Senior Director, Strategy

Carter's Inc.; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Carter's is seeking a Strategic Transformation Leader to report to the Chief Transformation Officer and drive innovation and strategic initiatives across the organization. This pivotal role requires extensive retail experience and strong financial acumen to manage budgets, analyze ROI, and lead cross-functional teams towards successful transformation efforts.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in retail leadership or management consulting.
• Proven track record in transformation leadership.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute transformation strategies aligned with business objectives.
• Manage senior stakeholder relationships and drive alignment.
• Oversee planning, implementation, and governance of initiatives.

Skills

Retail dynamics understanding

Strategic initiative leadership

Financial acumen

Communication skills

Conflict management

Data analysis

Collaborative leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA preferred

Tools

Advanced analytics tools

Job description

Serving the needs of all families with young children, Carter’s Inc. is the largest North American apparel retailer exclusively for babies and young children, encompassing Carter’s, OshKosh B’gosh, Skip*Hop and Little Planet brands. Meaningful work, constant learning, genuine people, and a community guided by core values that promote inclusion and innovation is in everything we do. There are many reasons to build your career at Carter's.

HOW YOU’LL MAKE AN IMPACT:
Reporting directly to the Chief Transformation Officer, this role will collaborate across all levels of the organization to drive Carter’s strategy forward. The optimal candidate will play a pivotal role in developing new capabilities, activating strategic initiatives, problem solving and optimizing/reinventing processes in close partnership with cross-functional teams.

The role is based in our Buckhead corporate office with limited travel required.

40% Strategic Direction

• Develop and execute transformation strategies aligned with business objectives; drive initiative progress (based on defined charter), businesses cases, and roadmaps (responsible for co-creating, together with the initiative team)
• Support executive decision-making, ensure alignment across workstreams, and help accelerate the organization’s transformation agenda
• Collaborate with stakeholders across departments to drive seamless implementation of transformation programs
• Analyze and leverage data and analytics to identify opportunities for improvement, cost reduction, and risk mitigation

30% Cross Functional Leadership, Influence and Consensus Building

• Manage senior stakeholder relationships, including progress updates, decision making, and escalations
• Collaborate with other TMO members to drive address dependencies and alignment
• Attend and lead initiative meetings: Share progress on initiatives, escalate issues to CTO and LT, share best practices across initiative teams
• Navigate and build consensus, often with competing priorities and differing viewpoints; use data-driven insights and negotiation skills to drive collective agreements and smooth execution while removing roadblocks
• Act as change agent demonstrating immediate impact and driving cultural change within the business processes
• Champion a mindset of continuous improvement, encouraging teams to embrace new technologies, automation, and data-driven decision-making to enhance performance

30% Program Management

• Scope the initiative timeline, phasing, milestones, and KPIs through initiative charter development
• Oversee the planning, implementation, and governance of transformation initiatives, ensuring alignment with corporate strategy, timelines, and budgets
• Support communication strategies for overall transformation initiative to the rest of the organization
• Identify inefficiencies and drive continuous process improvements through data analysis and best practices
• Manage change by influencing stakeholders, ensuring alignment, and facilitating a smooth transition to new processes and systems (to include sequence initiatives, start/stop activities within initiative teams, support and sign off key messages in initiative related communications)
• Develop and track KPIs to measure the success of transformation initiatives and report progress to senior leadership

WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU IF:

• Extensive experience and understanding of retail dynamics and business strategy
• Demonstrated successful experience leading or supporting strategic initiatives for a large retail brand
• Ability to collaborate and lead in a fast-paced, matrixed environment that is performing while transforming
• Strong financial acumen with the ability to develop and manage budgets, analyze ROI, and drive cost efficiencies
• Strong communication, organization, and conflict management skills to support the facilitation of continuous improvement
• Action-oriented approach taking on new opportunities with a sense of urgency and enthusiasm
• Dynamic methodology exercising good judgment while proactively influencing vertically and across the business
• Ability to establish ambitious and measurable goals, monitor progress, and adjust course as needed
• Proven, productive cross-functional partner relationships that drive the work forward

Preferred skills and experience:

• Experience in deploying retail solutions
• Experience with advanced analytics tools
• Strong understanding of retail transformation

Prior Work Experience and Educational Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree (MBA preferred)
• 8+ years of experience in retail leadership or management consulting, with a proven track record in transformation leadership

OUR TEAM MEMBERS:

• Lead Courageously: Have a strong sense of personal values that align with our Company values
• Collaborates Broadly: Build cooperation, trust, and thrive in a consensus driven environment
• Customer Focus: Proactively seek opportunities to leverage data and fact-based insights to serve customers and/or internal clients
• Drive Growth: Set aggressive goals and implement plans precisely
• Cultivates Innovation: Respectfully challenge the “we’ve always done it this way” mentality and explore new ways to achieve desired outcomes

Carters is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law.