Senior Manager, Sales Planning and Sales Operations

Position Overview

K18 is seeking a Senior Manager, Sales Planning and Sales Operations.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Planning & Distributor Growth

• Own account-level sell-in budgets by distributor, SKU, and program; track performance against targets and recommend actions to close gaps or accelerate upside.
• Maintain a deep understanding of each distributor's operating model, sales structure, contractual terms, margin requirements, reporting cadence, and growth priorities.
• Partner with Sales leadership on joint business planning, QBRs, business reviews, and opportunities to improve sell-in, sell-through, account productivity, and brand adoption.

Forecasting, Demand Planning & Inventory Readiness

• Build and refine forecasts by distributor, SKU, category, promotion, launch, and education kit.
• Integrate commercial drivers into the demand forecast, including promotions, new product launches, sampling and testers, education calendars, account plans, and field intelligence.
• Lead Sales inputs for consensus forecasting and S&OP discussions, aligning Finance, Supply Chain, Demand Planning, Education, Marketing, and Operations on assumptions, risks, and priorities.
• Monitor inventory health, open orders, fill rates, service levels, excess inventory risk, out-of-stock exposure, and timing constraints; escalate issues early and partner with Supply Chain, Customer Service, and distributor operations to resolve them.
• Improve forecast accuracy, planning discipline, and visibility to demand risks and opportunities.

Sales Operations & Distributor Program Execution

• Ensure distributor partners receive timely pricing, order requirements, submission forms, account materials, and follow-up documentation.
• Oversee purchase-order visibility, order-flow coordination, open-order tracking, shipping or fulfillment escalations, and resolution processes with Customer Service, Operations, and the Senior Pro Sales Operations Specialist.
• Review and process program documentation, credit requests, claims, deductions, and related commercial follow-up in accordance with K18 policies.
• Remove operational friction and create scalable templates, trackers, playbooks, and process documentation for repeatable execution.

Reporting, Analytics & Business Intelligence

• Build regular reporting for leadership, distributor partners, and internal commercial teams across weekly, monthly, quarterly, and ad hoc performance views.
• Track and interpret KPIs including sell-in, sell-through, distributor inventory, account productivity, promotional performance, fill rates, deductions, education participation, regional trends, salon account activity, and product velocity.
• Organize and validate incoming distributor reporting, improving consistency, timeliness, data quality, and usefulness for decision-making.
• Develop dashboards, scorecards, decision packs, and executive narratives that clearly summarize results, risks, opportunities, scenarios, and recommended actions.
• Translate insights into prioritized actions for Sales, Education, distributor partners, Supply Chain, Finance, and leadership.

Trade Spend, P&L & Commercial Financial Management

• Manage visibility to trade spend, co-op programs, promotional investments, samples, testers, education support, event costs, and other commercial investments within approved budgets.
• Partner with Finance and Sales leadership to maintain account-level financial plans, distributor P&Ls, turnover less OPEX, margin visibility, accruals, and spend discipline.
• Model the financial impact of promotions, launches, pricing decisions, distributor programs, and inventory actions to ensure strategies are economically sound and operationally executable.
• Evaluate promotion effectiveness and commercial ROI, using results to improve future planning, resource allocation, and investment decisions.

Cross-Functional Alignment

• Serve as the sales planning and operations liaison between distributor partners and K18's Pro Sales, Education, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Operations, and R&I teams.
• Proactively communicate inventory risks, program changes, SKU updates, distributor requirements, and execution needs to the teams responsible for delivery.
• Represent the voice of distributor operations and salon-channel execution in internal planning forums so plans are realistic, timely, and actionable.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in account management or sales operations within the professional beauty industry, with a strong focus on managing sales operations, inventory planning, and building account plans.
• Strong understanding of the professional distribution landscape, including the dynamics of national retailers and independent distributors
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret sales data, trends, and market intelligence to drive decision-making.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience in developing and executing account-specific sales strategies and promotional programs.
• Passion for the beauty industry and a deep understanding of the professional haircare space.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

Salary Range: $110-125k (in USD $)

This range represents the low and high end of the anticipated base salary range for this position. The actual base salary will depend on numerous factors such as: experience, knowledge and skills, and if the location of the job changes.

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