La Mer Executive Director, Global Business Planning

About La Mer

La Mer is a globally revered luxury skincare house, born from Dr. Max Huber’s quest to harness the restorative power of the sea and defined by its iconic Miracle Broth™. As an employer, La Mer offers talent the rare opportunity to work at the intersection of scientific curiosity, artisanal precision, and high-touch luxury service. Within the Estée Lauder Companies portfolio, the brand cultivates a culture of excellence, collaboration, and thoughtful innovation, where teams contribute to exceptional client experiences, refined product storytelling, and uncompromising quality. La Mer seeks individuals who bring elegance, integrity, and a passion for transformative beauty.

Role & Responsibilities

• Lead the Global Business Planning function, establishing and refining analytical frameworks, planning processes, and business insights that support global brand strategy and long-term growth.
• Identify and quantify business opportunities and risks across regions, categories, franchises, channels, and products, translating insights into action with cross-functional leaders.
• Develop executive-level analyses and scenario planning for strategic decisions, business reviews, investment choices, and evolving brand priorities.
• Lead innovation forecasting strategy in partnership with Global Marketing, Product Development, Finance, BVC, and regional teams throughout the Corporate Innovation Process.
• Establish and communicate global new-product forecasting principles and processes aligned with brand strategy, historical performance, market dynamics, and launch objectives.
• Provide strategic leadership for new-product business cases, assessing competitive benchmarks, forecast assumptions, cannibalization, net extra, and longer-term potential.
• Align with regional Brand and Demand Planning teams on new forecast and cannibalization assumptions, reflecting global launch strategies and relevant market dynamics.
• Oversee forecast development throughout project stages, identify material changes, challenge assumptions, and escalate risks and opportunities as appropriate.
• Connect new-product launches with planned phase-outs of existing items, assessing implications for demand, inventory, and business performance.
• Lead the brand’s Integrated Business Planning (IBP/MBR) process, connecting demand, financial, innovation, commercial, and supply plans.
• Lead review and reconciliation of the Demand Plan and Financial Estimate, identify material gaps, drivers, risks, and opportunities, and align regions and markets on actions and accountability.
• Establish a forward-looking view of brand demand and business performance, elevating issues requiring leadership attention and enabling earlier decisions.
• Drive saleable and promotional demand sufficiency across regions and affiliates, identifying gaps and developing mitigation strategies with stakeholders.
• Lead refreshable long-range sales projections at SKU, subcategory, category, and franchise levels across saleable and promotional products.
• Develop scenario analyses to show leadership the potential impact of changes in innovation, market performance, demand assumptions, and strategic choices.
• Develop and implement processes, tools, and ways of working that strengthen planning discipline, cross-functional collaboration, and organizational effectiveness.
• Lead, coach, and develop the Global Business Planning team, building functional expertise, strategic thinking, analytical capabilities, and a strong talent pipeline.
• Advance data, visualization, and analytical tools to improve the speed, accessibility, and effectiveness of business insights and decision support.

Qualifications

• Exceptional business and analytical acumen, with the ability to synthesize large, complex datasets into clear insights, strategic implications, and actionable recommendations for senior leadership.
• Deep understanding of demand planning and forecasting principles, with the ability to connect demand forecasts to financial plans, innovation strategies, and business objectives.
• Proven ability to influence and align senior stakeholders across functions, regions, and markets.
• Strong executive communication and presentation skills, including the ability to simplify complex issues and communicate a clear point of view to senior leadership.
• Ability to anticipate business risks and opportunities, constructively challenge assumptions, and drive decisions and action in ambiguous or rapidly changing environments.
• Systems-thinking mindset and strong understanding of interactions across a demand-driven supply chain and the broader end-to-end business planning ecosystem.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint; experience with data visualization, analytics, and planning platforms such as Tableau, Alteryx, or comparable tools.
• Experience in prestige beauty, luxury, consumer products, or another global consumer-facing industry preferred.

Skills

Benefits

Eligible employees may receive medical, dental, and vision insurance; wellness and family support programs; life and disability insurance; retirement savings plans; education-related programs; paid holidays and vacation time. Eligible employees may also participate in applicable commission or bonus plans, subject to plan guidelines.

Culture

La Mer fosters a refined, innovation-led workplace where scientific curiosity, artisanal craftsmanship, and a deep respect for the brand’s ocean-inspired heritage shape every decision. As an employer, it encourages collaboration, excellence, and high-touch service, empowering teams to deliver transformative luxury skincare experiences with precision and care.

About Cerulean

Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.