Vice President of Workforce – Sales & Operations Planning
The Vice President of Workforce – Sales & Operations Planning serves as the enterprise owner of an integrated, end‑to‑end S&OP discipline, responsible for building a unified planning ecosystem that aligns demand, supply, and workforce capacity across all business segments. This leader establishes the operating model, governance structure, and decision rights that bring sales, marketing, finance, workforce empowerment, talent acquisition, and analytics into a single, reliable planning rhythm.
A core mandate of the role is developing and executing a scalable third‑party (3P) capacity strategy, optimizing partner selection, performance, cost structure, and flexibility to support both steady‑state operations and periods of volatility. The VP drives strategic investments in tools, talent, and external partnerships; resolves cross‑segment trade‑offs, and ensures the enterprise consistently delivers on service, growth, and margin commitments while strengthening resilience, scalability, and long‑term capacity health.
Job Will Remain Open Until Filled
The Company is one of North America’s leading sales and marketing agencies specializing in outsourced sales, merchandising, category management, and marketing services to manufacturers, suppliers, and producers of food products and consumer packaged goods. The Company services a variety of trade channels including grocery, mass merchandise, specialty, convenience, drug, dollar, club, hardware, consumer electronics, and home centers. We bridge the gap between manufacturers and retailers, providing consumers access to the best products available in the marketplace today.
Responsibilities
Enterprise S&OP Governance & Operating Model: Own the design and governance of the integrated S&OP/IBP operating model, decision rights, stage gates, and executive forums; ensure disciplined planning and auditable decision-making across all segments
External Supply & 3P Strategy (Enterprise): Set and govern the external supply strategy, with a strong emphasis on 3P partner management (selection, SLAs, commercial guardrails, risk diversification, and performance reviews); align 3P capacity and capabilities to enterprise demand
Forecasting & Capacity Alignment (Enterprise): Sponsor enterprise forecasting standards and assumption governance; approve structural capacity decisions (make/buy, vendor expansion/consolidation, long-term labor strategies) to meet service and margin targets
Financial Stewardship & Structural Investments: Own budget alignment for S&OP and External Supply; approve structural investments (systems, analytics, vendor contracts, workforce programs) and ensure ROI, total cost-to-serve, and margin objectives are met
Performance Management & Risk Posture: Set the enterprise KPI framework (service, growth, margin, capital efficiency, vendor OTIF); own risk posture and sponsor mitigation for single-source, lead-time variability, and labor capacity constraints
Cross-Segment Trade-Offs & Executive Arbitration: Chair executive forums to arbitrate portfolio trade-offs (mix, timing, service levels) across segments; resolve conflicts that materially impact strategic customers, margin profile, or capacity utilization
Enterprise Data Governance & Analytics Excellence: Own the analytics governance framework (data standards, taxonomy, model validation) and the planning systems roadmap (APS/BI/predictive); ensure insights compress decision cycle time and improve forecast accuracy enterprise-wide
Operating Excellence & Continuous Improvement: Set enterprise standards (SOPs, RACI, stage gates) for S&OP and 3P governance; lead continuous improvement initiatives that reduce cycle time, increase forecast accuracy, and improve vendor performance
Talent Strategy & Organizational Design: Define org design and succession for Directors (S&OP), 3P leadership, and analytics/enablement teams; build leadership capability and a culture of accountability, inclusion, and high performance
Stakeholder Leadership & Executive Communication: Provide clear executive communication to C-suite leaders; align Sales, Marketing, Finance, Workforce Empowerment, TA, and Analytics with enterprise planning priorities and external supply strategy
Qualifications
Education Requirements: Bachelor’s degree (MBA or advanced degree preferred)
Experience Requirements: 10–12 years experience in relevant field
Travel requirement: Some travel expected
Supervisor Responsibility
Direct Reports: Hires, retains, trains, coaches, guides, directs, and develops direct reports using company-wide processes, tools and resources
Indirect Reports: May delegate work of others and provide guidance, direction and mentoring to indirect reports
Required Knowledge and Skills
Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights and strategies
Excellent communication and presentation skills, capable of engaging and influencing stakeholders at all levels of the organization
Demonstrated leadership and mentorship abilities, with a passion for developing talent and fostering a collaborative, inclusive team environment
Deep knowledge of sales planning processes, trade management systems, and advanced analytic tools and methodologies
Strategic thinker with a results-oriented mindset, able to balance short-term operational needs with long-term business objectives
Proficiency in an office productivity suite including spreadsheets, word processing, presentations, and business intelligence reporting
Expertise in Operations Planning and Forecasting, including integrated demand and capacity planning
Advanced knowledge of Analytics and Data Science concepts applied to business planning and performance optimization
Strong capability in People Leadership, including team development and succession planning
Familiarity with governance frameworks and decision-making processes for S&OP cadence and performance management
Demonstrated ability to translate customer and commercial insights into demand signals and operational decisions
Proven capability in optimizing third-party (3P) spend, vendor portfolios, or external labor and supply models
Strong analytical rigor, process discipline, and cross-functional leadership skills required to oversee and mature an integrated S&OP function
Environmental & Physical Requirements
Office / Sedentary Requirements: Incumbent must be able to perform the essential functions of the job. Work is performed primarily in an office environment. Typically, requires the ability to sit for extended periods of time (66%+ each day), ability to hear telephone, ability to enter data on a computer and may require the ability to lift up to 10lbs.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of associates so classified. The Company is committed to providing equal opportunity in all employment practices without regard to age, race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, physical or mental disability, or any other category protected by law. As part of this commitment, the Company shall provide reasonable accommodations of known disabilities to enable an applicant or employee to apply for employment, perform the essential functions of the job, or enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment as required by law.
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