Dir Commercial Planning and Forecasting (Remote Available)

S&S Activewear • Bolingbrook, IL

209d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Commercial Planning & Forecasting leads the creation, monitoring, tracking and forecasting of the Commercial organization's financial results (P&L). Working closely with FP&A and the Commercial organization, the Director manages a set of resources to create a top-down initial budget and P&L Framework, as well as to lead the commercial team through the bottom-up development of sales, cost, penetration and performance metrics to meet and exceed the target financial performance. The Director is responsible for monitoring performance vs the forecast, creating tools and reports to help sales leadership drive profitability and cost performance, and identify adjustments needed to either profitability or costs to stay on track. The Director will work closely with Pricing, Merchandising, Marketing and Sales to design, track and monitor marketing spend, sample funds, performance-based funds, mill-based rebate agreements and other funds ensuring their accurate capture, deployment and effective use. Working with HR and sales team, the Planning and Forecasting team will also support the development of meaningful, but action oriented, variable compensation plans for the team and will be responsible for tracking performance against such plans.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Economics, Finance, Accounting, Strategy, or related field (MBA strongly preferred).
• 10+ years of experience in commercial planning, forecasting, budgeting and analysis or related fields, preferably in a B2B distributor or consumer products environment.
• Experience leading high-impact financial and forecasting planning processes and working with executive stakeholders.
• 5+ years of experience managing teams, including both commercial roles and planning functions.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to translate strategy into action.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, coaching, team development, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in the decorated apparel, promotional goods, or mass customization sectors.
• Deep understanding of B2B2C value chains and multi-channel sales models.
• Experience with varied planning, budgeting and forecasting tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead the commercial calendar including monthly reviews, quarterly business reviews (QBRs), and annual planning.
• Drive ongoing tracking and management of the overall sales forecast and commercial budget.
• Develop standard templates and reporting frameworks to guide commercial input, accountability, and follow-through.
• Serve as the orchestrator of quarterly and annual commercial performance plans.
• Lead Annual, quarterly and monthly forecasting processes and information gathering.
• Support communication of plans and forecasts to suppliers (Mills) and customers.
• Own and monitor the commercial P&L and all cost, revenue, profitability within it.
• Manage and oversee commercial budgets by department.
• Oversee and monitor commercial spendings, discounts, mill and customer spend/accrual allocations.
• Develop and maintain approval and delegation of authority across the commercial organization.
• Identify gaps in execution and work with business leaders to define corrective actions.
• Maintain dashboards and executive-level updates linking initiatives to outcomes.
• Partner with Commercial Strategy, HR and Commercial functional leadership to drive a data-informed commercial compensation strategy.
• Manage information flow and monitor performance vs regular, quarterly and ad-hoc variable compensation programs.
• Develop quarterly payout estimates and work with HR and Finance to ensure accurate and timely payout of performance compensation.
• Manage and mentor a team of managers responsible for developing and monitoring accurate, timely and robust commercial budgets, forecasts and P&Ls.
• Set priorities, KPIs, and development plans for the team.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Industry: Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Miscellaneous Retailers
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree