Manager, Sales Planning - Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures
Culver City, CAThis was removed by the employer on 5/14/2018 9:50:00 AM PST
Full Time Job
Manager, Sales Planning - Home Entertainment
Sales Planning provides domestic US sales planning and forecasting, analytical insights and business strategies to both internal departments and external sales personnel related to the sales of DVD and Blu-ray, digital new media and transactional VOD product spanning all lines of business within Home Entertainment. The department is instrumental in providing strategic analyses related to product placement in-store and on-site/on-device, cost/benefit decisions for partnering with new accounts, and other business related needs. Sales Planning works closely with senior management and most functional departments including sales, marketing, finance, operations, sales communication, business affairs, client services, demand planning, and retail operations.
The Sales Planning Manager has heavy management responsibilities with a focus on leadership, business and account strategic planning, and project management. This position focuses on Business Plan Management, Sales Support, Promotion Management, Title Management/Assortment Planning, P&L Management, Account Management and Performance Evaluation through data analytics across multiple accounts. The manager acts as the key representative of Sales Planning across an assigned account base and acts as key driver of deliverables for the team through resources within Sales Planning. (S)he integrates consumer/retailer insights and co-manages performance goals and execution of customer initiatives and service level agreements.
Responsibilities
• People Management: Manage direct reports across multiple accounts. Interview and hire for analyst positions and participate in peer interviews for managers and above. Ensure completion of employee set-up (computer, phone, login, location). Develop and implement on-boarding plan for new hires and lead training for accounts, general processes, and systems. Work with direct reports to create fiscal year goals/objectives that align with departmental, commercial and company objectives. Coach and mentor direct reports to create a focused plan for career growth and both professional and personal development.
• Business Plan and P&L Management: Work with the Sales team to manage and develop revenue and gross profit forecasts with post-performance assessment against sales budgets/goals by account. Utilize Profit and Loss (P&L) to measure and evaluate account and profitability of plan. Assist with gap analysis and planning. Provide business plan reporting and trend analyses. Drive Joint Business Planning (JBP/retailer forecasts) with key retailers. Ensure completeness and accuracy of business plans and forecasts. Support Sales with business modeling for contract renewals, retailer agreements, and new business models.
• Strategic Planning, Account Management, and Performance Evaluation: Develop a fiscal business plan and strategy for managing assigned set of accounts. Manage account level analytics to include long range planning, recurring business reviews, analysis of space deals, seasonality trends with a comparison to the industry and other deep-dive analyses and reporting. Utilize market/industry syndicated data to understand state of the entertainment industry and trending. Review account level trends and business trends to benchmark them against the overall market and/or industry. Use analysis and insights to work collaboratively with peers, field Sales and internal personnel to make recommendations and enable strategic discussions.
• Project and Process Management: Participate in cross functional projects. Lead a task force or workstream to develop, refine and/or streamline processes across multiple accounts, lines of business, or internal departments. Ensure execution and implementation of processes. Address managerial concerns, reporting, and systems maintenance or enhancements. Collaborate with other managers to ensure sharing of best practices and consistency in processes and results across the department. Evaluate and recommend strategies to change processes to optimize forecasts, sales, gross profit and inventory.
• Assortment Planning and Title Management: Manage account level planograms and title selection based upon customer demographics, trends, customer objectives, company objectives, and store location to help drive store level sales volume, retailer, and company profitability. Provide insights and recommendations of product placement, SKU management, drafting opportunities, pricing strategies and goal forecasting based on analysis and make recommendations to the Sales team, senior management, and internal teams. Review fixture and product performance.
• Promotion Management: Partner with the sales force in providing promotional recommendations, forecasting, title selection, pro-forma profitability, drafting opportunities and other pre- and post-promotion analytical insights. Review account-level promotional plans.
• Sales Support and Ad Hoc: Provide business support for Account Managers/Business Managers and Sales Directors/SVP. Provide support for Sales Planning Director and Sales Development SVP. Complete special projects, requests, and ad hoc analysis as requested by management.
Qualifications
Experience / Skills Required
• Bachelor's Degree and/or MBA in Business Management, Finance, Economics, Statistics or similar degree from an accredited university
• Strong capability with Microsoft Office applications (particularly Excel)
• Experience and expertise in analytical data systems and modeling which are used to pull and analyze sales data including, but not limited to Business Objects, Tableau, Alteryx
• Analyzing and summarizing large amounts of data into an effective summary to facilitate decision making and strategic planning
• Adaptability, flexibility and learning new systems / databases
• Present & communicate effectively and display strong interpersonal skills with all levels of management and with external customers (both written and verbal)
• Communicating ideas in a clear and concise manner
• Coordinating with internal departments as well as the ability to work independently
• Strong attention to detail and ability to prioritize workload to meet deadline
Preferred
• 3 years of experience preferred in a planning or forecasting role with a particular emphasis on data cleaning & analysis, insights, business planning, assortment planning, promotional planning and account management
• Experience with Digital New Media and/or Cable/Satellite/Telecommunications accounts with a solid understanding of the digital business and landscape
• Supervisory experience
• Experience within the entertainment, consumer packaged goods industry, retail, or consulting as well as collaborating with both internal and external sales and management teams
• Prior work experience within a fast paced sales environment
• Experience working with buying teams from major retailers
*Sony Pictures Entertainment is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other protected characteristics.
* Sony Pictures - CA - Culver City Area & Studios