Sr Area Sales Manager

The Menards Category Analyst will work closely with Menards to optimize forecasting and replenishment of Owens Corning (OC) products across OC’s Roofing, Insulation, and Doors businesses. This role is accountable for executing a collaborative Owens Corning and Menard’s strategy while leading major customer initiatives nationally.

The Menards Category Analyst will be working strategically with multiple management levels within both the Menards organization and OC including supply chain, merchants, inventory analysts, and commercial sales. The role will need to understand the customers operations and establish / maintain customer relationships to execute across mutual initiatives. The role requires being a well-organized self-starter with high work standards and superior analytical skills, to process data and forecast sales to assure flow of inventory for all Menards stores.

The Menards Category Analyst plays a key role in driving business growth through deep customer knowledge and process understanding.

This position is based in Eau Claire, WI with a dedicated office located within the Menards General Office.

Reports to: This position reports to the National Account Sales Leader, Menards

Span of Control: No direct reports

Know the customer and act as liaison between Menands and Owens Corning

• Gain deep understanding of Menards through partnership with key contacts
• Understands Menards strategies and how they apply to their local markets
• Understands Menards organization structure and how to execute within that structure
• Work with Menards and the National Account Sales Leader, Menards to maintain a growing relationship between customer and vendor (OC)
• Understands competitive store locations and their offerings
• Maintain and develop customer relationships; navigate withing a large organization and influence results at all levels of the organization

Partner with the Menards inventory and planning team along with OC supply chain, to optimize sales and right-size inventory based on day-to-day operations, new product placement, promotions, and market trends

• Product and store analysis of data for sales trends, inventory optimization, and forecasting
• Analyze information and develop recommendations to drive sales opportunities, improve margins and increase inventory turns
• Forecast Menards sales and coordinate inventory stocking levels with Menards logistics and planning team
• Identify opportunities within the Menards inventory management system to eliminate out-of-stocks
• Work closely with OC supply chain and customer service to facilitate a timely and accurate order-fulfillment process
• Use analytical and problem-solving skills to identity shortage opportunities, uncovering root causes, proposing solutions, and driving change
• Cultivate relationships with key partners in the customers organization, maintain trust and respect
• Utilize out- the-door retail sales data to grow and develop each sales territory
• Identifying lost sales through analysis identification
• Ensure markets with opportunity (storms, market growth, out- of- stocks etc.) are being properly addressed, working with the Area Sales Manager’s in developing a plan

Execute against the expectations for being an on-site Category Analyst for a vendor 

• Demonstrate a sense of urgency in line with Menards expectations
• Build trust through exceptional responsiveness and reliability
• Deliver necessary reporting to the applicable Menards team members on regular or ad-hoc basis
• Establish self as an Owens Corning expert
• Recognize opportunities and create win/win solutions to drive sales plan metrics
• Support Owens Corning’s Regional Sales Leaders and Sr. Area Sales Managers
• Learn to navigate and understand information in the applicable Menards systems and applications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in business or related field

EXPERIENCE

• Experience working with supply chain and operations and/or the retail segment is preferred
• Demonstrated experience developing an intimate knowledge of customers, competition, and the market
• Experience in the building materials industry is preferred
• Experience using Microsoft Office applications and other business software (e.g., SAP); experience or understanding of creating ad hoc reports with Excel or other reporting tools

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES:

• Knowledge of the retail channel
• Acts upon and understands how the customer defines success and how to leverage the two organizations for mutual success
• Ability or understanding of querying, linking, and assembling data from multiple sources
• Organizational skills to handle multiple priorities and proven ability to execute and deliver results
• The ability to build trust, connections, and influence stakeholders
• Excellent communication skills - Convey relevant information clearly with confidence; understanding others through active listening
• Proven track record of bringing thought leadership, influence decisions, and driving results by engaging self and others across the enterprise
• Ability to professionally, and effectively, mitigate customer concerns
• High level of self-awareness, with the ability to handles constructive and direct feedback well
• Demonstrated ability to be self-motivated with a competitive drive
• Ability to propose and implement creative solutions and ideas
• Problem Solving - Demonstrated ability to leverage existing solutions to solve new problems; evaluates and prioritize; and influences decisions with data

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