Vice President, Shopping Experience (#1200450)
San Francisco, CA
The Harland Clarke Retail Channels division serves businesses and brands that touch individual consumers and business customers through direct and private label relationships. Retail Channels provides eCommerce, Marketing and Call Center solutions in addition to Product Development, Manufacturing and Fulfillment services. Retail Channels is divided into three segments-Direct to Consumer, Private Label, and Treasury Management. The DTC segment is made up of six brands offering checks and accessories, personalized social & business stationery, and customizable promotional materials for business. www.harlandclarke.com.
This position will be part of the Harland Clarke- Retail Channels Stationery business which will provide innovative stationery products direct to consumer through wholly owned and operated eCommerce brands and private label retailer relationships. please visit an existing Harland Clarke- Retail Channels commerce website, "Expressionery," www.expressionery.com.
Position Summary
The Vice President, Shopping Experience for Harland Clarke Stationery will lead the creation and operation of our eCommerce "stores". Leadership, creative vision, UI/UX expertise and a deep
understanding of what inspires shoppers to buy is critical for success in this new role. Extensive eCommerce experience and expertise, including merchandising strategy, shopper ("why we buy") insights, UI/UX, copy writing, web design, front-end engineering, QA and fast-paced content production are also
essential for qualified candidates. Importantly, as a key leader at an early-stage business, this Shopping Experience head will need to bring energy, passion, and a willingness to roll-up their sleeves to get things done!
This is an opportunity for an eCommerce/Web merchandising leader who has all the tools and experience to manage and grow an existing eTailer, but would prefer the challenge of helping create a business with an entirely new level of scale, competitiveness and success via multiple Brand platforms-new, existing and
private label. The business is all about capturing the hearts and minds of a predominantly female customer base, at those "big life moments" -Engagement, Wedding, Birth and Birthdays, Holidays, etc. In short, this is a fun company, operating in a category that celebrates a range of special moments in life. The company has visions of targeting much broader customer segments and occasions in the future and the "Vice President, Shopping Experience" will play a significant role in shaping the strategies associated with the development of-and entry into-new markets, products and geographies.
Key Duties / Responsibilities:
eCommerce/Website Team Lead-
Initially, improve the quality and shop-ability of Expressionery and new private label websites to help get the new Harland Clarke Stationery business off to a fast start in 2013. On-going, create a world-class eCommerce/Merchandising operation capable of establishing world-class stationery web-based shopping experiences with many different consumer targets. Key to this will be to
recruit a world-class team and establish processes to drive sustain progress.
Translating Business & Brand Strategy Into Winning Shopping Experiences- Create enjoyable and inspired shopping experiences for the consumers of each of our businesses/websites. Leverage leading eCommerce and merchandising expertise into world-class
shopping experiences.
User Interface/User Experience That Drives Sales and Customer Loyalty- Lead team of leading UI/UX specialists.
Winning "Look & Feel"- Inspire web designers, front end engineers and copy writers to bring to life, UI/UX, Brand and business strategies to life.
Shopper Research and Usability- Partner with Research colleagues to constantly use usability testing and shopper insights to drive improvement.
Effective Production Releases- Create a rigorous production release system to rapidly and effectively launch feature/functionality upgrades, promotions and entirely new eCommerce sites.
Team and Process Leadership- Utilize leadership and leading "design thinking" to create a culture that stimulates and sustains eCommerce innovation. Roll-out processes that drive feature and functionality improvements efficiently and cost effectively to meet the fast moving needs of the business. This includes function-wide planning, measurement, and "share the learning" approaches that will help improve the shopping experience and drive business growth. Hire, train,
develop and nurture a world-class team.
Leadership Team Member - Member of top executive leadership team for new Harland Clarke Stationery business. Team will serve as the executive function for the business setting
direction/strategy, allocating resources, making key decisions, and setting the pace and tone for the company.
Supervisory Responsibility:
Responsible for direct supervision of internal employees
Decision Making:
Staffing, training, motivation, accountability, retention and succession planning sufficient to meet or exceed corporate goals.
Develop and coach department personnel in product marketing principles, including management, planning, forecasting, product development, and other business products growth strategies.
Leads and influence staff departments to provide high quality support for achievement of business objectives based on individual expertise.
Develop effective marketing strategies and propose changes to make them more successful
in building sales and profits.
Physical Requirements / Working Conditions:
Office
Qualifications
Education & Knowledge Required:
Bachelor’s degree
10+ years of relevant hands-on eCommerce experience
Retail or eTail merchandising expertise
Experience / Skills / Abilities Required
World-class UI/UX, web design and release management (technically proficient)
Analytics and Strategic Planning (makes quick, fact-based decisions)
Influencing skills (proven ability to persuade others towards an idea or goal)
Organized and attention-to-detail approach (strong tactical execution)
Creative Brilliance (keen eye for web design that will inspire purchase)
Requires ability to translate core business strategies and organizational needs into actionable product design and creative initiatives (customer service orientation)
Innovative (need fresh, imaginative thinking)
Organizational leadership and team development (leads through influence)
Actionable product design and creative initiatives (customer service orientation)
Intellectual horsepower (highly creative and strategic)
Listening skills (listen first, then respond)
Highly resourceful (stretches people and money; compresses time; create many options, but can converge on winners)
Ability to express ideas clearly both verbally and in writing (communication excellence)
Holistic thought process (inquisitive divergent thinker)
Commercial mentality (keen understanding of P&L & financial analysis)
Strong relationship management and interpersonal skills (high EQ)
Experience in stationery, bridal or other emotionally driven categories
Harland Clarke Holdings Corp. to include its subsidiary and affiliated companies (Harland Clarke, Scantron, Checks in the Mail, SubscriberMail) is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color,
religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap or disability (physical or mental), Vietnam-era or disabled veteran status, and other factors protected by state and local laws.
Industry: Consumer Goods / Miscellaneous
Discipline: Online Marketing
Experience: 11 - 15 Years
Level: VP
Compensation: DOE
Company: Harland Clarke