Senior Manager, Routes Management

Suntory Global Spirits; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

401K match

Profit sharing

Medical and wellness benefits

Job summary

Suntory Global Spirits is hiring a Senior Manager, Routes Management in Chicago to lead route strategy, manage accounts lists, and align routes with commercial plans.

You will own the end-to-end route management process, drive improvements with cross-functional teams including Sales, Digital & Technology, and provide training and communication to the sales organization. This role is hybrid, based in Chicago with in-office days.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred
• 4-8 years' experience in Commercial Strategy, Sales, or a similar function
• Alcohol beverage industry experience preferred
• Highly organized, able to prioritize competing work streams, and capable of driving long-term change
• Must be highly proficient in Excel and PowerPoint, and analytically focused
• Anaplan and/or PowerBI experience required
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills; comfortable in constant communication with sales teams and cross-functional stakeholders
• Travel 5%
• Hybrid role based in Chicago; in-office 3 days/week expected

Responsibilities

• Own route strategy, periodically reviewing our approach to accounts included on routes, analyzing how the current approach is performing, and making recommendations on how to continuously improve approach
• Provide insight and thought leadership on how to drive greater commercial impact within key accounts
• Shape how sales teams are held accountable for driving outcomes in key accounts
• Lead the route refresh process (conducted each half) to ensure updates are completed accurately, on time, and in line with strategy
• Communicate with the full sales organization, including leading office hours and training sessions, to ensure sales teams are well informed of processes and equipped to drive impact through their routes
• Partner with Digital & Technology to build and maintain workflows supporting route management, including tools in Anaplan, and ensure routes are accurate and correctly reflected across downstream systems (PowerBI, Salesforce, GoSpotCheck)
• Serve as a resource to sales teams to ensure their routes are accurate and showing up correctly across tools, partnering closely with Digital & Technology
• Inform incentive design in partnership with the broader Commercial Planning team

Skills

Analytical thinking

Cross-functional collaboration

Strong communication

Education

Bachelor's degree preferred

Tools

Anaplan

PowerBI

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

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At Suntory Global Spirits, we craft spirits of the highest quality and deliver brilliant experiences to people around the world. Suntory Global Spirits has evolved into the world's third largest leading premium spirits company ... where each employee is treated like family and trusted with legacy. With our greatest assets - our premium spirits and our people - we're driving growth through impactful marketing, innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. Suntory Global Spirits is a place where you can come Unleash your Spirit by making an impact each and every day.

What makes this a great opportunity?

Job Title: Senior Manager, Routes Management (Chicago, USA)

• Ability to drive impact and shape strategy, process, and tools from the ground up
• Highly cross-functional role with exposure to senior leadership and Commercial and Digital & Technology teams
• Core to the success of Suntory Global Spirits' commercial strategy
• Potential to advance within Suntory Global Spirits across multiple functions

Role Responsibilities

Position Overview

The Senior Manager, Routes Management will report to the Director, Commercial Planning, with significant cross-functional interaction with Sales, Digital & Technology, Market Development and Commercialization. This role owns the strategy, process, and execution of route management — the lists of accounts each sales team is responsible for — ensuring routes are accurate, aligned to commercial strategy, and effectively supported by digital tools.

• Own route strategy, periodically reviewing our approach to accounts included on routes, analyzing how the current approach is performing, and making recommendations on how to continuously improve approach
• Provide insight and thought leadership on how to drive greater commercial impact within key accounts
• Shape how sales teams are held accountable for driving outcomes in key accounts
• Lead the route refresh process (conducted each half) to ensure updates are completed accurately, on time, and in line with strategy
• Communicate with the full sales organization, including leading office hours and training sessions, to ensure sales teams are well informed of processes and equipped to drive impact through their routes
• Partner with Digital & Technology to build and maintain workflows supporting route management, including tools in Anaplan, and ensure routes are accurate and correctly reflected across downstream systems (PowerBI, Salesforce, GoSpotCheck)
• Serve as a resource to sales teams to ensure their routes are accurate and showing up correctly across tools, partnering closely with Digital & Technology
• Inform incentive design in partnership with the broader Commercial Planning team

Outcomes/Success Criteria

• Stronger financial and executional results in Key Accounts
• Route lists are accurate, current, and aligned to commercial strategy at each refresh cycle
• Sales teams are well-informed of route changes and equipped to act on them, with minimal disruption during rollout
• Route management tools and workflows function reliably and require minimal manual troubleshooting
• Strong, trusted working relationships with Sales and Digital & Technology stakeholders

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred
• 4-8 years' experience in Commercial Strategy, Sales, or a similar function
• Alcohol beverage industry experience preferred
• Highly organized, able to prioritize competing work streams, and capable of driving long-term change (e.g., building new tools, improving efficiency)
• Must be highly proficient in Excel and PowerPoint, and analytically focused – ability to clean, process, and integrate large and disparate data sets is a plus
• Anaplan and/or PowerBI experience required
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills; comfortable in constant communication with sales teams and cross-functional stakeholders
• Travel 5%
• Hybrid role based in Chicago; in-office 3 days/week expected

Competencies – Organizational, Role Specific & Leadership

Organizational Competencies

• Entrepreneurial Approach
• Creating Innovative Solutions
• Beating the Competition…. Together

Role Specific Competencies

• Strategic thinker and planner
• Commercial perspective and breadth of experience
• Strong communicator and collaborator
• Attention to detail while managing toward big-picture priorities

Salary Range - The salary range for this role, is $130,000 - 150,000k, along with an annual bonus, 401K match, profit sharing, and medical and wellness benefits. The salary range is commensurate with the candidate’s location, experience, and skillset.

While relocation, immigration, and/or tax compliance support are not guaranteed, we may offer assistance to successful candidates depending on factors such as role requirements in accordance with company guidelines.

At Suntory Global Spirits, people are our number one priority, and we believe our people grow together in diverse and inclusive environments where their unique insights, experiences and backgrounds are valued and respected. Suntory Global Spirits is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, military veteran status and all other characteristics, attributes or choices protected by law. All recruitment and hiring decisions are based on an applicant’s skills and experience.