Description

As an employee of Boehringer Ingelheim, you will actively contribute to the discovery, development, and delivery of our products to our patients and customers. Our global presence provides opportunity for all employees to collaborate internationally, offering visibility and opportunity to directly contribute to the companies' success. We realize that our strength and competitive advantage lie with our people. We support our employees in several ways to foster a healthy working environment, meaningful work, diversity and inclusion, mobility, networking, and work-life balance. Our competitive compensation and benefit programs reflect Boehringer Ingelheim's high regard for our employees.

The Associate Director, Retail Strategy and Activation leads the development of retail category management strategies, which will focus on optimizing our portfolio's OMNI channel (retail) presence in our categories, strengthening our brands, optimizing product assortment, value capture and promotional strategy.

The AD, Retail Strategy and Activation plays a key role within the US Retail team, driving excellence in store execution across key retail channels and customers. The role will also focus on building expert knowledge around shopper behaviors in our relevant categories and sharing this with the key retailers to increase profit and sales and build long-term partnerships. The incumbent will be responsible for leading the development of the retail activation strategy for our brands and building a deep category understanding.

This role will develop retail strategies based on category and shopper understanding that will drive growth for both BI and our major customers. As the voice of the shopper, customer (retailer) & channel, you will influence at all levels the retail strategic direction within our business, achieving win-win outcomes for BI & our retail partners. The role will drive BIs insight capability to optimize Retail Activation, using tools like shopper research, consumer research and customer data as the basis for retail category plans. The incumbent will also be leading the development of story and sell in for customer-facing workshops and range reviews, in partnership with Sales and the retail category managers. The position holder will define the core range distribution, POS and merchandizing guidelines by channel based on our Success Model.

Duties & Responsibilities

Develops Retail Success Models across the key animal health segments (Pet OTC, Pet Rx, Equine, Cattle etc.), being the expert and consultant for the brand and retail teams on key retail executional priorities and tactics which fully execute the brand strategy in the retail channels.
Acts as the key contact for the brand marketing teams for all executional activity.
Develops the Retail Category Vision to drive long term mutual customer engagement and sales growth, as part of the overall BI category visions for all customers.
Develops specific shopper and retailer insights that are also aligned to the key brand consumer insights to drive key category growth pillars.
Develops new line / innovation presentations to support the key line review processes with the brand and retailer teams and engages with the retailers during the process to act as the category expert supporting the retail team.
Recommends, develops, and executes relevant Shopper/Retailer research programs to build and maintain an accurate understanding of the trade and shopper dynamics.
Coordinates Shopper/Retailer insight studies with the Retail I&A team, turning insights in retail executional action for the sales team.
Works with the brand and pricing teams, to develop promotional and pricing strategy line with brand priorities and media plan and to meet the needs of the retail customers.
Engages retail team experts (AD Sales and Operations to analyze and advise on future recommended Consumer Prices as part of the annual MAP / MSRP setting process.

Regulatory:

Performs all Company business in accordance with all regulations (e.g., EEO, FDA, OSHA, PDMA, EPA, PhRMA, etc.) and Company policies and procedures.
Reports all violations immediately to management.
Documents observations and provide information to management as necessary.
Demonstrates high ethical and professional standards with all business contacts and BIVI employees.

Drives effective business communication:

Presents and facilitates at customer meetings adapting content to the different audiences.
Establishes open, transparent communication on a one-on-one basis.
Manages different stakeholders and influence behaviors related to the use of the information by communicating success, concerns, risks, and status updates on related work.
Collaborates with peers to share learnings, core processes, systems, and best practices.
Cultivates teamwork by facilitating cross department communication.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in business/Economics/Marketing/Statistics/Finance.
Minimum two (2) in trade / shopper / customer marketing with key US retailers e.g., Chewy/Amazon/Walmart/Target/Petco or similar.
Minimum seven (7) years' experience in a related role, with CPG customer experience mandatory.
Minimum two (2) years FMCG experience in Trade / Shopper / Customer Marketing.
Minimum three (3) years FMCG experience in Sales / Marketing or Key Account Management.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to effectively convey complex and detailed information to a diverse population.
Ability to set priorities, plan and coordinate work activities and manage time and resources to deliver work objectives on time.
Basic knowledge of market research analytical frameworks for conducting and analyzing primary market research.
Proficiency in visualization and analytic tools including Tableau, Qlik, and Cognos.
Sharp analytical abilities and proven design skills.
Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite Applications or similar tools.
Demonstrated understanding and ability to apply principles, concepts, practices, and standards including knowledge and use of Animal Health or Pharma data and basic working knowledge of industry practices.
Demonstrated ability to communicate ideas, facts, and technical information clearly and concisely to senior management/management, as well as other internal customers both verbally and written.
Demonstrated excellent communication and presentation skills and ability to work with other disciplines.
Models willingness to learn and stay up to date.
Ability to train user groups and key stakeholders.
Demonstrated ability to identify and analyze problems, evaluate alternatives, and implement effective solutions.
Effective analytical and problem-solving skills.
Demonstrated ability to effectively manage multiple priorities and coordinate efforts with colleagues from several functional areas.
Ability to work independently with a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail in the fast-paced environment.
Demonstrated ability to achieve results in a highly matrixed organization.
Ability to travel (may include overnight travel).

Eligibility Requirements:

Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without restriction.
Must be willing to take a drug test and post-offer physical (if required).
Must be 18 years of age or older.