Operations Distribution Standardisation Manager

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Operations Distribution Standardisation Manager, AMER

San Mateo, CA (Collab)

As the Operations Distribution Standardisation Manager, AMER you will be joining PlayStations Global Operations Organization within the Distribution Requirements Operations function. In this role, you will have the opportunity to build a comprehensive understanding of PlayStation’s Global Operations, with a focus on working from the Customer Backwards operationally, ensuring that all the areas of Global Operations functionally output in a standardised and efficient manner aligned with Customer needs. The key activities of this role are to work closely with the cross functional operations and commercial teams to develop, document, and deliver a standard operations model and suite of processes that are built to deliver PlayStation products on time and in full to our diverse customer base in one standardised way to a best practice standard. This customer base includes traditional domestic retail, distributors serving US, Canadian and Latin America and PSD, direct to customer. A highly operational role it will require the ability to liaise effectively with commercial teams, act in a customer facing capacity to gather requirements & deliver solutions as and when required, analyse complex data feeds, provide actionable insights, and develop and action structured roadmaps of planned activities that improve the fulfilment capabilities of the supply chain in alignment with sales plans.

Responsibilities:

• Development of a Standard Operating Procedure on how SIE operations delivers to and supports our Retail partners and Distributors from an Operations perspective – detailing Operational capabilities and expectations in order to ensure one standard ways of working when engaging with our customer base
• Regularly review Operational Standards and Practices and undertake a GAP Analysis of the differences between the ways Operations needs to deliver product to each of our retailers and distributors, complete a further GAP analysis of how each retailer and distributor differs from one best practice standardized way of working.
• Act as the funnel point from Commercial Sales and SP&A to gather requirements via Voice of the Customer sessions and proactive engagement, translate these into operationally actionable activities and insights, and work with the end to end Supply Chain and Operations groups to deliver to the business needs
• Develop, take full ownership of, and deliver an annual roadmap of strategic and tactical activities - generate action plans in the form of tactical initiatives or strategic projects, aligned across the operational and commercial teams, to deliver ongoing improvements to our ability to meet sales targets via our operations groups, monitored via a high standard of action tracking transparent and available to key stakeholders
• Act as a pivotal support point and work with Distributors to ensure product is delivered On Time and In Full aligned to sales forecasts where exception activities are required
• Ensure clear, standardized, and documented lines of communication are in place and work to engage on areas such as change requests and new retailer or distributor set up
• Provide consultation and guidance on distributor and retailer standards and practices to operations teams as and when required
• Act as a key liaison and support person for Commercial teams at all levels on any and all operational queries and requests from them and our customers
• Gather requirements and investigate solution options to customer and commercial requests to operations
• Track and create processes to flag any deviation from operating standards
• Work to support colleagues in developing retailer and distributor scorecards, focused on internal operational performance metrics and our operations capabilities to meet business needs, from which you will take ownership of in order to develop insights and improvement plans where metrics show misses to target or substandard performance
• Work closely with SP&A, Commercial Sales, and Sales Operations to understand sales forecasts and requirements, and more specifically the requirements of our retailers and distribution partners – work with these teams to develop and deliver on improvement activities to better serve our EMEA markets
• Publish and present to regional management teams in weekly and monthly forums where and when required
• Deep Dive into any misses to plan caused by Operations – work with colleagues on focused action plans to rectify for the long-term benefit of the business and our customers
• Work with IT to drive automation and deliver standardized, systemized and sustainable solutions to all functions of the role
• Take ownership, centralise, track & measure, and take the lead on solutions and change activities – such as, but not limited to, EDI connectivity with customers, labelling standards, automation of operational interactions on providing data feeds and information whether ad hoc or as part of a standard cadence
• Responsible for building and delivering on a strategic annual roadmap of change activities to meet goals for the function
• Act as liaison between NPI, SP&A, demand planning, Logistics, Strategic planning and Supply Planning to align on the planning and execution for new release products, chassis transitions, promo sales periods and peak season sales planning, with a focus on Distributor operational processes and practices, liaising where necessary with said Distributors 
• This role holder acts as a key liaison between Operational Planning, Strategic Planning, Sales and Demand Planning and Commercial on Operations activities that touch on Retailers & Distributors
• Provide functional support to PlayStation Direct (B2C) operational areas, where applicable, and ensure these are accounted for in our Operational Standards, Practices, and documented Operating Procedures
• Engage with 3rd party partners in supporting the sale of aged and refurbished product to the market in close collaboration with commercial, operational, and tech services teams

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience in Project Management within an Operations environment with a focus on the Customer, LEAN transformation, Distribution Requirements Planning, Distributor Management, or Supply Chain Operations Management
• Experience in presenting and communicating in commercial environments is key to this position
• Considerable experience working directly with Operations in the form of Strategic Planning, Kitting/Assembly Planning, Warehousing & Fulfilment, Logistics, and Sales Order Management, then onward with internal commercial teams and the operational teams of external customers, in the form of retailers and distributors is critical to being successful in this role. 
• Extensive knowledge of Distribution & Retailer Operations best-practices within consumer-packaged good industry or video game industry is necessary to effectively function in this role
• A strong understanding of Supply Chain, Warehouse Operations, Logistics, and Order Fulfilment within a B2B and B2C electronics or consumer goods environment
• Effective understanding of how sales forecasts are achieved, and sales planning functions develop field plans and sales plans, and how this develops through the Supply Chain into Assembly and Kitting/Localization plans
• Solid Experience of tracking the progress of the outputs of strategic and tactical initiatives against forecasts and plans, and of developing said strategic and tactical initiatives to ensure delivery to said forecasts and plans, is a must.
• Broad knowledge of across multiple areas of Operations, with a main focus on developing internal and external customer focused improvement initiatives. 
• Experience of developing creative solutions to complex problems, designing and managing major projects and project programs that require the ability to be solutions oriented.
• Working experience utilizing ERP system (SAP GUI, SAP Fiori, SAP Business Objects, SAP IBP)
• Working experience of interacting with cross functional operational teams to deliver on plans is a must
• Experience of developing metrics platforms and dashboards, running KPI runways/bowlers, and utilizing BI and BW tools such as DOMO, Tableau, or Qlik is a bonus
• BS/BA or equivalent combination of education and experience is expected, a Masters in an Operational focused area of study is a plus
• Experience of Lean / Six Sigma is a plus

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Equal Opportunity Statement:

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender (including gender identity, gender expression and gender reassignment), race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, marital or civil partnership status, disability, age, sexual orientation, pregnancy, maternity or parental status, trade union membership or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond. 

PlayStation is a Fair Chance employer and qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records will be considered for employment.