Sr. Channel Strategy Manager, Home Channel

About The Group

From a small store in Turin to a large, internationally recognized group: we are present in 90 countries around the world, with over 4,000 employees and 30 companies, managed directly and indirectly by the Luigi Lavazza Spa parent company, which distribute and market our products and coffee machines. In addition to Lavazza, the following brands are also part of our Group: Carte Noire, Merrild, Kicking Horse, Eraclea and Whittington tea.

Joining Lavazza means doing business with passion, knowing that the impact of our work goes beyond the quality of the production chain. We are a big family and we are constantly looking for new talents who share our values and can enrich our team.

Job Purpose/Overview

At Lavazza, the Sr. Channel Strategy Manager will lead the strategic vision and annual business objectives of Lavazza North America’s Home, Retail, and eCommerce channels. This individual will be responsible for developing and animating annual commercial guidelines, NPD (new product development) KPIs and targets, category and brand performance, and course correction tactics necessary to achieve annual objectives. The Sr. Manager will be responsible for developing and coaching a high functioning team that delivers company and position objectives.

Location: West Chester, PA  or New York, NY

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the cross functional planning to develop the US and Canada Retail and eComm channel strategies for portfolio and assortment priorities, strategic pricing, efficient promotion strategy (RGM), and overall look of success and execution standards

• Subject matter expert on Dry Coffee & RTD Coffee category and competitive brand trends across all Home channels (Food, Drug, Mass, Club, Conv, eComm). Leverage all available resources to continuously uncover relevant insights and actions for Sales, Demand Planning, and Marketing.

• Partner closely with Home Channel Demand Planning team in providing market insights and detailed customer level consumption performance. Collaborate with Demand and Sales on the monthly S&OP process to fact-based decisions and forecast accuracy as part of the monthly S&OP process.

• Lead Monthly Business Reviews with the Lavazza North America Leadership Team. Collaborate with Channel Leads to define the monthly agenda, expectations from all stakeholders, and final Executive Summary of Key Messages. Own the development and presentation of the Category Review and Lavazza brand performance (Nielsen sell out data).

• Lead an effective annual Budget planning process for Home Channel by providing guidance on the category and segment growth trends and projections, brand growth potential, impact of NPD, and key performance drivers and targets (distribution, pricing, velocity).

• Lead the development of annual Category Overview & Selling Stories and other sales enablement tools for the Sales team and brokers to leverage with customers.

• Collaborate with Marketing to ensure all selling materials and tools are maintained and updated to be most effective in the field

• Focus on continuous process improvement that ensures all stakeholders have access to accurate product information (item specs, pricing, images, etc), brand selling stories, and insights needed to maintain effective control of the business. For example, maintaining shared repositories for all selling materials, elevating reporting to dashboards and score carding, leading cross functional forums, etc.

• Own the contract, relationship, and ways of working with external Data & Insights partners, i.e. Nielsen, Numerator, etc. Partner with Marketing in the effective management of the Data & Research budget.

• Act as the cross functional orchestrator between stakeholders to co-build the Channel’s strategic vision, drive execution and manage course correction actions. General examples of support for the following functions: 

• • Sales: Drive business development opportunities with analytics and strategy planning. Develop, animate, and track Commercial Fundamental KPIs (assortment, distribution, pricing) for Sales Team and leadership

  • Demand/Supply: Summarize and communicate key market insights and brand performance to drive effective decisions as part of monthly S&OP process and annual budget planning

  • Marketing: Partner with the team on NPD business case development and commercialization strategy, Channel specific portfolio renovations, and channel activation

  • Finance: Partner with Finance FP&A to develop price and promo commercial guidelines, NPD business cases assumptions, provide consumption to feed the Trade Promotion Management (TPM) tool

• Responsible for tactical needs to deliver on the US Retail Channel strategy

• Responsible for the development and coaching of direct reports

Job Specifications/Qualifications

• Four year degree from an accredited institution, preferably in Business
• 5+ years working experience in CPG Trade Marketing, Category Management, Sales, Sales Planning or Marketing required
• 2+ years in people leader role
• Experience supporting Retail and eComm channels and customers required
• Experience supporting Canada market & customers a plus
• Successful completion of a pre-employment drug and background screen
• Intermediate/Advanced skills in MS Office (Excel, PPT) required
• Experience with syndicated data tools for Retail, examples - Nielsen, IRI, Numerator, etc
• Experience with synicated data tools for eComm, examples - Amazon Retail Analytics, Market Share, Helium, etc
• Must be able to effectively function in matrix organization and leverage influence and negotiation skills to drive effective cross functional collaboration
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; comfortable presenting (virtually and in-person) to Executive Leadership and cross functional leadership and peers
• Strong story telling capabilities to diagnosis complex business issues, visualize the data, identify the insights, and recommend clear action plans
• Ability to work in an environment of tight deadlines, and to consistently challenge and be challenged on performance results.
• Highly agile and thrives in a fast-paced working environment with an entrepreneurial mindset
• Strong collaboration and influence skills with the ability to work well cross functionally with all levels of the organization - peers to Executives
• Minimal travel expectations: less than 10% per year, typically to NYC office as needed. International travel possible.
• Ability to occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds
• Ability to sit for extended periods of time

Benefits/Perks 

• Competitive Medical, Vision, Dental Benefits 
• 401K Package 
• Employee Assistance Program 
• Onsite Cafeteria and Gym (West Chester location)
• Hybrid Work Schedule 
• Ability to be barista certified
• Monthly Lunches provided by Lavazza
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Performance Development Plans 
• Employee Discounts 
• Flexible business casual dress code - jean friendly! 
• Free coffee, anytime!

Lavazza is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Lavazza prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and affords equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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