Manager, Sales Strategy & Planning

The J.M. Smucker Company; Orrville (OH); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The J. M. Smucker Co. in Orrville, OH seeks a Manager, Sales Strategy & Planning to lead customer planning, performance enablement, and cross-functional alignment.

You will translate SBA priorities into actions, support Joint Business Planning, and guide planning discussions with Sales, Finance, Marketing, and Supply Chain to drive growth and ensure decision-ready recommendations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 5+ years in Commercial Planning, Sales Planning, or related fields
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and customer planning activities
• Strong commercial acumen and ability to translate strategy into actions

Responsibilities

• Own the customer planning story and performance enablement across assigned customers or channels
• Coordinate with Sales, Brand Marketing, Finance, and Supply Chain to align plans and drive growth
• Frame alternatives and recommendations to enable better planning and Sales decisions
• Coach and mentor associates on planning discipline and commercial judgment

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Stakeholder management

Analytical capability

Communication skills

Business partnering

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

BI tools

Job description

Your Opportunity as the Manager, Sales Strategy & Planning

The Manager, Sales Strategy & Planning owns the customer planning story, performance enablement, and cross-functional alignment for assigned customers or channel. This role serves as a strategic business partner to Sales, helping to identify and activate SBA opportunities into customer-specific actions, recommendations and decision-ready planning deliverables. The position is responsible for enabling high-quality customer plans, capturing customer forecast assumptions, enabling consensus discussions, business reviews, and growth recommendations through strong process leadership and cross-functional influence.

Location: JM Smucker Corporate Offices in Orrville, Ohio

Work Arrangements: Hybrid - onsite during core weeks as determined by the Company (estimated up to 9 days a month); adjusted as the need requires. Intermittent business travel may be required.

In this role you will:

Customer Strategy Planning

Own the internal customer planning story for assigned customers or channels, including performance, risks, opportunities, actions, and follow-through. Support annual planning, Joint Business Planning (JBP), customer business reviews, customer planning cycles, and strategic growth initiatives. Translate SBA priorities into customer-specific actions, recommendations, and planning assumptions that connect account-level decisions to the broader SBA, channel, or business plan. Facilitate prioritization discussions and planning trade-offs in partnership with Sales and cross‑functional stakeholders.

Business Performance Management

Use data to explain performance, identify risks and opportunities and recommend action for assigned customers or customer portfolios. Support gap‑solving and prepare clear updates or recommendations for planning, consensus, Stage Gate, resets, and customer decisions. Develop data‑driven recommendations that support customer outcomes and enterprise objectives. Track customer scorecards, risks, opportunities, innovation performance, promotion results, and progress against plans.

Cross‑Functional Coordination

Engage with partners across Sales, Brand Marketing, Category Analytics, Revenue Growth Management, Finance, Supply Chain, Marketing Operations, and other functions to solve customer or plan issues. Facilitate planning discussions to ensure key stakeholder alignment across customer priorities, investments, execution plans, and key decisions. Drive accountability for planning actions, open issues, and business commitments. Ensure customer planning deliverables are clear, decision‑ready, and connected to business priorities.

Decision Support & Influence

Frame alternatives, trade‑offs, implications, and recommendations to enable better customer planning and Sales decisions. Help stakeholders navigate ambiguity, competing priorities, and changing business conditions. Support forecasting and planning processes by validating assumptions and escalating issues to the appropriate decision owner. Apply standard planning governance while adjusting recommendations to meet customer‑specific needs.

Contributing to Organizational Growth & Culture

Coach Associate Managers and project team members as appropriate. Share planning best practices and customer‑specific learnings across the organization. Model planning discipline, commercial judgment, collaboration, and an ownership mindset. Respect all individuals, support efforts for diversity and inclusion, and recognize value in embracing divergent styles.

What we are looking for:

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree 5 years of experience in Commercial Planning, Sales Planning, Category Management, Customer Strategy, Revenue Growth Management, Finance, Marketing, or related business functions
• Experience in the Convenience Channel both direct and utilizing distributors
• Experience leading cross‑functional business initiatives and customer planning activities
• Experience supporting business performance management, planning processes, and decision support
• Strong commercial acumen, analytical capability, communication skills, and stakeholder management skills

Additional skills and experience that we think would make someone successful in this role:

• Sales account ownership
• Consumer Packaged Goods experience
• Experience leading customer planning, JBP development, business reviews, forecasting inputs, or performance management
• Ability to synthesize complex information and develop actionable recommendations
• Experience influencing cross‑functional partners and navigating ambiguity
• Experience with business intelligence, retailer, syndicated, or internal reporting tools

#LI‑MR1

The Right Place for You

We are bold, kind, strive to do the right thing, we play to win, and we believe in a strong community that thrives together. Our culture is rooted in our Basic Beliefs, and we believe in supporting every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs. Stay connected with us on LinkedIn®

We’re an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, age, national origin, disability status or protected veteran status.

We’re a community of passionate, talented professionals dedicated to creating food people and pets love—while supporting the communities in which we work and live. We value what makes each person unique, champion growth and development, and foster collaboration that fuels productivity and drives our shared success.

Learn more about our Thrive Together purpose At Smucker, we're passionate about creating a workplace where you truly belong. With a culture rooted in our Basic Beliefs and a competitive Total Rewards program, we aim to support every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs. Learn more about working at Smucker Our culture is sustained and brought to life every day by the people of Smucker and our hiring process is designed to identify the right candidate for every position at our company. Learn more about our hiring process

The J. M. Smucker Co. (the “Company”) is an Equal Opportunity Employer. No person will be discriminated against in hiring or in any other aspect of their employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, transgender status, marital status, familial status, disability, genetic information, protected veteran/military status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law.