Director of Sales Planning and Forecasting

Overview:

Reporting to the General Manager North America, the key objective of the Director of Sales Planning and Forecasting is to assure accuracy in the sales planning and forecasting process and provide insights regarding sales performance. The person in this role has a strong analytical background, exceptional problem-solving skills, and a proven track record of driving business performance improvements. Reporting to this role is a team of three overseeing account planning and sales administration for North America.

Key Responsibilities:

Monthly Sales Planning and Forecasting processes

• Define the processes, templates, and policies to have accurate sales planning and forecasting, as well as the input to the Financial Last Estimate (LE).
• Lead the planning, forecasting, and LE process for gross, net, and retail sales monthly, including the Monthly Forecast Review.
• Communicate & inform GM and relevant stakeholders on weekly, monthly, quarterly shipping performance against planned targets by account.
• Partner with retailer planning divisions for clear and accurate outlook on retails sales and gross sales planning. Ensure strong partnerships with Sales Team colleagues & retailer planning leadership.
• Collaborate with demand planning, marketing, supply chain, and finance on the Sales and Operations Planning Process, as well as in the Gate process for new product launches.
• Ensure Field Sales Team reporting deliverables to support sell through team leader with necessary visibility to lead the team with accountability for success.

Priorities

• Ensure Fine Fragrance growth penetration planning & forecasting excellence. Key account experience with Sephora & Ulta a plus.
• Ensure Home, Body, and Fragrance Technology accuracy in New Launches, Festive Campaigns, and Core. Key account experience with Department Stores a plus
• Lead Budget building process year over year for Sales Division with retail and net sales planning excellence.
• Provide leadership in data cleaning & structuring to ensure inventory health and forecasting accuracy along with accurate business analytics.

Allocations

Oversee the allocation process to assure the channel owners, finance and sales have visibility with more detail for the next 4 weeks, and at a higher level for the following 2 months on inventory availability to sell in, drive trends, and reduce excess.

Reporting & Analysis

• Design and generate weekly retail sales reports, and develop insights to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. These include:

1. Wholesale Shipping Analysis
2. Pricing Strategy & communication
3. Allocation process (by SKU level)
4. New Launch & Innovation (Forecasts & Bi-Weekly w/ sales team)
5. Retail Account performance sales analytics monthly / Weekly retail sales performance by account.
6. Provide to Leadership performance slides for bi weekly meetings and board meetings as needed.
7. Sales Administration to ensure merchant teams are properly set up for business ongoing
8. Data Management
9. Retailer Allowances & Promotions

Leadership

• This role is a right-hand leader to the General Manager North America. A strong leader, communicator, and business stakeholder for the entire sales division in order to deliver our targets with as much accuracy and integrity to the business as possible.
• Be a role model for NEST New York’s high-performance team culture. As a leader on the Sales Team – you are confident to Own it, Drive it, & Ensure it gets Done! Be the leader of your division and an excellent partner to your colleagues, by exemplifying communication, collaboration, partnership, support, resilience, and creating an inclusive working environment for all.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s in business, finance or merchandising preferred.
• Proficient in Excel. Expert in SUMIFS and VLOOKUPS formulas. Ability to build macros a plus. Minimum 5 years in sales planning & forecasting.
• Experience working with national major retailers (e.g. Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Sephora, Ulta Beauty, etc) a plus.
• Ability to create summary slides in power point of data information. Using spreadsheet formats, databases, general correspondence and oral/visual presentations.
• Ability to manage multiple databases and produce analytical insights.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, as well as analytical and organizational skills.
• Strong attention to detail and data accuracy.