Director of Sales Planning and Strategy

Job Title: Director, Sales Planning & Strategy

Location: Evanston, Chicago IL (Hybrid)

Reports To: Sr. Director of Sales

The most important element of our company background is our purpose. We are a dairy cooperative of cooperatives. That means that we exist to create value for our cooperatives and the 14,000 Irish family dairy farms they support. This is central to how we operate, critically important for our employees and what fuels our ambition to win.

With that, Ornua is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy, exporting to over 110 countries with annualised sales of €3.4 billion.

We are multi-national, operating from 19 subsidiaries worldwide and employing over 2,300 staff. Ornua has teams working in-market across all four corners of the globe from Algiers to Beijing, to Lagos and LA.

The business is structured across two core divisions:
Ornua Foods and Ornua Ingredients.

Ornua Foods owns the iconic Kerrygold brand, as well as the Pilgrims Choice, Dubliner, Forto and BEO Milk Powder brands.

Ornua Ingredients supplies superior quality dairy ingredients to leading global food manufacturers from some of the world’s most technically advanced manufacturing and prepacking facilities located in Africa, China, Ireland, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Spain, the UK and the US.

Ornua Foods North America is headquartered in Evanston, IL with additional teams located throughout the US. The consumer foods product portfolio is spread across butter, cheese and powders.

The North America division is a powerhouse within Ornua, with an iconic and beloved brand and a highly-engaged, highly inclusive, and high-performing team that, together, have delivered double-digit, profitable growth on the business for the last twenty years.

This is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join a purpose-led organization, own transformational projects to drive growth for an iconic brand, and make a difference.

The Director, Sales Planning & Strategy at Ornua Foods North America would play a pivotal role in driving profitable growth for brands like Kerrygold and Dubliner. This position sits at the intersection of sales, marketing, category, finance and supply chain and is designed to enhance our go-to-market, retail execution and category performance through data-driven strategy and trade activation.

You’ll translate insights and brand strategy into compelling plans that optimize promotional spend, build and support product launch plans, ensure effective in-store presence, collaborate with supply on demand forecasting, and inform long-term business planning with major retailers.

• Stakeholder Collaboration & Cross Functional Influence:
• Influence internally through working closely with Marketing, Sales, Finance, Supply Chain, and Category teams to ensure cohesive processes and execution of aligned upon goals and objectives.
• Own communication routines with sales teams to highlight business priorities and changes to brand strategies and tactics. Be a voice of Sales & customers back to central functions.
• Manage product supply shortage through efficient communication with supply chain and customer sales teams to minimize revenue loss and maintain customer prioritization.
• Build and drive sales forecasting process with demand, supply, and sales by leading monthly demand forecasting routines to identify key volume drivers and communicating material needs.
• Identify whitespace across different channels and customers through closure of core product distribution or shelving gaps, innovation, and profitable promotion plans.
• Lead annual customer budget cascade, setting growth targets by channel/customer and ensuring effective promotional plans.
• Joint Business Planning:
• Collaborate in joint business planning (JBP) creation with Sales teams – helping to merge insights, commercial plans, and promotional strategies.
• Lead the evolution of our Strategic Selling Story 2.0, elevating customer conversations beyond category performance to position the company as future-forward, highly sustainable, and innovative food partner, highlighting our ability to impact the future of food, not just butter sales.
• Trade Promotion…