Vice President, Sales, Decision Solutions Group; Consumer Packaged Goods Practice

The Company:

Founded in 1979, Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) is the world?s leading provider of enterprise market information solutions and services, empowering its clients to grow their business profitably in a complex marketplace.  Driving the transformation of the consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and healthcare industries, only IRI provides a unique combination of real-time market content, advanced analytics, enterprise performance management software, and professional services.

 

In late 2003, IRI was acquired by the industry-visionary company Symphony Technology Group, run by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani.  IRI is owned by Symphony Technology Group, a strategic investment group with more than $ 1.1 billion in revenues. Dr. Wadhwani, Chairman of both Symphony and IRI, has successfully built three enterprise software companies over the last 30 years; the most recent of these, Aspect Development, Inc. was acquired for $ 9.3 billion.

 

The acquisition has been the catalyst for a major transformation of IRI.  IRI has crafted a new vision for itself, and for the industry it serves.  With revenues approaching $600 million annually, IRI?s mission is to increase its value proposition to clients by 10X through innovation and focus on enabling insightful decisions. Since the acquisition, the Company has continued to focus on customer satisfaction, streamlining its organization and supporting disciplines, globalizing operations, strengthening its leadership team, and launching multiple new products and services.

 

The company?s portfolio of services, solutions, and technology enable leading retailers and their suppliers around the globe to see what they are missing, act faster with greater confidence and win at the shelf. Ninety-five percent of the FORTUNE Global 500 in CPG and retail leverage IRI to power their business.  For more information, visit www.infores.com.  To go directly to recent IRI news, click on the link immediately below:

 

http://www.infores.com/public/us/newsEvents/presscoverage/presscov2005.htm

 

Responsibilities:

The Vice President of Sales for the Decision Solutions Group (DSG) reports directly to the Senior Vice President of the global DSG sales practice.

 

The Vice President is a highly visible ?hunting? role within the new IRI organization.  While the Vice President will work as an individual contributor, success will require him/her to work successfully at all levels across an integrated IRI organization.  Key points of internal interface include individuals within the following functions: DSG Solutions Consulting, DSG Development, DSG Services, the Analytic Insights Group (modeling), Client Solutions (on-site client teams), Retail Client Solutions (on-site client teams), the Business Insights Consulting Group (strategy consulting), the Strategic Solutions Group (content new business) and the Global Operations Center in Bangalore, India. 

 

From an external perspective, while the Vice President will need to be effective at all levels, and within all client functional areas (e.g., Brand, Marketing, Sales, Market Research, Information Technology), the bulk of the Vice President?s time will be spent working substantively at client Executive and C-levels.  The Vice President will benefit from long-term, firmly established and continually supported client relationships with many of the world?s top CPG companies.  In some cases, the Vice President will be charged with coordinating internal and external functions to introduce and sell large scale DSG solutions non-core IRI clients. 

 

In addition to benefiting from established client relationships, the Vice President will benefit from referenceable DSG wins and significant capital investment that is reflective of the fact that the DSG is the cornerstone to the new IRI.  He/she will have input with regard to go-to-market strategy, sales plan development, the development of best-in-class solutions and sales/marketing materials but the primary role of the Vice President is to capitalize upon existing relationships within the IRI client base and their own established relationships to sell complex, enterprise-wide DSG solutions and aggressively exceed revenue and margin goals, pulling in cross-functional assistance as required, up to the level of CEO and Chairman.  Success will require him/her to leverage a unique skill set comprised of in-depth knowledge of the CPG industry, business processes and leading practices coupled with extensive experience in software solution selling in order to design and sell analytical solutions that address the complex needs of the CPG manufacturing and retailing communities.

 

Requirements:

-  10 or more years of total work experience

-  Industry experience must include one or both of the following:

-  CPG or retail vertical experience in a top consulting company

-  CPG or retail vertical experience in a top ERP software company

-  Functional experience must include:

-  The sale of software packages in excess of $250,000

-  Demonstrated skills to lead and strategize through 6 to 12 month selling cycles

-  Demonstrated ability to sell business solutions in unbudgeted environments

-  Strong consultative skills; Ability to analyze client processes/strategies and sell analytic solutions to address business needs

-  In-depth knowledge of either the CPG or retail domain

- Ability to balance an aggressive hunting mentality with exceptional listening skills, consultative skills and finesse

-  Ability to penetrate the executive and C-levels of CPG manufacturers and retailers and engage in strategic business discussions; ?Board Room? presence and poise

- Other:

-  Some experience working directly for a CPG manufacturer or retailer is preferred

-  Able to travel on a consistent and extensive basis

-  BS or BA degree from an accredited institution.  An MBA is a plus

 

Location:

Chicago or East Coast is ideal but is not required--must have easy access to a major airport.

 

Please send resume to:

Cathy Wagner

Executive Staffing

JRA Consulting

 

cathywagnerrecruiter@yahoo.com