Vice President, Commercial - North America

Purpose:The VP Commercial Strategy is responsible for developing and driving commercial strategies within the North American region in alignment with Avolta’s global initiatives and for advocating for Regional Duty Free, Duty Paid and F&B priorities within the Global corporate environment.  The VP Commercial Strategy collaborates closely with Operations across all lines of business and with Commercial department leaders to drive commercial strategies, to maximize business development successes, and to optimize operational performance.

Essential Functions:

• Leads the development of the Annual Commercial Plan for Duty Paid, Duty Free and F&B, identifying and valuing key initiatives across Commercial Group and Digital functions to drive incremental sales, revenue, margin, capital savings, ESG strategies, and overall customer experience
• Leads the development of Annual Commercial Strategies by Airport in collaboration with Senior Operations Leadership to ensure alignment with Commercial Plan commitments
• Partners with Avolta’s Regional Commercial Directors across the globe to share best practices and overall strategies and approaches to drive the company’s One Team culture; participates in global commercial meetings, cross-regional strategy sessions and workshops, as assigned
• Monitors Commercial Plan & Strategy execution and performance (by airport, country, region); leads Monthly and Quarterly Commercial Plan reviews with senior leadership to identify challenges and adjust plans, as necessary, to ensure Commercial Plan objectives are achieved
• Coordinates resources from Global Business Intelligence, Regional Business Development, and Operations to lead the development of Commercial Strategy Briefs and Vendor Packs for Duty Free RFP and re-development projects to facilitate fact-based concept planning and optimized facility/program design, including Planograms
• Collaborates with leadership in Global and Regional Category Management and Regional Concept Development and Brand Partnerships to align on overall brand portfolio strategy and direction
• Leads development of reporting, tracking and analysis to support Duty Free Operations, Marketing, and Category Management with brand, product, and assortment planning
• Works in partnership with leaders in Regional Category Management and Supply Chain & Logistics to identify opportunities to optimize financial results (sales & margins) and operating performance (including inventory levels) through more regionally focused approaches
• Collaborates with Commercial department heads and Operations leadership across all lines of business to ensure the implementation of global and regional initiatives and solutions defined by Commercial and other communities that support operations (e.g., Loyalty, Smartstore, and Entertainment program expansions); leads the development of departmental budgets for the Commercial Group

Reporting Relationship:The VP Commercial Strategy reports to the Chief Commercial Officer

Interdependencies: Category Management, Concept Development & Brand Partnerships, Marketing & Communications, Supply Chain & Logistics, Design & Construction, Operational Excellence, F&B and Retail Operations, Business Development

Minimum Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills, and Work Environment: 

•      Education and Experience: The combination of education and professional experience must exceed 12 years:
•      In a leadership role: Requires 7 years of experience leading a senior level team of professionals engaged in developing and executing Commercial strategy programs
•      In a technical role: Requires 10 years of experience engaged in developing and delivering Commercial strategy programs
•      A bachelor’s degree in a program related to the functional area can count for 3 of the ten-year requirement
•      An MBA or a master’s level degree in a program related to the functional area can count for an additional 2 years of the ten-year requirement
•      In the industry: 3-5 years of Hospitality, F&B and/or Retail experience
•     Must have experience with Duty Free Retail operations and planning & development, as well as experience with Luxury brands

Specialized Skillset/Competencies/Traits:

•      Strong analytical skills with knowledge of financial tools and understanding of concept profitability and return on investment
•      Ability to utilize market research and market trend information
•      Strong negotiation skills; has the ability to navigate through conflict to find an acceptable win for all parties
•     Highly advanced business acumen and also has the strategic mindset required to understand the long-term implications of Commercial strategy decisions and to advance the organizations goals
•     Demonstrated history of anticipating and balancing the needs of the business with the needs of complex stakeholders, the employee population, and individual circumstances
•     Demonstrated history of creating and maintaining positive work environments through coaching, developing, and leading teams to achieve common goals
•     Demonstrated experience exhibiting a continuous improvement mindset with the ability to optimize work processes and achieve positive results

Location/Travel:

•       This position can be based out of the F&B Center of Excellence in Bethesda, MD or the Retail Center of Excellence in East Rutherford, NJ
•       This position requires up to 25% travel