Director - Commercial Strategy

Beam Suntory is Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World. Rooted in two centuries of family heritage, Beam Suntory has evolved into the world's third largest leading premium spirits company ... where each employee is treated like family and trusted with legacy. With our greatest assets - our premium spirits and our people - we're driving growth through impactful marketing, innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. Beam Suntory is a place where you can come Unleash your Spirit by making an impact each and every day.

The following position is open in Chicago, IL., - Director - Commercial Strategy

What makes this a great opportunity?

What Makes this a Great Opportunity

• Leadership/People Management: Lead a team, providing vision to team and aligning different teams to same strategy; ensuring right people are in the right roles to be successful
• Senior-Leader Exposure: Regular communication with, and presentation to, senior level audience, including North America and Global executive leadership teams
• Strategy Development: Opportunity to develop and implement route to market and distributor strategy; Build detailed understanding of current field resources (BSI and distributor), how they are goaled and incented with ability to shape go-forward methodology, including future depth, breadth, and structure of incremental field resources
• Negotiation: Visibility into distributor strategy/route to market negotiations
• Complex Problem-Solving: Opportunity to structure a clear process to address an ambiguous question/objective, and how to influence without authority
• Stakeholder Management: Positioned to influence and interact closely with every business function (Sales, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, Legal) providing clear visibility to how broader groups need to work together effectively
• National Perspective: Develop understanding of market dynamics and drivers of sales plan across US
• Process Improvement: Opportunity to create the infrastructure for the field to work efficiently and effectively, by establishing processes and working with IT to develop tools that drive field effectiveness, bridging the gap between functionality and usability

Role Responsibilities

Role Mission

This position will report to the Senior Director, Commercial Strategy, Planning, & Enablement with significant exposure to the Vice President, North America Strategy and Beam Suntory senior leaderhip.

This role will lead our commercial insights, strategy and strategic initiative execution inclusive of the following responsibilities:

Strategy Development:

• Develop route to market strategy for each market based on market’s long-term growth, commercial ambitions, and “One Beam Suntory Way” approach
• Guide development of channel level forecasts and develop supporting strategy that will inform executive leadership’s growth objectives
• Evaluate and develop recommendations to improve effectiveness of our market execution strategies
• Lead distributor contract design, negotiations, and ongoing management; leveraging key stakeholders across the Sales, Legal, and Finance teams
• Identify and develop sales structure, incentives, and sales planning elements, as required
• Develop storyboards and presentations for each of the above projects, adapting for varying levels within the organization (e.g., sales team vs. executive leadership)

Analysis & Insights:

• Identify drivers of our business, data-driven expectations for how they will change going forward, and implications on the business

• Lead/delegate ad-hoc analysis on brand, category, distribution, account, and market level performance to support strategic objectives and business goals

• Act as source of expertise for commercial best practices that align with BSI strategy (i.e. distributor management, sales planning, contract standards, etc.)

Program Management & Organizational Effectiveness:

• Evaluate the effectiveness of key strategic sales initiatives with regular reporting to senior leadership
• Identify, develop, and deploy enhancements and expansions of our sales resources
• Identify, develop, and execute opportunities to enhance broader sales effectiveness
• Support market leadership in evaluating and managing distributor performance

Stakeholder Management:

• Collaborate closely with Commercial Planning, Marketing, Finance and other cross functional counterparts to ensure quality of recommendations and successful implementations
• Support commercial leadership in the development of messaging and presentations for key internal  and external sales meetings

Leadership:

• Lead team of Managers and Sr. Analysts to deliver high quality analytics and executive level story telling around business performance, opportunities, and our strategic direction

Qualifications & Experience

Qualifications & Experience

• Education: Bachelors; MBA strongly preferred
• Experience: Minimum of 3 years of experience in a top tier management consulting firm, or corporate strategy role
• Industry Knowledge (Preferred): Understanding of the Three-Tier System, day to day activities of Distributor and Field, US route to market complexities, and specific market/distributor dynamics preferred
• Financial Acumen: Understanding of P&L and ROI basics
• Project/Process Management: Proven ability to manage projects from start to finish
• Presentation Effectiveness: Ability to translate insights into structured presentations that highlight key takeaways; Ability to present effectively to senior audiences
• Stakeholder Management: Ability to see situations and anticipate reactions from multiple stakeholders and perspectives, crafting communications and leading discussions in a thoughtful manner that has the appropriate detail for the audience/stakeholders
• Advanced Business Analytics: Ability to identify, analyze, and interpret trends in complex data set to inform decision making

In an effort to ensure the health and safety of our workforce while doing our part to protect those around us, Beam Suntory is requiring proof of full COVID vaccination for US salaried employees in our offices and commercial field roles as a condition of employment, subject to medical/religious exemptions.

#LIHybrid

At Beam Suntory, people are our number one priority, and we believe our people grow together in diverse and inclusive environments where their unique insights, experiences and backgrounds are valued and respected. Beam Suntory is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, military veteran status and all other characteristics, attributes or choices protected by law. All recruitment and hiring decisions are based on an applicant’s skills and experience.