Senior Director Planning&Customer Service

The Senior Director Planning& Customer Service leads the development, implementation, and improvement of planning and customer service process standardization across the U.S. companies.The role is the process owner for planning and customer service functions, including demand and supply planning, inventory planning, production planning, forecasting, and order management.As the Center of Excellence (COE) leader for the US, the role leads performance improvement for end to end planning activities in the U.S.

Essential Functions

Functional leadership

• Provide leadership for planning processes at each of the US Business Units, including a matrixed team of approximately 6 indirect reports and one direct report
• Set overall direction for planning and customer service processes across all U.S. business units, driving cost savings and optimizing service to internal stakeholders and customers

Planning expertise

• Ensure cross functional communication and collaboration with product life cycle management, sales, finance, and sourcing teams
• Continuously and collaboratively improve cross-functional planning and customer service processes using standardized tools, to develop and maintain efficient practices
• Lead supply chain metrics standardization, data analytics and reporting, as tools to drive bottom line results, with a focus on forecast accuracy, On Time in Full, optimal inventory levels, and destruction cost reduction.
• Support the development of demand, supply, sales, and production strategies that reflect the alignment of the financial forecast, customer demand, and supply chain capabilities resulting in an accurate short- and long-term financial forecast at the brand, customer, and SKU levels
• Lead the development and manage all integrated business planning processes including:
• Define process to integrate the overall planning functions for the company into business unit specific, standardized S&OP and S&OP processes that improve functional capability

Process and systems architecture

• Develop, implement, and maintain standardized planning and customer service process and system documentation across the US and within each Business Unit.
• Champion the design and implementation of standardized, integrated business planning systems as part of a broader SAP implementation across the U.S, with SAP IBP and PPDS being the principle planning tools
• Act as planning process and systems lead

Change enablement

• Govern and execute process changes, improvement opportunities, and technology upgrades
• Collaborate regularly with cross-functional business partners within Lindt N.A., including Warehousing, Transportation, IT, Procurement, Business Intelligence& Continuous Improvement to ensure the planning needs of the end to end supply chain are being met and coordinated
• Act as a catalyst and champion for process improvement and supporting strategic initiatives, driving change throughout planning and customer service at Lindt, Ghirardelli, and Russell Stover

Customer service

• Implement consistent KPIs and customer management processes across the enterprise to help optimize service to customers
• Streamline customer service processes, including order management, order taking and product fulfillment

Basic Qualifications

• Evidence of successfully creating, implementing, and leading cross-functional business processes from limited maturity to a sophisticated state in both planning and customer service
• Ability to travel domestically up to 30%
• Demonstrated analytical capacity with the ability to identify critical information, develop solutions, apply relevant techniques, and perform rigorous analysis quickly and consistently
• Experience driving metrics development and standardization
• Sound financial and analytical skills with a track record of fact-based decision making and influence
• 10+ years’ experience leading cross-functional, omni-channel S&OP process development in a high-SKU environment, preferably with high seasonality
• Expert understanding and experience implementing end to end supply chain metrics
• Bachelor’s degree
• Flexible, dynamic, motivated, and action oriented
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills with an acute ability to listen attentively and to communicate effectively throughout all levels of the organization
• Experience architecting enterprise-wide customer planning systems to support forecasting, demand, supply, sales, and production planning
• Demonstrated ability to manage people and lead by influence and capable of adapting leadership styles to the situation

Preferred Qualifications

• Interpersonal skills necessary to build support, influence action, and drive culture change, including experience building, developing, and leading high-performing teams
• Experience leading enterprise planning strategy initiatives and implementation
• SAP experience, preferably IBP and PPDS
• Functional expertise leading process creation of a cross-functional integrated business planning and customer service process
• MBA or graduate degree
• Leadership experience in a consumer products business of relevant size and complexity

Company Description

Lindt and Sprüngli (North America) Inc. is the Supply Chain and Business Shared Services Company supporting the Lindt& Sprüngli family of brands (Lindt USA, Ghirardelli Chocolates and Russell Stover Chocolates), headquartered in Kansas City, MO.

Employment by Lindt& Sprüngli (North America) Inc. is contingent upon I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification, passing the urinalysis drug screen, and satisfactory employment and background checks.

Lindt & Sprüngli (North America) Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, veteran status, pregnancy, or any other status protected by law. Principals only, please.