Trade Planning Manager
Company Overview
Force Factor is on a mission to disrupt the global health and wellness industry by creating innovative health products that help consumers Unleash their Potential. Our vitamins, supplements, and better-for-you foods are scientifically formulated to help create healthier and happier lives for people of all kinds.
Our award-winning products are sold in thousands of retail and eCommerce stores nationwide, including Walmart, Amazon, Walgreens, Target, CVS, The Vitamin Shoppe, Sam's Club and iHerb. More than 50,000 people buy our products daily and that number is growing every month. You have the potential to make a real impact on people's lives by working at Force Factor to create products that Unleash Potential!
Culturally, think of us as an intense, meritocratic, and exciting high-growth startup that has survived and thrived through its first decade of rapid evolution and is now focused on scaling up to conquer the next decade's challenges and opportunities. We've accomplished a lot in our first 17+ years, but fundamentally know that we're just at the beginning of our journey, and that's where you come in! We need the smartest, highest energy people with real integrity who are looking to join an ambitious, hard-working team.
Force Factor is based in Boston's innovative Seaport District. Our team is filled with passionate, dedicated, and inspiring people operating with an ownership mindset (which is easy because we are entirely privately held and plan to stay that way). If you love a challenge, enjoy acting with urgency, and prefer to opt into a high-performance culture, when you join us, you'll feel like you've finally come home. Our private ownership structure is designed for the long term to enable huge opportunities for key team members to learn a ton, work with other A players and generate significant wealth, and we hope you'll choose to help us build an enduring and successful business for decades to come. There are two main reasons we're included on Bain's Insurgent Brands list of high-achieving CPG brands outperforming market growth: our people and our culture.
Role Overview
Force Factor is seeking a Trade Planning Manager to own the execution, accuracy, measurement, and forecasting output of our trade plans across key retail accounts. This role will report to the Chief Retail Officer and will work closely with Sales, Supply Chain, Finance, and other cross-functional partners.
Sales Account Managers will continue to own the retailer relationships and build the trade plans directly with their retail partners. The Trade Planning Manager will be responsible for inputting, maintaining, tracking, and measuring those plans in Confido, our trade promotion management system. This person will bring structure, visibility, and accountability to the trade planning process. They will own the forecast output tied to trade plans, including POS forecasting, promotional assumptions, timing, expected volume impact, and actual results. They will work closely with our Associate Director of Demand Planning to ensure trade plans are accurately reflected in the broader demand planning process.
This role will not own the trade budget. Instead, the Trade Planning Manager will help ensure trade plans are accurately captured, effectively measured, and translated into clear business insights and forecasted impact.
Responsibilities
- Own the input, maintenance, and accuracy of trade plans in Confido.
- Partner with Sales to ensure retailer trade plans are properly captured, updated, and reflected in the system.
- Track planned promotions, spend assumptions, timing, expected volume impact, and actual results.
- Measure the effectiveness of trade plans and promotional activity across accounts.
- Analyze actual results against planned expectations, including POS performance, volume impact, timing, and overall trade effectiveness.
- Own the forecast output tied to trade plans, ensuring promotional activity is accurately reflected in expected business performance.
- Forecast POS impact based on planned trade activity, retailer assumptions, historical performance, and current business trends.
- Work closely with the Associate Director of Demand Planning to align trade plans with the broader demand forecast.
- Identify risks, opportunities, gaps, and inconsistencies in trade plans and escalate or follow up with the appropriate business owners.
- Provide reporting and analysis to help leadership understand what is working, what is not, and where adjustments may be needed.
- Serve as the central owner for trade plan data, reporting, and measurement.
- Support process improvements related to trade planning, trade fund management, forecasting, and promotional effectiveness.
- Partner cross-functionally with Sales, Supply Chain, and Finance to ensure trade plans are accurate, timely, and actionable.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree from an accredited 4-year college or university required; a degree in Business, Finance, Marketing, or a related field is preferred.
- Experience in trade planning, sales planning, trade promotion management, revenue growth management, sales operations, demand planning, or a related role.
- Strong understanding of trade fund management and retail promotional planning.
- Experience working with trade promotion management systems. Experience with Confido is preferred.
- Strong Excel skills, including the ability to work with large data sets, build reports, analyze trends, and translate data into clear business insights.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to connect trade activity, sales performance, POS trends, and forecast impact.
- Experience in CPG, consumer products, retail, supplements, health and wellness, or a related industry preferred.
- Ability to work cross-functionally with Sales, Supply Chain, and Finance.
- Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing multiple accounts, plans, and timelines.
- Strong communication skills with the ability to summarize complex information clearly and directly.
- Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-performance environment where accuracy, urgency, and business impact matter.
