Senior Director, Global Merchandising & Commercial Management

Job Description

Senior Director, Global Merchandising & Commercial Management (Direct to Consumer)

Department overview

Within PlayStation, the Direct to Consumer team brings together diverse talent from around the world, with a passion for engaging PlayStation gamers with relevant and entertaining content and products. This area of PlayStation has seen significant growth in recent years to become a key revenue contributor and continues to evolve rapidly towards new business models alongside dynamic changes in the Games industry. In September 2019, PlayStation launched PlayStation Direct, our first direct to consumer hardware and peripherals business. We are currently in the US with a European launch planned.

Role overview

We are looking for an experienced and innovative leader to join PlayStation as our Senior Director of Commercial Management. Reporting to the Global VP of PlayStation Direct, you will bring commercial acuity, digital savvy, a love for consumer products and a business development orientation to define the vision, value proposition and ''offer'' for PlayStation hardware, accessories and related products and non subscription services. In addition, you will help craft and lead key long term growth strategies for PlayStation Direct and will contribute to broader Direct to Consumer growth strategies. This role has global responsibility and currently leads regional commercial teams based in the UK and the US.

What you'll be doing

Leadership

Develop and lead dynamic, global high performance teams of commercial managers and merchants, organized in regional hubs. Build the vision and framework for them to do their best work and to innovate and achieve. Attract, cultivate and grow talent with high learning agility and high emotional intelligence.

Market Expansion

Partner closely with the channel sales teams to fill gaps in markets, uncover opportunities and drive overall PlayStation growth globally, not just growth of DTC. You will acquire an in-depth understanding of customers, competitors and the key drivers of success in each market and build country strategies and plans that are scalable globally but locally relevant.

Differentiated Value Proposition

Develop the vision for the business through trend, customer and market analysis. Partner across Sony, PlayStation and particularly across Global Services and Business Operations to find opportunities for growth. Develop exclusive offers and only at PlayStation products and experiences that encourage deeper engagement with the brand, drive repeat visits/purchases and increase customer lifetime value.

Product & Assortment Strategy

Lead regional commercial and merchant teams who will be accountable for building a compelling assortment strategy of owned, licensed and 3rd party products that will excite our fans and enrich the gaming experience. In addition, working with Global 3rd party Peripheral and Accessory Licensing you will cultivate, build and maintain new vendor alliances and market relationships to ensure innovative and complementary quality products that support the brand.

Demand Planning

For new markets, apply analytics expertise to help your teams to develop models for demand based forecasts based on available insights, not just on allocation. Provide the critical senior leadership support to ensure that regional teams provide sound demand forecasts to operations and finance on an ongoing basis and work closely with channel distribution to share market opportunities and agree on allocation, meeting regularly to assess risks and opportunities to sales forecasts.

Pricing & Promotions

Lead the team responsible for handling pricing policy and operations. Using data driven insights and hindsight, establish go to market plans and promotional strategies in partnership with Marketing and with the Operations commercial planning organizations. Ensure robust business cases for promotional opportunities and act as the business owner for the development of pricing and promotional capabilities.

Inventory Management

Develop new and robust capabilities and processes for forecasting and inventory management. Achieve sales and profit goals while also meeting inventory management goals. Balance inventory levels to ensure we are able to meet customer demand without incurring high exit and liquidation costs. Build a culture of accountability for sound operational practices including active management of weeks on hand and met demand (out of stock) rates.

Key Qualifications
• Experience motivating, developing and inspiring a team
• Proven ability to influence across teams to drive innovation and results
• Deep knowledge of digital commerce
• Demonstrated ability to achieve strategic goals in an innovative and fast-paced environment.
• Superior verbal and written communications skills and extreme attention-to-detail
• Proven analytical and numerical aptitude; proficient in analyzing data for decision making
• Ability to think and react in a high-energy, fast-paced environment
• Exceptional ability to problem solve, develop creative solutions, and demonstrate resourcefulness

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-r0n5be-18-191-174-168-42 in your application.