Vice President of Revenue Management - Kimberly Clark North America
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Summary of Position:
We are seeking a senior experienced executive to lead the Revenue Management journey for Kimberly Clark North America (KCNA). KCNA is an $8B+ Business Unit of the publicly traded Kimberly Clark Corporation (KMB), and is largest business within Kimberly Clark, comprising about half the company’s revenue . KCNA participates in attractive growing categories, and has strong share positions behind brands like Huggies, Poise, Cottonelle, Kotex, Depend, Kleenex, Scott, and Viva.
KCNA is in the process of leading an end to end growth transformation, and Revenue Management is a central and critical capability to the success of KCNA. Reflecting this new importance, this newly created VP position will report directly to the Group President of KCNA (who reports directly to the CEO), and sit on the enterprise leadership team of KCNA as a peer and key partner to the President of Personal Care, the President of Family Care, and the President of US Consumer Sales.
The main mission of this leader is to build a world class Revenue Management function in the new K-C Chicago Commercial Center (located in the heart of the Fulton Market district in Chicago). This executive will be asked to build a team of over 25 people (with many being new hires) in Chicago and to develop the strategies, tactics, plans, and capabilities required to deliver world class Revenue Management results for Kimberly Clark.
The Revenue Management team will partner with categories to provide expertise, analytics and specific actions in pricing, pack architecture, and trade strategies that would be leveraged by Brand and internal Sales teams as they develop and execute their business plans. Team would also conduct diagnostics and monitor overall market pricing to help identify new opportunities and / or mitigate emerging competitive threats. The scope includes:
Revenue strategy – role of pricing and promotion in the category, aligned to consumer / shopper segments, evaluation of competitor pricing and promotion strategies. Key elements of strategy include:
Defining key consumer segments relevant to revenue management
Category price structure (current and future brand positioning within the category)
Pack architecture (counts, sizes, formats and strategies)
List price strategy (pack pricing / discount curves in support of suggested retail pricing)
Trade strategies (e.g., funding rates, promotion strategies and promoted pricing)
Pricing analytics – team would lead / manage analytics across the organization and own / serve as experts on methods across:
Elasticity - both econometric and research based (e.g., conjoint) price elasticity models. Expertise in different elasticity factors (e.g., primary product, cross-product, cross-customer) and their application to business problems.
Promoted pricing - develop recommendations for price and frequency (weeks / duration)
Understand different promotion strategies by merchandising model (e.g., Hi-Lo vs. EDLP) and impact from retailer margin strategies
People Acquisition and Development
Build a 25 person team in Chicago – including some existing KCNA employees but many new recruits from the outside
Retain and develop Talent.
Lead revenue management team to support pricing and trade strategies
Ensure the team has the required resources and tools to drive best in class results.
Essential Functions:
Executive level leadership for KCNA
Strategic thinking and thought partnership to senior exectutives and the Group President
Linkage to Global K-C functions in the area of RGM to help leverage capabilities and define the overall company agenda
Analytical & Strategic thought partner to brand marketing and BU Sales (approximately 40% of time)
Manage and develop Revenue Management team to present an integrated point of view on pricing and promotion strategy and execution (approximately 30% of time)
Develop, standardize, and lead pricing and promotions decision processes, tools, and reporting (approximately 30% of time)
Develop and implement standardization of list price setting, promotion development and performance measurement processes
Manage analytic models, tools, and strategy development processes
Steward development of Promotional Planning and Reporting systems.
Act as process leader / quality control check with sales management in developing pricing exception guidelines
Devise pack architecture strategies and recommendations
Monitor performance and compliance against target objectives (KPIs)
Consolidate pricing best practices; determine how they can be applied towards the entire organization to maximize pricing potential
Perceived as pricing knowledge resource across the organization; has ability to resolve pricing conflicts
Lead a team
Serve as coach and contribute to achievement of business and personal objectives by seeking and responding to performance and developmental feedback. Initiate personal development activities to enhance functional effectiveness.
Practice and promote safe work habits and operations of company equipment.
Ability to develop and build skilled talent pipeline for K-C.
Ability to structure and manage multiple priorities and projects in a timely manner, and create winning strategies for teams to implement.
Ability to lead the organization through times of change.
Ability to clearly communicate orally and in writing to individuals and groups across all levels of the organization, with consistent engagement in person with BU Presidents and GMs.
Ability to build various levels of strong ongoing organizational relationships, including Business Unit Vice Presidents and GMs.
Ability to operate and use telephone, computer/laptop and other technological devices/software programs to communicate.
Ability to proficiently use and perform key functions of Microsoft Excel software program.
Ability to travel via aircrafts, and operate and drive motor vehicles for business travel, with valid driver license.
Minimum Requirements:
Education required/ preferred:
Minimum of Bachelor’s degree in business or other discipline that requires quantitative knowledge required. (Graduate degree strongly preferred.)
Experience:
Track record of success in RGM in CPG – showing range in promotional effectiveness, list pricing, pack architecture and a broad based experience base.
Demonstrated professional and academic success (e.g. consistently received top evaluations at prior job).
Ten plus years of business experience, at least four years within trade marketing, consumer pricing, or revenue management in the consumer sector.
Preferred Experience/Qualifications:
Skills/Competencies:
Ability to attract and retain top tier talent.
Deep understanding of technical and analytical proficiencies in all relevant tools in RGM.
Strong Analytical skills: the individual must be able to synthesize marketing and pricing information to draw insights and actionable recommendations (e.g., structure the problem, collect data, identify issues and present results).
Strategic Thinking: the individual should be a strong conceptual thinker, able to quickly identify issues and develop solutions to complex problems. He/she must have a good understanding of the breadth of marketing strategies and market research.
Communication skills: the individual must have strong written and verbal communication skills, and be able to interact and persuade individuals at levels senior to him or her, as well as actively participate in meetings and group discussions with individuals from various parts of the organization (e.g. sales, marketing, market research).
Leadership skills: the individual should have demonstrated significant initiative, tenacity, and leadership in prior job.
Other Skills:
Prioritization and time management, resource and team management, active listening, adaptability, training and development.
Organizational Relationships:
VP of Revenue Management with six manager level direct reports supporting all BUs (AFC, Family Care, BCC). Reports to Group President, Kimberly Clark North America
Working Conditions:
Travel up to 25% of the work time. Travel may also include business travels via aircrafts and motor vehicles to various locations. May include prolong periods of sitting, typing, viewing computer/laptop screens, along with occasional bending, reaching, lifting and carrying up to (50 pounds), walking, climbing, twisting, stooping and standing.
Kimberly-Clark and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Every day, 1.3 billion people - nearly a quarter of the world's population - trust K-C brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene, and well-being. With brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex, and Depend, Kimberly-Clark holds No.1 or No. 2 share positions in more than 80 countries. With more than 140 years of history of innovation, we believe in recruiting the best people and empowering them do their best work. If fresh thinking and a passion to win inspire you, come Unleash Your Power at Kimberly-Clark.
Kimberly-Clark is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, pregnancy, genetic information, citizenship status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
The statements above are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this classification. Statements are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and skills required for this position.
This position may require a post-offer/pre-hire Physical Abilities Test (PAT) to confirm that individuals are able to perform the essential functions of the job.
K-C requires that an employee have authorization to work in the country in which the role is based. In the event an applicant does not have current work authorization, K-C will determine, in its sole discretion, whether to sponsor an individual for work authorization. However, based on immigration requirements, not all roles are suitable for sponsorship.
This position is subject to drug and alcohol testing, including pre-employment testing