VP Strategy - Integration and Operations

Reporting to the SVP of Parks Product Development & Retail, this individual will support, influence, plan, and guide the strategic direction of the Parks organization (Design, Merchandising, Retail Strategy, and Sourcing.) The role will be focused on the essential retail initiatives and long-range plans that will equip DCP to unlock its next wave of growth in products, while delivering innovation, increased value and leverage to the organization. This individual will be a key member of the leadership team and will partner closely with the SVP of Parks Product Development & Retail to drive leverage in the business segment-wide and globally.

Areas of focus will include:

• Support in the development of sustainable strategies for long term growth across the Parks Organization

  • Develop the strategic vision & objectives of the Parks group by supporting long range plans across all Guest segments, Franchises, product categories, and US Park & DSE Sites

  • Support VPs in building a global, Guest 360-led & Brand specific product development, sourcing, retail & creative business strategy

  • Development of future facing supply chain strategy to unlock value with stronger financial delivery and agility

  • Development of future facing strategies that unlock value across our assortments

  • Deliver new process and ways of working related to speed and agility

  • Enable product and retail efforts through opportunity identification and refinement, trend forecasting, and data analysis and insights

• Drive and shape product creation and execution strategy through Long Rang Product Plans

  • Partner in the build of the long-range product plan and multi-year approach to enable global product strategy and associated product development metrics in close partnership with Parks leadership team

  • Deliver a holistic perspective on future retail strategies and product evolution informed by extensive modeling

  • Hindsight product creation process through rigorous management of development metrics and goal setting for future

  • Work closely with cross-functional partners to drive decisions and investments; inform and influence key business activities (e.g., pricing, retail architecture, infrastructure, whitespaces)

  • Communicate and garner buy-in on the approach to achieving long-term product strategy vision, and maintain line of sight visibility across key cross-functional areas to enable optimization and mitigate issue areas

  • Partner with Sourcing on long-range capacity and supply planning

• Drive Operational Excellence and Efficiency

  • Lead all aspects of process enablement for Guest-led, and product-specific business strategies for priority initiatives, including support of strategy and planning efforts

  • Lead a team of operational and project management experts including managers and professionals responsible for managing the product lifecycle, budget, systems, communication tools and more

  • Support VPs in building and implementing new process and ways of working – including the optimization and management of the product-to-market calendar

  • Work with the executive team on cross-business initiatives to drive incremental growth and efficiencies, and navigating impacts to teams and processes

• Support the executive leadership team in unlocking future value through retail innovation and transformation

  • Build and implement the transformation strategy for the organization – creating one ecosystem – shifting from COEs and Retail Channels to a fully integrated Parks Product Development & Retail ecosystem

  • Evolve ways of working and all relevant processes necessary to deliver against transformation and evolution strategies

  • Prioritizing key initiatives underpinning Parks PD & Retail Strategies – and leading top priority projects across cross-functional teams – ensuring alignment across common goals & objectives

  • Developing and implementing a creative integration process that pulls strategy upstream and create competitive advantage with our uniquely qualified Disney creative talent (e.g., WDI, Studio, Franchise, Commercialization, and Sites)

• Provide Line of Sight & Critical Connection Across DCP and TWDC

  • Support SVP on critical deliverables related to President and Chairman meetings, strategic business milestones (Annual Planning and Long-Term Planning) and Internal/External Leadership Meetings

  • Act as a trusted thought partner to SVP of Parks PD & Retail on all facets of the business and organization

  • Collaborate cross-functionally to unlock areas of intersection/interdependency: “Connect the dots” across the organization

  • Build & foster collaborative partnerships across functions & departments within TWDC to identify business issues, risks, prioritize solutions, drive alignment & implement changes on behalf of DCP

  • Represent and champion GPC and Parks operations needs in collaboration with Studio content creators, Studio Franchise and Integrated Planning, as well as internal DCP Franchise and Park & DSE Site partners

• Lead in DCP segment-wide Sustainability initiative

  • Manage both DCP and Parks task force and workstreams tied to consumer products’ sustainability goals in materials and emissions, including master timelines to ensure progress towards goals

  • Interface with TWDC Enterprise and DX Corporate Social Responsibility, Global Public Policy, Legal, Product Integrity, and other related teams

  • Drive ongoing connection with IT and operations partners to identify, onboard, and optimize systems and processes necessary to report out on progress towards goal achievement and supply chain transparency

• Support in Building & Engaging a Highly Effective Team

Required Qualifications:

• 10 years of experience in a related field in a global, omnichannel retail strategic role

• Strong retail business acumen and comprehensive command of industry knowledge

• Organizational development and process re-design expertise within retail and creative organizations

• Proven capabilities across strategy, innovation, trend optimization, and business development

• Nimble and flexible with regards to changing priorities and needs across a complex business

• Demonstrate an ability to set objectives and goals and gain buy-in to meet and exceed targets

• Anticipate risks and identifies contingency plans and processes to prevent disruptions

• Exceptional problem solving and analytical skills, ability to frame new, ambiguous, and complex issues, and ability to generate insight through in-depth analysis

• Superior communication skills and proven ability to deliver insights, findings, and presentations that are executive-ready

Required Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree in related field of study or equivalent

Preferred Qualifications:

• MBA