At L.L.Bean, we believe the outdoors brings out the best in all of us. We are committed to fostering a culture of belonging and creating safe, inclusive spaces where everyone feels welcome—both here and Outside. We value individual differences and are dedicated to maintaining an inclusive work environment where everyone can bring the best of their experience and talents and truly thrive.
L.L.Bean is looking for a Senior Manager Sales Planning & Performance Insights to join our Finance team.
This position is being offered as a Hybrid position, working 4 days onsite at our Headquarters in Freeport, ME.
Enterprise planning and business insights leader responsible for translating company strategy into sales, demand, margin, and profit plans; delivering executive-level performance insights; leading sales planning and forecasting processes (near-term and long-term); and partnering across channel, marketing, and supply chain teams to drive profitable growth.
Position Purpose: The purpose of this role is to ensure that maximum business growth and profitability is attained via the end-to-end channel planning process. Oversees the development of near- and long-term business plans for certain corporate KPIs (including demand, sales, margin, and investments), while working cross-functionally to ensure that the sales plan is supported by strategies and actions to achieve the plan. Manages the development, communication, revision, and reporting of company budgets and corporate sales forecasts for those KPIs. Responsible for the development of insights to drive business decisions, across time (weekly, monthly, seasonal, etc.), channel, and levels of granularity (executive-level summaries through ad-hoc/toolkit reports to support analyst-level work). Responsible for communicating business results, often in a presentation, with an aim to optimize business performance through clear business narrative and actionable insights. This is a key member of the Financial Planning & Analysis leadership team.
Responsibilities:
Lead the sales planning process
- Run the sales & channel planning calendar end to end, keeping every milestone on track
- Partner with channel, marketing, and supply chain teams so business-driving plans are built into demand, margin, and sales targets
- Align growth targets across the organization and socialize the budget with senior leaders and cross-functional partners
- Translate plans into the staffing and throughput guidance operational teams rely on
Turn performance into insight
- Own the business narrative — explain what’s happening across sales, margin, and profit, and why it matters
- Provide fact-based recommendations and financial perspectives to support strategic decisions across channels, marketing investments, customer acquisition, pricing, and growth initiatives
- Deliver timely, accurate KPI reporting on weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual cycles
- Surface key trends to senior leaders and sponsor the strategic and tactical moves they point to
- Develop and assess contingency plans as business conditions shift
- Prepare business and budget materials for Board and shareholder meetings
- Oversee and continuously improve the reporting ecosystem and its core platforms
Lead and grow the team with a continuous improvement mindset
- Manage, coach, and develop team — setting objectives, assigning work, appraising performance, and supporting career growth
- Build strong relationships inside and outside the company, from cross-functional peers to vendors and industry experts
- Champion continuous improvement of planning/forecasting models and tools, reporting, and analytical capabilities to increase speed, accuracy, and decision support
Assumes additional responsibilities as required.
Health and Safety Requirement: Every employee is responsible for contributing to a safe and healthy workplace. Employees are expected to be active participants in health and safety by following all safety policies and procedures, reporting unsafe conditions or at-risk behaviors to leadership, and conducting work in a safe manner. Those in a leadership role are also expected to model safe behaviors, evaluate risk, and ensure that risks are reduced to acceptable levels.
Education Level: 4-Year Bachelors Degree
Years of Experience: 7+
Skills and Qualifications:
- Strong understanding of planning methodologies, financial concepts, marketing strategy, retail strategy, and approaches to reporting
- Strong communication skills including strong negotiation skills
- Ability to prioritize and adhere to deadlines while managing multiple projects & complex processes
- Ability to build relationships cross-functionally and influence others
- Ability to communicate clearly and diplomatically to a wide range of audiences
- Ability to manage and motivate a team/department
- Ability to work in a dynamic, fast-paced, changing environment
If you care about the outdoors, joining L.L.Bean is a great way to feel good about what you do. Our benefits package makes a good thing even better, with programs and perks designed to support your health and financial goals. Plus, maintaining a healthy work-life balance and re-charging outside are all part of the plan.
If your experience looks a little different from what we've identified and you think you'd be great at this role, we'd love to learn more about you! At L.L.Bean, we believe the outdoors brings out the best in all of us. We strive to reflect this every day in our commitments to employees and partners and in our efforts to promote belonging.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree (4-year)
- 7+ years of relevant experience
- Strong understanding of planning methodologies and financial concepts
- Experience with marketing strategy, retail strategy, and reporting approaches
- Strong communication and negotiation skills
- Ability to prioritize, meet deadlines, and manage multiple complex projects/processes
- Proven ability to build cross-functional relationships and influence stakeholders
- Experience managing, coaching, and developing a team
What We Do
Welcome to the outside. The official LinkedIn for L.L.Bean. #BeanOutsider L.L.Bean, Inc. is a leading multi-channel merchant of quality outdoor gear and apparel. Founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean, the company began as a one-room operation selling a single product, the Maine Hunting Shoe. While its business has grown substantially, the company remains committed to the same honest principles upon which it was built – a focus on the customer, continuous product improvement and innovation, respect for people, and preservation of the natural environment. The 220,000 sq. ft. Flagship campus of stores in Freeport, Maine is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and welcomes more than three million visitors each year. L.L.Bean can be found worldwide on http://www.llbean.com/ and in over 160 countries via the catalog and website. http://www.llbeancareers.com http://www.llbeanbusiness.com While exploring job opportunities, we recommend you use caution to prevent against internet, email and telephone scams which have become increasingly prevalent. Some of these scams seek to entice victims to pay money or divulge sensitive personal information via fake interviews, employment applications or even offer letters. Please keep the following in mind if you are seeking employment with L.L.Bean: • An L.L.Bean employee will not solicit candidates through a non-L.L.Bean email address or phone number (such as Yahoo, Hotmail or Gmail). • Positions posted on external sites (such as LinkedIn or Indeed) should also appear on llbeancareers.com, if legitimate. • L.L.Bean will never ask for personal information early in the interview process (such as your social security number, national insurance number, date of birth, bank account information, or other sensitive personal information). This information is only required after L.L.Bean offers you a job and you accept the position. [email protected] • Bank information will not be collected prior to the first day of employment.
