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Location: Middleton, WI
Corporate Background
Mattel,
Incorporated (NYSE: MAT) is the worldwide leader in the design,
manufacture, and marketing of toys and family products. The Mattel
family is comprised of such best-selling brands as Barbie®, the most
popular fashion doll ever introduced, Hot Wheels®, Matchbox®, American
Girl®, Radica® and Tyco® R/C, as well as Fisher-Price® brands,
including Little People®, Power Wheels® and a wide array of
entertainment-inspired toy lines. Mattel is globally headquartered in
El Segundo, California, and employs more than 30,000 people in 43
countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 nations,
with net sales of over $6 billion..
Mattel
has a vision to be The World's Premier Toy Brands - Today and Tomorrow.
They will achieve this vision because their people are creative and
energetic, thriving on innovation and passion for the business. Mattel
is committed to supporting and developing employees and their career
goals with a host of meaningful advantages and opportunities, including
ongoing professional development through their global Leadership
Development Center, on-site childcare and a fitness and recreation
center.
In January 2009, Mattel was again named to FORTUNE Magazine’s prestigious “100 Best Companies to Work for” list, ranking number 48, up 22 spots from number 70 in 2008. The company was ranked in 2008 as one of the “Best Places to Work” by Los Angeles Business Journal. Mattel also is recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of 2007's 100 Most Trustworthy U.S. Companies.
American Girl – Mattel’s eBusiness and Retail Center of Excellence
American
Girl Brands is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel, Inc. Since American
Girl’s inception in 1986, the company has devoted its entire business
to celebrating the potential of girls ages 3 to 12. American Girl
encourages girls to dream, to grow, to aspire, to create, and to
imagine through a wide range of engaging and insightful books,
age-appropriate and educational products, and unforgettable
experiences. In meeting its mission with a vigilant eye toward quality
and service, American Girl has earned the loyal following of millions
of girls, and the praise and trust of parents and educators. For the
past 10 years, American Girl has been recognized as a leading
experiential retailer with seven stores located through the United
States. American Girl stores offer a unique shopping experience that
includes entertainment and educational opportunities through its
restaurants, photo studios, doll hospitals, doll hair salons and party
events. According to the Interbrand Design Forum’s Most Valuable Retail
Brands list, American Girl stores ranked #41 in January, 2009 by
stating “A visit to the American Girl Place is the ultimate in
experiential retail”.
American Girl has mastered the art of marketing direct to
consumers. American Girl began as a catalog-based direct marketer of
high-end, high quality collectable dolls and books, and over the years
has evolved into a sophisticated D2C online merchandiser and retailer.
American Girl’s website is as much an entertainment experience for
young visitors – and a convenient shopping venue for parents – as
American Girls’ popular superstores could ever hope to be. Internet
sales on www.americangirl.com now dominate American Girl’s other strong sales channels.
Mattel Inc. recognizes that leveraging American Girl’s
D2C best practices, and extending them to select Mattel and Fisher
Price brands, represents a great opportunity that must be taken.
Already, Mattel has launched such D2C sites as Hot
Wheels Collector, Barbie Collector, Fisher Price and Everything Girl,
and those sites certainly will evolve and gain sophistication. However,
Mattel’s
ambitions online are far greater. At the January 2009 Consumer
Electronics Show, Mattel announced that it will be transforming the
company's online strategy from brand website platform to interactive
programming and content provider. The merging on online merchandising
and interactive entertainment, begun by American Girl, will now extend
across all of Mattel’s
lines of business. The aggressive initiative is called the Mattel
Digital Network, a new online destination for kids and families that is
being driven by the company's experience and observations about how
kids play today. The Network is a gateway to a world of open-ended
online play - it will be user-focused and will become the portal to
Mattel's powerhouse brands, such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, Matchbox,
Radica and American Girl.
The Position: Vice President, Information Technology – eBusiness & Retail Channels
This
position is a key strategic business partner in establishing and
aligning the IT strategy with the overall American Girl business
strategy, managing multiple projects tied to this strategy, and
providing the necessary day-to-day support. In addition, this position
is a key strategic IT partner to drive new technology-driven innovations in the eBusiness and Retail channels across Mattel brands. The position provides
IT support for all web, customer service, retail, distribution and
marketing applications used by American Girl and the other Mattel
direct initiatives. The evidence is in: ecommerce now handles 70% of
all direct orders for American Girl, as the web grows in importance in
how the company merchandises and promotes products, attracts new
customers, and drives loyalty.
Principal Responsibilities
Strategy & Alignment -
Identify technology and process solutions that drive new business
opportunities within the Mattel Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) lines of
business, and in the Mattel Digital Network. This includes database,
ecommerce, call center, distribution, direct marketing and customer
relationship management systems. Work directly with Mattel D2C
leadership to align business & IT strategies, identify and
prioritize work. Must consider needs of all D2C businesses, including
American Girl, Hot Wheels Collector, Barbie Collector, Fisher Price and
Everything Girl.
A
key responsibility is influencing overall business/IT strategy and
establishing priorities. This requires working with multiple business
functions and gaining agreement on these strategies and plans. A second
primary responsibility is aligning the necessary resources to execute
key initiatives identified by business. This requires good
communication and facilitation skills with multiple IT teams and
business managers, both locally and at the corporate level, in order to
successfully execute.
Business Analysis -
Act as the primary liaison among D2C stakeholders in order to elicit,
analyze, communicate and validate requirements for changes to business
processes, policies and information systems. Be able to bridge the gap
of understanding between the business needs and the technology
capabilities.
Retail, Distribution & Call Center Systems – Design, deliver and support retail, distribution and call center systems to support the evolving needs of American Girl’s business strategies.
Resource/Budget Management -
Find & secure resources & synchronize plans across IT.
Develop/adjust plans based on capacity & priorities. Work with
peers to layout 30-day work plan for all IT resources & establish
resource plan to manage business expectations, IT commitments, and
prioritize work for monthly deliverables. Create business cases and
project budgets. Set annual expense budgets, update forecasts, and
manage/ track expenditures.
Project Management -
Supervise execution of IT projects impacting American Girl. Assign
project leader and delegate tasks to team. Ensure plans are in place,
internal IT policies/procedures are followed, and projects are
delivered on-time, on-budget with quality. Ensure IT delivers on all
SLAs related to support and day-to-day operations. Follow-up and
resolve issues, and communicate status. Provide timely feedback from
business back into IT and ensure all IT work meets or exceeds customer
expectations
Staff Development -
Pay personal attention to the growth and development of others, provide
constructive feedback, and create development opportunities. Provide
necessary coaching and one-on-one’s
with direct staff, conduct staff meetings, and establish training
plans. Participate and support team and organization events to build
morale. Recognize and reward individuals and teams for outstanding
performance.
Innovation Leadership - Bring
innovative technology solutions to drive direct-to-consumer revenue.
This means maintaining deep knowledge of D2C technologies, including
but not limited to ecommerce, direct marketing, customer relationship
management, online gaming, social networking and web 2.0 tools. A key
challenge is establishing and maintaining a forward looking technical
strategy that aligns with the business.
For
instance, AG seeks help, leadership and proactive ideas to help AG
become a leader in "online girl engagement." This means that this
person must be a driver from an internal IT standpoint, as AG looks to
develop massive multi-player online worlds and games, enrich consumer
interactivity on the ecommerce site, and develop new technology-driven
innovations around content delivery. Similarly, AG may wish to evolve
from giving girls books with every outfit purchased, to giving girls
access to a podcast (electronic version of a book) with every outfit
they buy. These and related innovations may be equally applicable
across other Mattel businesses.
Resource Management -
External vendors and contract employees are a key part of the overall
resource strategy. All web hosting, e-mail campaigns, and gaming
development is handled externally. Staff is supplemented with
consultants as required to handle project load as needed. This position
directly manages/influences all design and development staff who work
on American Girl projects. This position indirectly manages/influences
infrastructure staff assigned to work on projects supporting American
Girl. In addition to supporting AG’s
well established D2C systems, this position must coordinate resources
for all Mattel D2C brands, including Hot Wheels Collector, Barbie
Collector, Barbie Girls, Fisher Price and Everything Girl.
Required Experience and Education
Information Technology Management: A
minimum of 10 years IT experience in an eBusiness, ideally supporting
online retailing, online gaming or social networks. Diversified
consulting experience is also highly valued. An ideal candidate will
have a sound track record of business accomplishment and experience
and/or exposure with diverse online environments.
Education: Bachelor's degree (BA, BS) or equivalent in Computer Science, Business, Engineering or Marketing. MBA preferred.
Required Competencies
Strategic/Systems Thinking: Understands
the connections and relationships across functions and entities for
both internal and external constituencies; thinks appropriately into
the future.
Planning and Execution: The candidate must be equally skilled in strategy and execution abilities.
Diplomatic in contract relationships with outside vendors and should be
fully engaged in knowing all facets of the business. Embraces teamwork
and is action and results oriented.
Technology Knowledge: Demonstrated
broad knowledge of current, relevant technology capabilities and trends
across applications, utilities, and infrastructure.
Change Leadership: Initiates
and/or sponsors change efforts; aligns resources, overcomes resistance,
and engages/motivates others to implement and sustain change efforts.
Collaboration/Influence: Actively
gathers appropriate level of participation and input to
decision-making, and fosters same within team. Persuades others to
see/recognize new perspectives to reach best outcomes by utilizing
buy-in, persuasion and relationship building.
Multi-level Management: Comfortable
interacting with all levels of executive management, with the ability
and the desire to work within a team. Must be able to defend his/her
position on issues, share opinions and challenge executives on
unfavorable decisions regarding technical resources. Possesses
excellent interpersonal skills with an ability to adapt to a diverse
set of personalities.
Team Orientation: Strengths
in collaboration within team and across business partners are
considered a critical skill set. Must be able to support team decisions
100%. Assembles and effectively leads direct report and/or partnership
teams. Exceptional facilitator of teamwork and decision-making in
virtual and in-person settings.
Organizational Strength: Demonstrated
experience in successfully managing complex organizational initiatives
involving multiple functions and multiple business units/regions. Includes
the identification and articulation of problems, influencing the
decision-making process as well as delivery of expected results.
Enthusiasm/Commitment: One
important characteristic to be successful in this culture is the
candidate should be a bright, creative and high energy individual. A
resourceful manager who has a sense of enthusiasm and commitment to
working in a dynamic and complex Global I.T. Organization.
Results Orientation: Makes
timely and effective decisions. Does what is necessary to improve
performance; balances the resources necessary to produce desired
outcomes; tracks and monitors performance.
Personal Integrity: Acts in accordance with one's values, principles, beliefs, thoughts, and feelings.
Communication: Sends
the right messages and information to appropriate audiences verbally
and in writing; keeps people informed; adapts communication style to
the needs of the audience.
Partnership: Strategically
partners across areas, entities, and functions to achieve long-term
performance goals and re-allocates resources as needed. Works to achieve "win-win" solutions to achieve outcomes. Holds others accountable for developing and maintaining partnerships.
Service Orientation: Focuses and aligns actions and decisions on ways to enhance service.
Confidence/Initiative: Has
foresight and asserts a willingness to perform in challenging
situations; learns from mistakes and from feedback from others.
Reward/Recognition: Establishes
and maintains a culture that values, rewards, recognizes and reinforces
accomplishments, contributions and excellence.
Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates
awareness and effective management of emotions in conduct of leadership
responsibilities and how one's emotions impact decisions, actions and
desired outcomes. Manages and adapts emotions in a constructive way to
produce desired results.
Cultural Competence: Considers
and uses cultural dimensions in workforce planning and development, and
the formulation and enacting of business strategies.
Personal Development: Is
open to and seeks new learning opportunities; embraces and responds to
feedback from others. Quick-study who operates well in a business
characterized by fluidity and quick pace.
Travel Requirements
With Middleton, WI as this executive’s
primary jobsite, any travel required will be domestic, no more than
15-20%, primarily to East Aurora, NY (Fisher Price) and El Segundo, CA
(Mattel Corporate Headquarters).
Why a qualified eBusiness professional should take this job
It is fair to say that American Girl is Mattel’s
Center of Excellence for eBusiness and Retail, one of the most
successful online specialty retailers in the world. As successful as it
is as a brand, American Girl recognizes that in order to sustain and
grow its target audience requires the continual creation of new drivers
to ensure that current and future customers remain motivated to return
to American Girl’s
website frequently. The same objective holds true for all Mattel
website properties, and therein lays the even greater potential for
impact. With the actualization of the Mattel Digital Network, children
of all ages and interests will discover whole new ways to interact with
each other, to interact online with their favorite toy brands and to
enrich their play experience.
This IT leader is responsible for driving innovation across all Mattel D2C properties, and for driving the
IT technology strategy across web and retail channels for all Mattel
brands. This leader plans all IT initiatives required by American Girl,
identifies and aligns IT resources, and ensures the successful
implementation of all projects to realize business benefits. In short,
this is an extraordinary opportunity to directly impact the business
transformation of the most established toy brands in the world.
Interested, qualified IT leaders with substantial B2C experience are invited to submit their resumes to Scott Cadwalader at
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. Please mention “VP-IT, eBusiness & Retail Channels” in the subject line.
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