This role is accountable for the development and execution of the Furniture & Specialty Segment business strategy in North America. Executing the strategy will result in profitably growing Sherwin-Williams share of the market for the Industrial Wood Coatings Division by effectively aligning resources with opportunities. Key metrics includes sales growth in excess of market growth rates, margin growth, and new product sales growth. This position works cooperatively with the Global Industry Director for Furniture & Specialty, who oversees the development and execution of the Furniture & Specialty strategy in all regions. This position provides strategic leadership for Sales, R&D and Product Management teams in North America and serves as a key member of the Regional Marketing leadership organization.
Additional Details:
- This position will require up to 20% travel.
- This role is not remote/hybrid. This role will report Sherwin-Williams Cleveland Global Headquarters located at 1 Sherwin Way, Cleveland, OH 44115
- Job duties include contact with other employees and access confidential and proprietary information and/or other items of value, and such access may be supervised or unsupervised. The Company therefore has determined that a review of criminal history is necessary to protect the business and its operations and reputation and is necessary to protect the safety of the Company’s staff, employees, and business relationships.
Core Responsibilities and Tasks:
- Develop growth strategies for the Furniture & Specialty Segment and sub-segments in North America.
- Convert the strategy into multi-year growth plans that expand both position and profitability.
- Align regional sales, R&D and Product Management resources to execute the growth plan.
- Establish leading operational and lagging financial metrics for the segment and manage these. These metrics should include, but are not limited to, sales growth and margin growth.
- Grow market share in key geographies.
- Stay within budget and timelines in achieving the above results
Strategic Plan:
Build and refine the segment strategy at the sub-segment level, in North America each year. The strategy should include:
- Strong fact base, quantifying key dimensions of the Furniture & Specialty segment.
- Quantified assessment of sub-segment attractiveness in each relevant geography; competitive intelligence.
- Identify and quantify the impact of disruptors and accelerators in the segment.
- Defined business model and channel strategy.
- Segment industry value chain overview, driving differentiation and sustainable competitive advantage.
Strengthen Customer Loyalty
Execute the strategy to achieve the financial growth plans. This should include:
- Aligning all internal stakeholders around segment growth plans.
- Maintaining contact with key customers in North America to gain market insight and deeper customer understanding.
- Active involvement in industry associations to represent Sherwin-Williams as a global coatings leader.
- Supporting sales in positioning appropriate product offerings for target customer segments
- For selected strategic accounts, partner with the Enterprise Selling team to deliver an enterprise-wide value proposition that delivers on value elements from several divisions or groups.
Product Development & Commercialization:
- Develop a robust new product development roadmap, including an active ideas pipeline. This roadmap should ensure market share and profit expansion. Collaborate with Product Management on roadmap execution.
- Responsible and accountable for Stage Gate Phase 1 Opportunity Identification, including a full business case with clear product positioning and value propositions as well as a detailed financial pro forma including volume targets and pricing guidance.
- Responsible and accountable for Stage Gate Phase 5
Minimum Requirements:
- Must be at least eighteen (18) years of age
- Must be legally authorized to work in the country of employment without needing sponsorship for employment work visa status now or in the future
- Must have a bachelor’s degree
- Must be able to travel as required by the position
- Must have a U.S. Passport, as travel to Canada may be required
- Must have a minimum of five (5) years business development, brand marketing, channel marketing, product management, or sales experience with a successful track record of driving sales and profitability growth
- Must have experience with successfully launching new products via the Stage Gate process
- Must have at least one (1) year product management experience
- Must have at least one (1) year experience with Microsoft Office (including PowerPoint, Word and Excel)
Preferred Qualifications:
- Have a Master's of Business Administration
- Have prior experience in product management or strategic marketing role
- Have a technical background with focus in Industrial markets
- Have an understanding of distribution business model