Strategic Planning Analyst

Position Summary: 

The Strategic Planning Analyst is a pivotal role that merges data-driven business intelligence with product portfolio management to optimize product offerings and pricing strategies across the North American market. This role is cross-functional in nature and integrated into the analytics and demand planning team. The Strategic Planning Analyst interfaces daily with various departments to manage and analyze data regarding bike models including specifications, quantities, production schedules, and market competitiveness. The Analyst is responsible for delivering actionable insights through data models, visualizations, and competitive analysis to drive business decisions, strategy, and effective product lifecycle management.

Summary of Roles & Responsibilities:

• Create and maintain living MY (Model Year) portfolios documenting each bike model's details, including colorways, component specs, quantities, SOP dates, and First Availability dates.
• Manage the bike model master planning document, ensuring accurate and timely updates to SOS and SOP data fields from initial Portfolio Release through the actual on-sale date.
• Conduct comprehensive pricing analysis, considering historical pricing data, cost analysis, market demand, competitor pricing, and customer sensitivity to develop optimal pricing strategies for each bike model.
• Evaluate promotional strategies and their impact on sales and profitability, recommending adjustments to pricing tactics as necessary.
• Analyze the elasticity of demand in relation to price changes and use this information to forecast revenue impacts of potential pricing adjustments.
• Work with the marketing and sales teams to align pricing strategies with overall business objectives, ensuring competitive positioning and market share growth.
• Drive the Start of Sales (SOS) process, ensuring products are published to the webshop on time with a comprehensive dataset. Work with the purchasing department to understand delays and adjustments within the supply chain.
• Own product retirement from the webshop. Work with the webteam to develop and maintain a product sunset process, including discount pricing and mapping the placement of outlet offerings in the larger portfolio.
• Verify and quality control all product display page (PDP) content for accuracy in color, price, and component specifications before publication.
• Conduct competitive analysis and pricing comparison, working in tandem with product managers to benchmark against competitor models, identifying opportunities for price optimization.
• Collaborate with the finance team to understand cost structures and their implications for pricing decisions, ensuring profitability targets are met.

Strategic Planning & Operational Analysis:

• Analyze large datasets using statistical methods to identify trends, patterns, and insights that inform strategic planning, especially related to S&OP (Sales and Operations Planning).
• Develop custom reporting solutions using advanced Excel skills including, but not limited to lookups, sumifs, and PowerQuery.
• Create models to forecast business performance, including demand forecasting and supply chain optimization, to support decision-making across various departments.
• Prepare and present findings to senior leadership in a clear and concise manner, ensuring that strategic planning is informed by data-driven insights.
• Additionally, the ability to use scripting languages such as R, Python, and/or SQL to accomplish these goals is a major plus.

Education, Experience, and Knowledge / Skills / Abilities:

Minimal Qualifications:

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to analyze and visualize large datasets to drive decision-making.
• In-depth knowledge of product lifecycle management and experience with competitive analysis and pricing strategy development.
• Excellent communication and project management skills, capable of working closely with cross-functional teams and international colleagues.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and adapt to changing requirements in a fast-paced environment.

Work Environment

Work is performed within an office environment, with standard office equipment available.

Physical Factors

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to sit for extended periods of time; use hands to finger, handle, or feel the computer; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear.  The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Disclaimer

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification.  They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.   All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.