Head of IBP Category Management

Head of IBP Category Management

Location:

Zurich

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The world’s fastest growing running brand is seeking a Head IBP Category Management to join the newly established Integrated Business Planning Team. With your business partnering experience and your top-notch analytical skills, your mission is to be the strategic integrator and partner to our industry-leading product, commercial and operations teams, creating value by providing insights and influencing decision making. Critical to the success of this role is a collaborative and curious mindset, a desire to influence On’s growth journey and an ability to understand your audience and communicate your message clearly.

In this role you will lead a team of Category Management leads, with the mission to create E2E cross-functional visibility on planning, analytics and reporting across On’s product categories. Your role will involve orchestrating our E2E planning processes across the GTM, developing and monitoring product lifecycle frameworks, SKU efficiency, Inventory strategies (including inventory health, safety stock, optimal lifecycle policies), and regular reporting to Executive leadership on the E2E development of On’s product categories.

• Lead a team of category managers to be the planning and planning and analytics partner to our Commercial & Product strategy, Product Creation and Franchise leads to drive On’s portfolio strategy through the utilization of insights and trends including in-season sales to support the development of our product strategies.
• Lead the E2E Planning cycle via the GTM process through orchestrating planning and analytics to achieve financial, commercial and operational goals, aligned to our long-term strategy, partnering with global and regional merchandising, demand planning and other teams.
• Develop, Implement, Monitor & Improve On’s Product Lifecycle Frameworks, supporting On’s Product & Commercial Strategy teams with clear and action-oriented insights on to enhance the development of distribution, tiering, discount and product lifecycle strategies.
• Orchestrate the generation of robust mid-term franchise forecasts to ensure accurate capacity planning, liaising with supply chain teams to simulate and model requirements for new or expanded production capabilities.
• Lead cross-functional trade off discussions between commercial and supply chain teams concerning pricing, margin, production and launch cadence to deliver growth and margin for On.
• Generate scenario planning for a category, providing insights on typical trade off and macro‑economic disruptions to capture the potential financial, commercial and operational impacts to On.
• Develop & lead clear and actionable Inventory Management strategies across categories, including inventory health, lifecycle breakdown, safety stock, optimal months on hand and commercial and production strategies to ensure On manages inventory across all categories.
• Focus on excellence and visibility in reporting to co‑create dashboards to track and measure category performance and KPIs throughout the product lifecycle and GTM process.
• Seek new and innovative technologies to improve On’s planning environment and drive change management initiatives to establish IBP as a strategic function at On.
• Partner the Commercial Finance team to combine seasonal margin targets and insights with cross‑functional planning data to report to Executive Leadership via On’s IBP Process.

• 7-10 years experience in Controlling, FP&A, Supply Chain or Merchandising in analytically focussed roles, in an agile, high‑growth environment.
• Prior experience in a multi‑channel product company, preferably in the sportswear industry, with understanding of channel‑dynamics across e‑commerce and retail.
• Experience and understanding of product lifecycle management, portfolio strategies, production strategy and/or product development an advantage.
• Exceptional analytical skills, with the ability to deliver excellence in measuring core KPIs and innovate new ways to measure performance.
• A curious and open mindset, with the ability to craft compelling messages and motivate partners to work alongside you to deliver excellence for On.
• Excellent English skills, other languages are a plus.
• Experience with finance, analytics and data technologies such as Microsoft Dynamics, Looker and Anaplan.