Director, Sales Strategy - Abbott Nutrition

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 115,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

Nourish the world and your career as part of the Nutrition team at Abbott.

Our Nutrition business develops science-based nutrition products for people of all ages, from helping babies and children grow, to keeping adult bodies strong and active. Millions of people around the world count on our leading brands – including Similac®, PediaSure®, Pedialyte®, Ensure®, and Glucerna® – to help get the nutrients they need to live their healthiest life.

Our location in Columbus, OH currently has an opportunity for Director, Sales Strategy

WHAT YOU’LL DO

The Director, Sales Strategy is responsible for delivering holistic, strategic customer business plans that deliver profitable growth across all retail brands within ANPD by leading cross functional collaboration with sales, category management, insights, shopper marketing, e-Commerce, Brand, and Finance.

The Director of Sales Strategy provides strategic direction and represents retail sales through the development and execution of the internal Integrated Business Planning Process and the external Customer Joint Business Planning Process. This individual will work closely with Revenue Growth Management and Forecasting to ensure strategic alignment. They are responsible for the development of integrated recommendations around trade spend, customer segmentation, and channel management. They will develop and train a high performing team that excels in collaborating with cross-functional partners and retailers. Finally, they will provide leadership and direction to ensure execution of plans, process improvement for field sales, and consistent communication of brand updates and drivers.

Accountability/ Scope/ Budget:

• Responsible for creating and delivering a wholistic sales plan for ANPD Consumer Sales team to ensure delivery of $4+Billion in gross sales
• Lead and oversee Business Planning Processes.
• Manage the Customer planning process from a strategic perspective and evaluation of results
• Customer Strategic Plan or Joint Business Planning (JBP): Provide input and strategic guidance to Brand marketing and Customer team plans that identify key opportunities to drive profitable growth with customers
• Monitor execution and results against objectives (volume, spending, profit & price)
• Work with Revenue Growth Management in conducting post promotion event analysis to gain insights and apply key learnings directing trade funds and achieving sales quotas
• Create and/or commercialize demand-creating solutions for customer execution that have been aligned cross functionally
• Make budget decisions / recommendations and adjustments at customer level
• Review annual customer plans for alignment to complement our go to market strategy
• Represents the voice of retailers and field sales to translate customer requests for customization/innovation and gains appropriate support/alignment
• Leverage category stories, shopper insights, and shopper marketing with customer teams to support category growth objectives
• Customer plan approval – Ensure plan components are on strategy and manage potential channel conflicts
• Assess, leverage and provide guidance to the customer teams around the use of Sales tools and strategies to achieve business priorities and objectives (distribution, pricing, shelving, merchandising, digital initiatives, and innovation sell in)

• 2 Direct reports, team of 10

Sales Process Improvement:

• Develops tools and processes to ensure that Sales execution activities are aligned to established customer and company standards
• Attend and aid in development of Key Customer Selling Presentations
• Implement and update Operational Calendar
• Sales Communication and Insight Sharing
• Provide Sales with the timely communication of all information to insure flawless execution and attainment of objectives
• Ensure customer team has the appropriate lead time, sales information sales material, and capabilities prior to fielding any activity or request requiring customer team execution
• Share successes and challenges within established forums and in real-time to ensure learning is captured and leveraged with other customers quickly
• Organization and Personnel Management to support cross functional excellence

SKILLS/EXPERIENCE:

• A minimum of 12 years of work experience in Consumer-Packaged Goods industry is required
• Experience in Sales Management, Key Account Management, Customer Marketing, Sales Planning, Customer Strategy, Customer Development, or Category Management is required
• Proven ability to drive the change needed to accelerate growth, improve processes, and keep pace with the industry while bringing others with them
• Identifies inefficiency in current processes and develop/implement process improvement plans
• Strong/confident verbal and written communication abietites to manage conflict by leveraging strong situational leadership skills
• Ability to navigate and influence in a headquarter environment, as well as build relationships across various functional groups (internally and externally)
• Ability to sell ideas, concepts and programs to internal senior management and customers
• Strong financial acumen, with an ability to understand the short and long-term implications of company and customer financials is required. Working knowledge of Trade spend models, ROI, Cost-to-serve, and P&Ls
• Ability to produce quality results within tight time frames and manage multiple projects

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE YOU’LL BRING

• Bachelor’s degree (preferably in Business or Marketing) is required.

The base pay for this position is $149,300.00 – $298,700.00. In specific locations, the pay range may vary from the range posted.