RTD Commercial Strategy Lead

Nestle SA; Arlington (VA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 173,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k with company match

Healthcare coverage

Performance-based incentives

Job summary

Nestlé USA is seeking a Commercial Development Manager to lead the RTD portfolio across key customers and channels, translating portfolio strategy into executable plans, driving launches, forecast accuracy and strong trade execution in partnership with Field Sales, Finance, Marketing, Demand Planning and Supply Chain.

This role requires 4+ years in Sales or Commercial Development, a Bachelor’s degree, and a proven ability to influence cross-functionally to deliver growth and value for the RTD

Qualifications

• Experience managing customer or channel commercial planning required; experience with RTD beverages, refrigerated or shelf-stable beverage portfolios, or product launches preferred.
• Minimum 4 years of experience in Sales, Commercial Development, Category Management, Customer Planning or Marketing preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree required; equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of degree.
• Strong understanding of customer planning, trade strategy, promotional effectiveness, pricing, assortment and RTD commercial execution.
• Ability to connect RTD customer and portfolio decisions to volume, trade spend, margin, forecast, inventory and P&L outcomes.
• Strong cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to influence across Sales, Marketing, Finance, Demand Planning, Supply Chain and external partners.
• Proven ability to diagnose business performance gaps, develop corrective action plans and drive accountability across stakeholders.
• Knowledge of Strategic and Integrated Commercial Planning processes, including customer planning, financial reporting and launch execution.
• Experience using tools and data sources such as Nielsen, VIP, BW, TPM/TPO, Source, customer POS, shipment data or other commercial planning systems preferred.
• Ability to build clear, compelling RTD customer and channel selling stories for Field Sales and retailer sell-in.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the dedicated Commercial Development lead for the RTD portfolio, aligning commercial priorities across relevant customers and channels.
• Translate RTD portfolio and Business Unit strategies into executable customer and channel plans that build brand equity, grow market share and deliver financial objectives.
• Develop and deploy clear RTD selling stories, launch calendars and cohesive business plans for Field Sales and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Establish a customer-focused approach that incorporates retailer planning timelines, shelf resets, cold space and activation requirements into Go-To-Market plans.
• Leverage customer, category, shopper and performance insights to identify RTD growth opportunities and provide direct input into volume, trade, margin and P&L decisions.
• Lead annual, quarterly and monthly business planning for the RTD portfolio, including performance management, risks, opportunities and recovery actions.
• Own the commercial linkage across RTD assortment, pack-price architecture, pricing, promotion, trade investment, launch readiness, forecast accuracy and customer execution.
• Partner with Field Sales to identify RTD distribution, merchandising and promotional execution gaps, prioritize corrective actions and improve follow-through against customer and channel plans.
• Provide RTD portfolio expertise to the Business Unit by translating customer priorities, consumption and demand trends and retailer decisions into commercial and financial implications.
• Serve as the key liaison to Field Sales and Finance for incremental funding, trade deployment and commercial spend management.
• Use TPM/TPO and related planning tools to support scenario planning, optimize sales and trade plans and evaluate post-promotional effectiveness.
• Partner with Finance, Demand Planning and Supply Chain to improve RTD forecast discipline, align volume assumptions with customer plans and manage availability, sell-through, inventory and shelf-life risks.
• Lead monthly and key milestone business reviews, including launch readiness, distribution, velocity, sell-through, trade efficiency, customer actions and risk escalation.
• Serve as the Commercial lead for RTD innovation and renovation, supporting customer and channel readiness through the I2L process, as applicable.
• Act as the RTD point of contact for Division brand teams, Field Sales, Finance, Demand Planning, Supply Chain and leadership stakeholders.
• Develop and deploy RTD Commercial Action Plans that align brand objectives, growth drivers, category strategies, activation tactics, trade strategy and shopper insights.
• Build RTD customer and channel strategies based on approved category, customer and channel plans, aligning assortment, sell-in timing and activation to key consumption occasions.
• Evaluate results across assortment, distribution, velocity, promotional effectiveness and sell-through, and translate learnings into recommendations that drive sustainable, profitable growth for the RTD portfolio.

Skills

Customer planning

Cross-functional leadership

Trade strategy

Promotional effectiveness

Forecasting

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Nielsen

VIP

BW

TPM/TPO

Source

Customer POS

Shipment data

Job description

Nestlé USA is seeking a Commercial Development Manager to lead the RTD portfolio across key customers and channels, translating portfolio strategy into executable plans, driving launches, forecast accuracy and strong trade execution in partnership with Field Sales, Finance, Marketing, Demand Planning and Supply Chain.

This role requires 4+ years in Sales or Commercial Development, a Bachelor’s degree, and a proven ability to influence cross-functionally to deliver growth and value for the RTD