Brand Management and Merchandising, Senior Manager

Company Overview

With $5 billion in revenue and 3,800+ employees in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, TBC Corporation is a leader in the mobility industry and one of North America’s largest marketers of automotive replacement tires through wholesale and franchise operations. TBC serves wholesale customers in the United States, Canada and Mexico through TBC Brands, NTW, TBC International, and TBC de Mexico. Additionally, TBC responds to the needs of consumers in search of total car care at more than 2,000 franchised tire and automotive service centers under the Big O Tires® and Midas®. TBC is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

TBC markets on a wholesale basis to regional tire chains and distributors serving independent tire dealers throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico. TBC has 20 proprietary brands of tires specializing in passenger, commercial, farm and specialty tires. In 2005, TBC Corp. was purchased by Sumitomo Corporation of America (SCOA). SCOA is the largest subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, one of Japan’s major integrated trading and investment business enterprises. In 2018 Michelin, the largest tire manufacturer in Europe, invested in the company which is now a 50:50, privately held joint venture between Sumitomo and Michelin.

Our values are the foundation of our work, how we interact with each other, and the strategies we employ to fulfill our purpose. These are the practices we use every day – in everything we do:

• Integrity - We act honestly because nothing is more important than our reputation.

• Teamwork - We are better together.
• People-Focused - We put people first – our Associates, customers, franchisees, and partners – and cultivate a respectful, collaborative, and inclusive culture, top to bottom, inside and out.
• Accountability - We own our actions and decisions; we do what we say we are going to do.
• Leave Everything Better - We innovate to improve everything we touch, and we take actions now to protect the future.      

Description

Reporting to the Senior Director Brand Management & Merchandising, this position is responsible for developing and executing strategic brand management initiatives to drive business growth and enhance customer satisfaction for the TBC enterprise. Coordinates product screen planning and product development across Franchise and Wholesale business units. Responsible for brand management including strategy development, optimization and administration of the appropriate product, pricing, promotional and distribution requirements needed to achieve market share growth. They will develop and implement market-based segmentation strategies for all product lines to ensure competitiveness, responsiveness, and coverage. This position involves collaborating with cross-functional teams and managing vendor relationships to optimize the overall brand performance. This position requires a strategic thinker with strong leadership skills and a deep understanding of market trends and consumer behavior.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead holistic brand building initiatives and gain alignment to 3–5-year strategy and innovation plan. In this role you will collaborate with sales, purchasing, finance, and channel teams to ensure that the brand’s message is consistent and resonates with target customers.
• Brand Ownership: Drive delivery of business objectives for brand including sales, OI, EVA, inventory and market share across brand and tier
• Annual Business Planning: Lead development of brand’s annual business plans (serve as single point of contact) and track monthly progress towards goals. Put in place and execute corrective action plans to resolve gaps to plan
• Initiative management: Lead development of brand building initiatives. Lead brief development and execution of commercial programs in partnership with in-house marketing and creative agencies
• Process Improvement: Identify and lead process improvements at the brand and tier level
• Customer communication: Partner with sales and marketing to effectively develop communication plans in line with brand and wholesale marketing strategy
• Product launches: Partner with SRM teams and supply chain to ensure seamless product launches of our exclusive, private label and owned brand
• Portfolio Management: champion portfolio optimization to drive best total value for the customer and TBC to maximize profit, meet customer needs, and inform/support GTM strategy
• Makes recommendations and decisions. Supports and advocates data management, controls, and data mining applications and systems. Is pursued for advice in existing and future technology systems.
• Understands all information sources and builds on them by developing new business intelligence reports, trend charts and process controls. Implements improvements to meet the needs of stakeholders.

Additional Job Responsibilities

• Go-to-Market: Drive development of channel specific GTM strategies and plans to maximize presence in market. Inform pricing, sales and channel strategy on key actions

• Leveraging insights: Leverage consumer, customer and category insights to drive development of 3-5 year strategy and supporting innovation pipeline to deliver strategic business plan

• Brand and Product Innovation:  Drives innovation pipeline across Tier 4 Exclusive and Private Label brands. Specifically enrolling cross functional organization in innovation stage gate process including delivering against gate milestones and ensuring strong commercialization strategy for launch
• Product development: Includes selection of vendors, advising on product specifications, mitigating risk, negotiating product costs, supply chain, category, and supplier analysis, as well as presenting to prospective customers, and executive leadership. Follow through development process to successful launch to market
• Phase-In / Phase-Out: Direct brand/product lifecycle, including PIPO initiatives, and brand/product exit strategies
• Forecasting: Provide insights and influence in the planning and forecasting of products to drive maximum impact to sales and margin
• Inventory Management: Direct oversight to ensure proper coverage and efficiency of tires through regular reviews of on hand inventory, sales velocity, and manufacturer lead times
• Demonstrates strategic leadership to inspire and mobilize teams to embrace and drive change, effectively engages with a diverse range of stakeholders, both internal and external; contributes to innovation and creativity; champions diversity, equity and inclusion. Influence extends beyond boundaries, making a substantial impact on the organization as a whole.
• Manages the delivery of the project cross-functionally (internal or external), using complex project management processes. Develops detailed work plans for each phase of project activities that identify task dependencies, resource requirements and a phase timeline. 
• Exhibits a high degree of collaboration, leadership and adaptability within a team. Navigates and resolves conflicts with diplomacy and tact. Able to inspire and motivate team members to achieve exceptional results. Contributes to interdisciplinary collaboration and fosters a culture of learning.
• Special projects as needed

Continued Responsibilities

Added Responsibilities

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, supply chain, finance or related field. MBA preferred
• 8+ years in sales, merchandising, marketing or supply chain with proven Category Management, retail merchandising or related role experience with at least 3 years in a leadership or management capacity
• Automotive/Tire industry or related experience a plus
• Demonstrated track record of driving revenue growth, optimizing product assortments, and enhancing customer satisfaction
• Solid understanding of the OE tire market is a plus
• Competence in leading and managing medium-sized change initiatives.  Ability to assess the impact of changes on individuals, teams and the organization. Capable of addressing concerns and resolving resistance . Skilled at coaching and mentoring individuals and teams through the change process.
• Excels at analyzing complex situations, weighing multiple variables and predicting outcomes. Makes informed decisions that align with organizational goals and strategies. Mentors others in decision-making and fosters a culture of sound judgement.
• Understands communication style make influence work and relationships. Uses good judgement to communicate appropriately. Proactively works to adjust style based on audience and points of emphasis. 
• Experience with data analytics/visualization tools (Qlik, PowerBI and/or Alteryx) a plus
• Experience using NPD/GFK/Vehicle Fitment data a plus
• Profound understanding of productivity patterns and advanced techniques to maximize efficiency. Consistently achieve their goals, maintain a healthy work-life balance and inspire those around them.
• Exceptional ability to cultivate a culture of respect, inclusivity and safety. Skillful at nurturing talent through continuous feedback loops and identifying potential future leaders within the team. Anticipates conflicts, builds strong team cohesion.
• Willing to travel 10% & Hybrid (2 days in office) - In Office for Training
• Bilingual in Spanish / English is a plus

Benefits

• Market competitive compensation
• 401(k) and Roth with company match. Immediate 100% vesting
• Comprehensive benefits including medical, dental and vision
• Company paid short term disability and employer subsidized long term disability
• Company paid life insurance
• Discounted tire purchasing
• Tuition reimbursement
• Employee assistance program
• Generous paid vacation and paid time off
• Customizable voluntary benefits
• and More!!!

Mission Critical Competencies

TBC seeks team members who excel in demonstrating our critical competencies to drive organizational capability. In this spirit we view the following as mission critical for this role:

• Strategic Mindset: seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.
• Action Oriented: Taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
• Cultivates Innovation: Creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.
• Collaborates: Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives
• Customer Focus: Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Develops Talent: Developing people to meet both their career goals and the organization's goals.
• Ensures Accountability: Holding self and others accountable to meet commitments.
• Drives Engagement: Creating a climate where people are motivated to do their best to help the organization achieve its objectives.
• Communicates Effectively: Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Instills Trust: Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Change Management: effective Sponsorship, Change Agent and influencing skills. Adaptive, agile, flexible, open minded. Proven ability to build cross-functional commitment, lead, simplify and scale complex dynamic organizations through transformational change.

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