a dynamic, fast-paced environment

Education:

Required

• Bachelor's degree

Preferred

• Master's degree in related field

Other Requirements:

• Position location is flexible. Must be continental US. Easy transit to Stratham, NH HQ a plus
• Travel (approximately 30%) to Lindt Corporate office, as well as various Industry and team conferences and meetings and customer visits.