John Whittaker

Business Manager at CDB Group
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Contact Information
Location
AU
Languages
  • English Native or bilingual proficiency

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Foresto Zhang

we know john for an couple of years and he is an great partner. he is very professional on the new product set up and we highly recommend any company who would like to set up business in ANZ maeket.John is very trustful.

Doug Borne

John ability to understand the market dynamics combined with his attention to detail made my role a lot less stressful. When tasked with taking over the online strategy John worked tirelessly at both a data level and a strategy level to ensure the the project succeeded. A man to be trusted with a strong work ethic I have no hesitation in recommending John.

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Experience

    • New Zealand
    • Manufacturing
    • Business Manager
      • Mar 2019 - Present

      ● Product Strategy Development & Execution | Working with factories and Asian sourcing team to ensure our categories are moving in the right direction, keeping up with the latest trends and remaining relevant to the end consumer.● Major Account Management | Key contact to support retail buyers from Woolworths, JB Hifi, Bunnings, Officeworks, Big W, Target, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, & Travel Retail.● Sales & Stock Forecasting | Setting our sales forecast and managing/reporting the results in line with company objectives. Forecasting incoming stock from end to end, ensuring inventory targets are met. ● Vendor Management | Working closely with external suppliers to ensure they align with our business requirements. Negotiating Pricing / Terms and ensuring orders are delivered on schedule and to the correct quality.● Branded & Private Label | Managing our in-house brand (Jackson) to maintain its current position as one of Australia’s largest electrical accessories brands.Managing global brands such as Tile (Mobile Accessories) CAT (Mobile Accessories) and various Smart Home brands.Working with key retailers on FOB Private label business. ● Stakeholder Management | Regularly reporting results to the senior management team.Setting objectives and supporting the product management team (AU & Asia) to deliver our business strategy. Show less

    • Product Manager
      • Jul 2017 - Mar 2019

      ● New Product Development | Working with customers and factories to develop new products driven by trends and consumer insights. Categories include: Decorative Lighting, Electrical Accessories, Mobile Accessories & Smart Home Security. ● Pricing Management | Costing product out from factory to landed (USD to AUD), considering tooling & compliance.Regularly monitoring market retail pricing to ensure our products remain competitive.● Brand Messaging | Worked closely with the graphic design team to develop packaging, customer presentations and online website content including social media.● Sales Team Support | Regular training on new product ranges and updating sales targets. Supporting customer service team where required. ● Tracking Marketing Spend | Co-ordinating marketing activities with outside agencies and ensuring activations come in on-time and within the set budget. Show less

    • Product Manager
      • Jun 2015 - Jun 2017

      ● New Product Development | Working with customers and factories to develop new products driven by trends and consumer insights. Categories include: Decorative Lighting, Electrical Accessories, Mobile Accessories & Smart Home Security. ● Pricing Management | Costing product out from factory to landed (USD to AUD), considering tooling & compliance.Regularly monitoring market retail pricing to ensure our products remain competitive.● Brand Messaging | Worked closely with the graphic design team to develop packaging, customer presentations and online website content including social media.● Sales Team Support | Regular training on new product ranges and updating sales targets. Supporting customer service team where required. ● Tracking Marketing Spend | Co-ordinating marketing activities with outside agencies and ensuring activations come in on-time and within the set budget. Show less

    • United States
    • Business Consulting and Services
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Online & Sourcing Manager
      • Mar 2012 - Jun 2015

      ● Market Analysis | Researching new market & product opportunities and building strategic category plans. ● New Business Development | Identifying new customers across online and bricks & mortar retail. ● Sourcing Strategy | Regularly attending trade shows to ensure a solid pipeline of new products into the market. ● Online Store | Project managed the development of 2 online stores with external software developers. ● Account Management | Presented range reviews to key accounts and managed the day to day requests. Show less

    • United Kingdom
    • Retail Office Equipment
    • Senior Product Manager
      • Sep 2010 - Jan 2012

      ● Team Leadership | Direct day to day management of 4 product managers, 2 UK based and 2 Asia based, including management of progression plans for each team member. Successfully managed the team with overall responsibility of £50 million sales, and supported their progression through the business.● Sales, Share and Marketing Strategy | Monthly presentation of strategy progression to the board. Developed 18 month rolling strategy with key stakeholder buy-in, leading to 25% growth year on year. Responsibility for producing trade board report each month for the bathroom category.● Supplier Management | Ensure all vendor agreements are fully completed and up to date, including negotiation of key trading terms: Payment, Settlement, Rebates, Marketing support, and Returns. I personally negotiated in excess of £100k of additional marketing allowances to support our strategy.● Budget Management and Sales Forecasting | Worked closely with the finance and supply chain teams to ensure stock holding/working capital is maintained at an appropriate level for the business. Implemented a promotional calendar to successfully relieve the business of £500k of excess stock over 3 months.● Development of Key Trading Partners | Identification of key strategic partners, and putting the correct amount of resource in place to ensure maximum mutual benefits. Developed a range of private label shower products for the independent retail channel, which achieved an annual turnover of £3 million. Show less

    • Product Manager
      • May 2008 - Sep 2010

      ● New Product Development | Driving product through the NPD process, working towards key launch deadlines. Managing product through its life cycle and identifying opportunities to optimise performance.● Pricing | Regular monitoring and review of retail prices to ensure maximum benefit is achieved for sales and margin. Negotiated seasonal CPR’ with suppliers to achieve 3% growth on GP vs. previous year.● Sourcing and Managing FMCG | Travelled to Asia every 3 months to tender product to new and existing suppliers. Worked closely with suppliers and the compliance team to ensure correct specification, price and container fill is achieved.● Identify Opportunities for Category Growth | Regularly attended trade shows and exhibitions in Europe and Asia to identify trends and build into the future category plan. Working closely with the store merchandising teams to identify best practice and develop innovative solutions.● Spot Buy and Footfall Drivers | Work with new and existing suppliers to identify FMCG to boost sales and market share in optimum selling periods. Show less

    • Assistant Product Manager
      • Sep 2007 - May 2008

      ● Provide Effective link between Asia and Europe | Co-ordinate communications between the UK based product managers and Asia based project managers. Successfully integrated into the culture of working within an Asian team.● Project Management | Ensured the projects where delivered in scope, on time and within budget. Gained valuable manufacturing experience spending 50% of time in the Chinese factories.● Customer Presentations | Supported the account management team in preparing presentations for a number of the largest DIY retailers across Europe, and feeding back specific requirements to the project management team in Asia. Show less

    • Graduate Trainee
      • Aug 2005 - Sep 2007

      Worked within different departments to get an overall appreciation of the business, and identify how they successfully work together. Worked in; Logistics, Finance, Marketing and Account management on various projects.

    • United States
    • Installation Team
      • May 2004 - Aug 2005

      The role involved working within a team that installed warehouse storage solutions throughout the UK. We had to work off detailed plans and to tight deadlines to ensure customer expectations where delivered. The role involved working within a team that installed warehouse storage solutions throughout the UK. We had to work off detailed plans and to tight deadlines to ensure customer expectations where delivered.

Education

  • University of Liverpool
    Bachelor of Science with Honours, Business Information Systems
    2001 - 2004
  • Thornleigh Salesain College
    A-Level, Mathematics, Business Studies, Information Technology, General Studies,
    1998 - 2001
  • Mount St Josephs High School
    GCSE, Maths, English, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, History, German, Information Technology, System Design
    1993 - 1998

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