Head of Planning & Pricing | Automotive Al Futtaim | Dubai

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare; employing more than 35,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over 200 of the world's most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group’s entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organization to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate.

By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration and integrity; Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every day

Overview of the role

• Provide regular economic / market intelligence and insight to the Auto Exec Board and all business units in the UAE and overseas to drive sales strategy (short and long term).
• Lead the Automotive Division’s monthly sales, production and stock planning to look for opportunities to improve sales and mix: optimising revenue opportunities and mitigating any risks.
• Determines the framework for the Automotive Division’s short and medium term volume planning using industry best practice.
• Provide business units with regular market intelligence/insight on price positioning and competitiveness (visual, spec adjusted and transactional pricing) through a standardised process and methodology.
• Utilise market, segment and pricing insights to identify product & pricing revenue opportunities / risks and work with the key business unit stakeholders to develop and execute required action plans to address them.
• Influence business units’ pricing and product life cycle management to achieve optimal price positioning and efficient deployment of variable marketing expense.

What you will do

Financial Dimensions

• Inventory management, reducing working capital maintenance of ideal stock levels by business unit
• Tactical expenditure reduction

Market forecasting and insights

• Drive and evolve insightful market / competitor and economic reporting, demonstrating a significant depth of knowledge and increasing the quality of information available to key stakeholders.
• Lead the research and analysis of vehicle markets to deliver accurate forecasting by segment and subsegment – identifying risks and opportunities for the Automotive Division and business units.
• Initiate and lead discussions with key stakeholders across the business units to develop and execute actions to grow sales revenue and mitigate risks.
• Provide the Automotive Division and business units with thought leadership on emerging topics such as e-mobility, SUV evolution, autonomous driving and emissions regulations.
• Maintain strong relationships with specialist consultancy firms covering multiple contracts.

• Lead the annual budget sales planning process across the division.
• Work across the Automotive Division to agree the economic and market forecasts broken down by segment and subsegment + provide guidance / planning templates for the business units to undertake their short/mid term volume planning.
• Analyse business unit planning sales volumes and challenge the sales planning teams in order to optimise vehicle mix, profitability, production and stock.

• Provide regular sales forecasts and sales, production and stock reports to senior management for performance tracking purposes.
• Assess business unit sales opportunities and risks using sales and stock simulations. The purpose is to identify revenue growth opportunities and risks, achieve ideal stock indices and reduce aging stock.
• Act as the consultant for all planning related matters for each business unit as well as for the New Business and Growth department.

• Establish the department as a Centre of Excellence for vehicle price positioning and transactional price monitoring
• Implement a standardised methodology for product and price monitoring using industry leading practices.
• Define and implement (with the business units) a standardised reporting mechanism for senior management to track the price position for all models vs competition.
• Influence business unit product marketing teams to pro-actively manage their product specification and price positions to off-set aging effects, improve sales volume / revenue and protect the Auto Division from identified risks.

Required skills to be successful

• Work across the global automotive division in a matrix structure.
• Key member of the Strategy & Planning Department.
• Lead, engage and influence the wider Al-Futtaim Automotive Division.
• Represent the Director of Strategy & Planning and the Automotive division internally and externally as required.
• Role model the Al-Futtaim values and the Al-Futtaim leadership competencies.
• Lead a team of highly effective subject matter experts through a centre of excellence model.

About the team

This role reports to the Director of Strategy and Planning. The role holder is a key member of the Strategy & Planning leadership team and works across the Al Futtaim Group in a matrix structure.

What equips you for the role

• A business or technical university degree is preferred.
• Expert knowledge and experience in volume planning and product & price management.
• Experience and expertise in the Automotive field is preferred with knowledge of complete Auto business model and value chain.
• Commercial acumen, clear strategic thinking and ability to create buy-in and influence at a senior level.
• Minimum 10 years overall experience in a multinational environment in leading Automotive brands.
• The candidate should have experience leading teams, both through direct line management and in a matrix set up.
• Strong communication skills (written and verbal).
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Planning and execution.
• Self-starter with the ability to take ideas from creation to delivery through a complex organisation.
• Strong influencing, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent commercial acumen and awareness; including automotive market trends, wiser PESTLE factors and emerging consumer trends.

About Al-Futtaim Automotive

A major division of the UAE-based Al-Futtaim Group of companies, Al-Futtaim Automotive is an industry leader with presence in 10 countries across the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Our core business activities at Al-Futtaim Automotive include distribution, manufacturing, leasing and aftersales, and we are firmly established as the regional representative of some of the world’s most iconic automotive brands: Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Volvo and RAM.

We are driven by a customer-centric approach, constantly pushing the boundaries on innovation, quality standards, and value-added service across our vast universe of customers - right from motoring enthusiasts to fleet operators to contractors. Our mission is to become the leader in custom-made mobility solutions by delivering nothing less than world-class omni-channel experiences.

We channel our local expertise and global trust to deliver one of the most comprehensive portfolios of mobility products and solutions, from passenger cars to SUVs, electric vehicles to high-performance motorbikes, commercial vehicles to industrial & construction equipment.

What keeps the company moving forward is a 9000-member strong team, with inspiring possibilities for growth, throughout the career path. This is Al-Futtaim Automotive and we empower talent to move forward.

For further information, and to apply, please visit our website via the “Apply” button below.