The Director, Inventory Management leads multiple Inventory teams who manage replenishment for over $2B of product inventory for our store and distribution center network.  This position is responsible for developing and executing strategic plans to drive sales through in-stocks and cash flow through inventory management. This role will partner cross-functionally with Merchandising, external vendors, Market Availability, Visual Merchandising, Supply Chain, and our Field teams to drive key replenishment initiatives supporting complex and strategic product categories.   This role will directly support multiple Merchandising Directors responsible for our hard parts product categories.  In addition, this role is responsible for leading a team through major projects/initiatives and ensuring execution across the team is at or above the expectations while supporting the development of talent through training, development plans and on the job business experience.

 

 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

             

Budget Planning

• Lead the annual inventory budget process ensuring timeliness, accuracy, and transparency

• Develop strategy to support and guide team members in forecasting and purchasing plans and activities

• Develop fiscal budgets for inventory levels along with managing the weekly open to buy process to ensure the proper flow of merchandise. 

• Monitor POG purchases, seasonal builds, and forward buys; Engage teams as needed to adjust as needed

• Partner with senior and executive level leaders to ensure that the forecasting process is appropriately supporting and enabling the supply chain

• Manage the exception process within the business parameters to achieve the business objectives and strategies

 

Promotion Management

• Develop and implement strategic plans to drive in-stock/sales and inventory management/cash flow

• Proactively problem solve business opportunities, system challenges and implementations

• Regularly review business results and trends to identify areas to maximize sales and minimize inventory investments

• Partner with merchant team in accurately forecasting sales results and inventory order needs for promotions

• Drive increased In-stock % and improved Inventory Turn through forecast accuracy improvements

• Effectively manage the seasonal profiling process, ensuring accurate representation of items and demand patterns

 

Replenishment

• Manage inventory portfolio at all locations to achieve plan goals- EBITA, Sales, Inventory targets, management of the Non-Working Inventory level, Service Level/In-Stock, and Distribution Center

• Work with the management team to establish correct guidelines for managing the order exceptions within the business parameters to achieve the business objectives; guide team members in the achievement of budgeted goals and metrics

• Identify and drive inventory replenishment improvement initiatives that span multiple departments and teams; ensure the outcome process, systems, metric updates improve the overall efficiency of Advance’s supply chain

 

Supply Chain

• Manage merchandise inventories to achieve plan sales, service level/in-stock, turnover, and financial strategies.

• Identify and communicate inventory changes to Supply Chain teams.

• Work collaboratively to increase Inventory and DC efficiencies.

 

Vendor Management

• Partner with Merchant leadership to continuously improve vendor performance results in key areas: on time delivery, overall cost reduction, and order fill accuracy.

• Activate and develop CPFR partnerships with key strategic vendors.

 

Collaboration/Communication

• Proactively and effectively seek input and feedback from internal and external partners to resolve issues. 

• Engage cross-functional partners to help identify and deploy initiative improvements. 

• Effectively share clear, concise, accurate information that caters to the levels of detail needed by recipients. 

• Respond to requests for information and changes in approach with the ability to leverage team member skill sets and develop approaches to quickly remediate issues.

• In follow up to immediate issue resolution, put in place sustainable systems and process improvements that prevent issue recurrence and improve overall company results.

 

QUALIFICATIONS 

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and ability to effectively present information and interact effectively across all levels of the organization; proven ability to cultivate relationships with key stakeholders across functions in order to achieve business/brand objectives and drive process improvement; experience in leading complex cross-functional teams.

• Ability to prioritize, delegate, and manage multiple projects simultaneously ensuring timely and accurate completion of each; outcome-focused and experienced in project management as a means to plan, track, communicate progress and ensure on time delivery of projects.

• Strong analytical skills required; ability to develop and communicate findings and recommendations, creating actionable strategies

• Complete understanding of the data processes and information flow within the E3 forecasting and replenishment systems; complete understanding of E3 modules and supporting software; ability to recognize system and process issues, as well as generate sustainable solutions

• Comprehensive view of the supply chain; ability to see the organization as an integrated whole and understanding how each component contributes to the achievement of organizational goals and objectives

• Demonstrated ability to manage inventory replenishment for the largest impact and degree of difficulty categories within a company business portfolio

• Good judgment and decision-making ability- ability to resolve high profile issues

• Proficient in the use of MS Office Products Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access, Project

 

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Merchandising, Mathematics or similar field of study; and

• 7-10 years related experience in Inventory Management or Supply Chain

• At least 5+ of these years in a leadership role; building, developing and leading teams

• Equivalent combination of education and experience

 

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

This position directly supervises 4 Managers / Sr. Managers who lead teams comprised of Demand Planners, Supply Planners and Store Planners; approx. 25 – 35 Team Members in total.

 

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS

• Certifications in Six Sigma and LEAN preferred

• JDA Strategic Replenishment Expert Certification preferred

 

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear.  The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.  The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus.

 

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

 

 

 

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