Sr. Planner, Product Feature Strategy

Nissan Motor Corporation•Franklin, TN

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Product Planning team works on the realization of next generation of vehicles for Nissan North America, as well as supporting the specifications of the current generation of vehicles on the market year-over-year throughout their lifecycle. As a member of the Cross-Car-Line Feature Strategy team, the Sr. Product Planner guides and manages features and innovations that give models and families of models the tools they need to be competitive and delight the customer. This is a highly collaborative position that interfaces with global colleagues in Japan, as well as regional colleagues in many departments, such as vehicle planners (RPM, oPD, CMM) and feature planners (CCS, VCS, PMO, Pricing) as well as NTCNA engineering and Marketability. The ideal Sr. Planner is one who can handle work autonomously, prioritize among many tasks , gather information and see the big picture, and then confidently communicate a strategy that weighs in all of those factors appropriately. As a Sr. Product Planner, you will leverage product and market data analysis to gain insights about customer needs, all while keeping in mind corporate objectives. Candidates should be flexible multi-taskers with a passion to understand what customers want. You should also have a general understanding of the US automotive landscape, and the overall Nissan Marketing & Sales business model. In addition, creativity and a problem-solving mindset is key, yet remaining dedicated to accuracy and precision in how and what you communicate.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university
6 or more years of experience in a related area (work must include broad base of analytical aptitude in utilizing historical, statistical, and empirical data in the automotive sector)
Experience in creating clear and compelling data-driven presentations using Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint (tables & charts, pivot tables, VLOOKUP, SUM & IF functions).
Work must include broad base of analytical aptitude in utilizing historical, statistical, and empirical data
Must be proficient at proposal storytelling, by developing a robust, clear, data driven and compelling proposal.
Strong understanding of total Product Planning lifecycle

Nice To Haves

Experience working in cross-functional and cross-cultural teams is highly desired, and a willingness and interest to do so is necessary.
Experience using and analyzing syndicated automotive marketing data sources strongly preferred – examples include AutoKnowledge, Autoplanner, S&P Catalyst, JD Power PIN, mTAB, Strategic Vision NVES.
Excellent interpersonal, listening, negotiating, and communication skills.

Responsibilities

Perform data mining and analysis to extract focused customer insights to deeply understand the market and customer.
Create robust proposals using storytelling with clear, data driven, and compelling proposals to drive decision-making.
Create compelling feature strategy concepts by considering… Nissan & INFINITI target customers and brand identity. Market trends and competitive executions/offerings. Feature value, desirability, costs, and potential profitability.
Collaborate with other teams, departments and regions/locations to appropriately work within the Nissan corporate structure to achieve results.
Participate in multiple evening/nighttime meetings each week with global counterparts to advance priorities and resolve open issues.
Maintain both broad and detail knowledge regarding current vehicle and competitor features and technologies, particularly related to enriching onboard experiences using the hardware and software on a vehicle.
Support development of portfolio, model, and grade specifications.
Support vehicle program teams as SME on subjects that apply broadly to many vehicles in our portfolio to work toward cohesion within the brand.
As necessary, performs other related duties of which the above are representative.