Director, Commercial Excellence

International Paper

• $214K — $275K *
Business Services
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, economics, finance, engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
  • 10+ years of experience in commercial, pricing, or business intelligence roles, including leadership.
  • Proven track record in developing B2B pricing strategies.
  • Strong understanding of commercial contracts and negotiation.
  • Experience in product line management with an emphasis on market positioning and profitability.
  • Ability to translate complex data into actionable insights.
  • Demonstrated experience in leading and developing teams in a global organization.

Responsibilities

  • Lead commercial pricing strategy and execution, ensuring governance and discipline.
  • Establish and enforce pricing principles and approval processes to capture value across regions.
  • Manage the Contract Council and oversee governance for non-standard commercial agreements.
  • Implement clear contract review and escalation processes to maintain compliance and accountability.
  • Oversee product line management, guiding portfolio strategy and resource allocation.
  • Collaborate with Sales teams to align product line strategies with commercial plans.
  • Utilize business intelligence to provide insights on pricing, profitability, and market trends.

Benefits

  • Medical, Dental, Life insurance.
  • Flexible Spending Accounts.
  • Short-term and Long-term Disability.
  • 401(k) with company-funded retirement contributions.
  • Paid Time Off.
Full Job Description
Director, Commercial Excellence

Memphis, TN

Pay Rate:

$214,700 - $275,000

Multiple factors, including Individual experience, skills and abilities will determine where an employee is ultimately placed in the pay range.

Category/Shift:

Salaried Full-Time

Location: Memphis (Hybrid) or Remote (For remote positions, Global Cellulose Fibers will consider residents of the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.)

The Job You Will Perform

The Director, Commercial Excellence will lead the commercial capabilities, governance, insights, and processes that improve profitable growth and strengthen decision-making across Global Cellulose Fibers. The role will serve as the enterprise commercial leader for pricing strategy and execution, Contract Council governance, and business intelligence. This leader will partner across Sales, Finance, Legal, Supply Chain, Operations, and other functions to translate market and customer insights into disciplined commercial actions.
  • Lead the commercial pricing function, including pricing strategy, governance, processes, tools, and execution. This role owns the commercial business decision framework for pricing while partnering closely with Finance on financial analysis, controls, and performance reporting.
  • Establish pricing principles and approval authorities that support value capture, consistency, speed, and accountability across regions, customers, and product lines.
  • Lead the Contract Council and maintain disciplined governance for significant, non-standard, or higher-risk commercial agreements. Ensure decisions are made with the appropriate commercial, legal, financial, operational, and risk perspectives.
  • Drive clear contract review and escalation processes, including decision criteria, documentation standards, approval paths, and follow-through on commitments.
  • Own the commercial product line management process, including portfolio strategy, value propositions, market positioning, product priorities, and recommendations regarding product mix and resource allocation.
  • Partner with Sales leaders to translate product line strategies into customer, channel, and regional commercial plans.
  • Lead business intelligence and commercial analytics capabilities that provide timely, actionable insights on price realization, profitability, mix, customer performance, market trends, and commercial opportunities.
  • Create and standardize commercial processes, policies, operating rhythms, and performance measures that improve consistency and effectiveness across the commercial organization.
  • Identify commercial capability gaps and lead continuous improvement efforts, including adoption of tools, processes, training, and change management.
  • Provide leadership, direction, and development for the commercial excellence team, including the Manager, Business Intelligence and Pricing Strategy.
  • Influence across functions and geographies to align stakeholders, resolve complex commercial issues, and advance enterprise priorities.
  • Prepare recommendations and executive-level materials that clearly communicate commercial performance, risks, opportunities, and required decisions.


Key Areas of Accountability

Pricing Excellence
  • Commercial pricing strategy, governance, segmentation, price-setting processes, approval authorities, execution discipline, and price realization.

Contract Council
  • Cross-functional review and governance of significant or non-standard commercial agreements, including escalation, decision documentation, and compliance with approved terms.

Business Intelligence
  • Commercial performance analytics, dashboards, market and customer insights, data quality, and decision support.

People Leadership
  • Team direction, talent development, prioritization, accountability, and effective deployment of commercial excellence resources.


About You: Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
  • Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, economics, finance, engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
  • 10 or more years of progressively responsible commercial, pricing, product management, sales operations, business intelligence, or related experience, including leadership of managers or professional teams.
  • Demonstrated experience developing and executing pricing strategies in a complex B2B environment.
  • Strong understanding of commercial contracts, negotiation, risk evaluation, and cross-functional contract governance.
  • Experience leading product line or portfolio management, including market positioning, value propositions, mix, profitability, and lifecycle decisions.
  • Ability to translate complex data into clear commercial insights, recommendations, and executive decisions.
  • Demonstrated ability to design and improve commercial processes, governance, measures, and tools.
  • Strong business acumen with the ability to balance growth, profitability, customer value, operational constraints, and risk.
  • Excellent communication, presentation, and influencing skills, including the ability to align senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders.
  • Proven people leadership and talent development capabilities in a matrixed, global organization.
  • Ability to manage multiple priorities, make sound decisions with incomplete information, and drive work from strategy through execution.
  • Experience in a global industrial, manufacturing, commodity, specialty materials, or similarly complex B2B business is preferred.
  • International and domestic travel may be required.


About Global Cellulose Fibers (GCF):

Our GCF business helps customers transform renewable cellulose fibers into essential everyday products. Our safe, high-quality pulp forms the basis for a wide range of applications like towel and tissue products, diapers, feminine care, incontinence and other personal care products that promote health and wellness. In addition, our specialty pulp serves as a sustainable raw material used in construction materials, paints, coatings and more. GCF generated $2.8B in revenue in 2024 and has 3,300 employees globally, with nine manufacturing facilities and eight regional offices. Additional information can be found by visiting globalcellulosefibers.com.

We9ve Got You Covered:

At Global Cellulose Fibers, our employees are our most important asset and that9s reflected in our benefits package that includes health, welfare and retirement plans. We are proud to offer a variety of benefits to support our employees and their families, including:
  • Medical, Dental, Life insurance
  • Flexible Spending Accounts
  • Short-term and Long-term Disability
  • 401(k) and Company-funded retirement contributions
  • Paid Time Off


Physical Location of Position:

Memphis Corporate Office

6400 Poplar Ave.

Memphis, TN 38197

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