National Sales Planning Analyst

Full Time Job
National Sales Planning Analyst

GENERAL SUMMARY:

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution, operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in more than 130 countries.

The Canadian market is a top 5 territory for SPHE. In a rapidly changing marketplace SPHE is evolving and changing the focus of our organization around Consumer Understanding and Insight to enable us to 'Connect Canadians to a world of Entertainment Experiences' and 'Expand our Presence and Conversion'.

SCOPE:

The Analyst works closely with the Head of Physical Sales to help drive and enhance national strategy and is responsible for analyzing data and making recommendations to improve overall business for both SPHE and its customers. This position will set a best-in-class example of team work and business understanding; and will take a proactive, solution-oriented approach to finding efficiencies across the business. This position will work collaboratively with internal teams by facilitating strategic discussions focused on the big-picture business needs, price elasticity and ad-hoc requests (including recurring participation in meetings and discussions to help drive the business).

The Analyst is responsible for defining and executing the optimal process for forecasting the national budget for the physical home entertainment business, in addition to overseeing national pricing. The ability to proactively analyze national market data to identify key trends as well as partnering with the Sales team to determine material initiatives that will affect financial performance are key to being successful in this role. This position is also responsible for the national and account level goaling process, and all required reporting, for our theatrical new releases, utilizing internal, external and market data, and data-driven assumptions.

This position will support the team with insight-based analytics designed to drive sales and profitability for SPHE. The Analyst will assess and refine, on an ongoing basis, the tools and templates currently in use, and will solicit and assess the needs of the team and the business. He/she will support the team by providing solutions, education or initiating the creation of new outputs and will also be responsible for supporting at least one account directly.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:

45% - National Budgeting & Forecasting
• Define the process for and create the forecast for the national budget
• Liaise with necessary stakeholders on key assumptions, i.e. box office forecasts
• Communicate and present the team with the forecast details, methodology utilized and the overall trends driving the forecast
• Define and execute the process for account level new release goaling

30% - Tools, Templates, Reporting & Systems
• Responsible for many tools and templates used across the organization, including but not limited to:
• Master Data File
• Master One Stop Release Schedule
• BOF Reporting
• New Release Goaling / Go-to-Market Decks
• New Release Post-Mortems
• Account Specific Databases
• Ongoing solicitation and assessment of business needs and requirements with process improvement and efficiency top of mind at all times
• Responsible for identifying gaps in available tools and creating solutions to meet the business needs
• Canadian expert of internal and external systems, including but not limited to:
• Alteryx
• Business Objects
• NanoCrowd
• NPD
• Tableau

15% - National Pricing
• Ongoing analysis to ensure our product is priced competitively in the market throughout each product's lifecycle
• Responsible for identifying competitive pricing initiatives and trends and providing data-driven recommendations to enhance pricing strategy

10% - Customer Level - Account Business Planning and Support
• 'Guardian' of the Commercial P&L; plan and analyze key levers and account activities to maximize profitability across assigned account(s) – create and share actionable recommendations to achieve these targets with the Sales team on a regular basis
• Analyze Retailer historical sales data, consumer and industry trends and utilize them to create and recommend profitable promotions
• Ensure a post mortem is conducted for all promotions, results are shared with the team, and that lessons learned are translated to future activities for all accounts
• Ad hoc analysis – pricing, product, performance, etc.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

Education:

BA/BS Business Administration or related degree is required.

Experience:
• 2+ years in Forecasting, business planning, financial planning / budgeting and market trend experience is required.

Knowledge:
• Category Management, Sales Planning/Analysis
• Experience gained within the Home Entertainment sector, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) or Specialist Retail Insights agencies
• Experience working within a fast-paced, commercial sales environment
• Experience with and working knowledge of Canadian retailers, media and trade environment
• Experience at working directly with internal and external stakeholders

Skills:

• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal / presentation skills
• A high standard in influencing and interpersonal skills, to build and develop strong relationships
• Effective performance and delivery against goals, KPIs and deadlines
• MS Office Suite, SharePoint, Excel proficiency required
• Strong skills in analytical data systems used to pull and analyze sales data including, but not limited to, Business Objects, Alteryx, Tableau and account specific vendor data portals
• Analyzing and summarizing large data sets into an effective summary to facilitate recommendation, decision making and strategic planning

Abilities:
• Ability to communicate complex information and analysis in a way that is understood and highly valued by all stakeholders
• Effectively provide data and insight-based recommendations that will continuously improve and enhance the effectiveness of SPHE strategies in a challenging retail environment
• Adaptability, flexibility and ability to learn new systems / databases and be nimble in an environment of ongoing change
• Ability to provide continuous process improvements and solution-oriented, innovative ideas
• Strong attention to detail and ability to prioritize workload to meet deadlines
• Ability to be proactive as it pertains to all responsibilities

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 Home Entertainment Canada, Inc. is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for job applicants with known physical and mental disabilities. If you require accommodation, please let us know and we will work with you to try and meet your needs.

CAN - Toronto - Yonge Street - SPT