Division Modeling Assortment Planning Manager

NAPA Overview :

Come be part of the Assortment Planning & Modeling team at NAPA, a world leader in automotive and industrial product aftermarket parts. Help us continue to build on a 100-year legacy of excellence and service to our customers. Our mission is to assort and deliver the right part, in the right place, at the right time to service and repair millions of cars each year. To do this, we are seeking talented, motivated individuals to bring their passion and drive to the NAPA team.

Position Mission :

Lead a team that provides Merchants, Independent NAPA Owners, and Company Owned NAPA Stores / Distribution Centers with inventory breadth & assortment recommendations based on analytics and market driven assessments. The Division Modeler (DMOD), provides insight, guidance, and recommendations on inventory mix to help maximize sales while balancing inventory productivity. To accomplish these goals, the DMOD lead a team whose mission is to balance market demands, voice of the customer, category / assortment requirements, and predictive analytics. The DMOD & team will review store assortments, make adjustments reflecting changing market and customer needs, and build inventory recommendations for stores and distribution centers based on unique market characteristics. The successful individual will collaborate with NAPAs field resources and independent owners to optimize and balance sales with inventory productivity. This person will establish themselves as an assortment planning and inventory modeling subject matter expert in these disciplines.

Position Performance Measures :

Store sales performance for modeled / assorted locations & categories

Inventory productivity for modeled locations (Cash Conversion, Turns, etc.)

Inventory health metrics (balance of productive vs. non-productive inventory)

Excess inventory maintenance and associated metrics (returns)

APG sales, profit, and inventory turnover (Company wide goal)

Responsibilities :

Leads and manages a team of assortment planning and modeling professionals who recommend inventory assortment breadth and depth for NAPA stores and DCs within a geographic territory. The DMOD provides guidance and expertise to the team as they conduct analysis to build and recommend the most productive inventory assortments available. To do this, DMODs research sales history, incorporates knowledge of new product lines, develops inventory models by location, collaborates with category managers, field associates, and NAPA independent owners.

• Lead a team of 5-10 Assortment Planning and Modeling Associates as they engage with internal and external stakeholders, develop, recommend, and deploy assortment recommendations
• Acts as the primary point of contact for inventory assortment modeling within a geographic region (division). Meets / communicates with stakeholders on regular basis with respect to market trends, actual inventory movement, and incorporates feedback in inventory assortment (breadth / depth).
• Advises and recommends assortment changes and updates to NAPA Category Managers (Merchants) to drive sales, profitability, and turns within the store and distribution center network
• Acts as inventory assortment subject matter expert for NAPA independent owners and sales group that supports them. Answers inquiries regarding methodology used to model inventory, represents ownership to company-wide modeling discussions, and ensures proper functioning of modeling application.
• Collaborates with the field sales to ensure a consistent message to independent owners regarding product mix, functionality, and value. Provides insight, opportunities, and reporting as needed.
• Works with category and field leadership to develop inventory / assortment breadth and depth recommendations and general updates.
• Work as part of the overall merchandising organization to provide support to stores.
• Assists in development, testing, and support of new features for NAPA’s assortment modeling application, reporting bugs and issues as needed.

Experience, Education, and Abilities :

Possesses following technical proficiencies :