Career Opportunity

Change Management Lead, Next Generation Transformation

Ref #:

W151848

Department:

Business Strategy

City:

Plan-les-Ouates

State/Province:

Geneva

Location:

Switzerland

Pay Range Max

Pay Range Min

Company Description

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) is a global leader in the design, marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in five categories: apparel, accessories, home, fragrances, and hospitality. For more than 50 years, Ralph Lauren's reputation and distinctive image have been consistently developed across an expanding number of products, brands and international markets. The Company's brand names, which include Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, Chaps, among others, constitute one of the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands.

At Ralph Lauren, we unite and inspire the communities within our company as well as those in which we serve by amplifying voices and perspectives to create a culture of belonging, ensuring inclusion, and fairness for all. We foster a culture of inclusion through: Talent, Education & Communication, Employee Groups and Celebration.

Position Overview

The Change Management Lead is a critical role within the program, that has a wide understanding of the business, understands the culture in RL and knows how to make change happen. They will be responsible for the overall change plan and strategy. The initial focus will be on the ERP program, however they will be responsible for driving out change across all three of the major programs under the NGT umbrella.   

The role will be the primary contact for the change management training and support teams. Initially the role will participate in the selection of a strategic partner to provide the experience and support to assist RL on the journey. In addition, a program to define the target operating model will be undertaken and this role will be key in understanding the impact of these findings and then assisting with the rollout of the findings along with the change management partner.

The change management lead will create the overall approach to managing change and communications for NGT and coordinate going forward within RL.

The role will work closely with the RL teams and chosen strategic partners to develop and deliver this program for change.

The NGT ERP project will implement the ERP transformation across RL by region. During the design phase of the program the change management strategies and plans will be developed. A key activity very early in the program, will be to develop the communication strategies to share the direction to assist in stakeholders buying into the change.

The role may involve some travel and will require working with colleagues of the same function in other regions. This is a truly global program, so collaborating in the Ralph Lauren way is required.  


Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Program Initiation Team objectives

  • Creation of a detailed and documented understanding of the current RL AS-IS business processes across all 3 regions
  • Creation of a detailed and documented understanding of the TO-BE business processes together with the ERP /Edge vendors’ experts identifying any gaps, compared to the AS-IS business process, for resolution during the design phase 
  • Identification of any specific interim operations requirements considering the implementation plan will require multiple transition steps over regions and time before the new ERP is fully deployed
  • Creation of a detailed RL Project team structure ensuring the headcount and budget requirements required to support the project are included in the project budget. This includes a plan to on-board / off-board RL Project Team members at the right moments during the project’s lifecycle
  • Creation of skills inventory and training pathways for upskilling soft and hard skills required for RL Project Team members and RL business users. This includes a plan for training and budgetary requirements as well as proposing a plan for on-going training to support the RL business after the project
  • Creation of the overall change management strategy, plans and communications for the program

The role will work very closely with the application and the business leads to understand the impact on business streams, processes and people. It will develop an approach to monitor change and assist in the planning of deployments so that change is being carefully considered and that the impact of change is not too great for any one area at any time. 

This program is scheduled to run for at least 4 years and this role is expected to manage all the phases of change management through the global deployment across all regions.   

Responsibilities include

  • Identification of the need for change and communicating it to stakeholders, working closely with the appointed partner to ensure that program wide plans are in place
  • Development and implementation of change management strategies and plans
  • Engagement of stakeholders and build stakeholder buy-in for the change
  • Assessment of the impact of the change on business processes, systems, and people which is coordinated across all programs to ensure that change is coordinated
  • Development and delivery of change management training and communication programs
  • Monitoring and reporting on change progress and effectiveness
  • Identification and mitigation of potential risks associated with the change
  • Collaboration with project teams to ensure that change management activities are aligned with project timelines and objectives
  • Evaluation of the success of change management activities and recommendation of improvements for future changes
  • Ensure that the project shares success
  • Preparation of the various teams as much as possible for the upcoming phases. Use of the engagement to educate, but also to listen and absorb and represent back the findings of the teams
  • Assistance in identifying training needs to facilitate knowledge required by the teams

Experience, Skills, and Knowledge

  • Minimum 10+ Years of experience with a proven track record in a related global role
  • Experience within a vertically integrated retail environment; fashion apparel experience is highly desirable
  • Exceptional written and oral communication skills. Must be adept at translating complex concepts into actionable plans
  • Ability to confidently engage with and influence senior executives including board level
  • Strong analytical skills: Leverages data to make strategic decisions
  • The ideal candidate is pragmatic, a problem solver, thrives under pressure, and excels at multitasking. Has the ability to make decisive and timely decisions while acting with authority
  • Strong strategic vision but is also comfortable taking a hands-on approach to achieve results
  • Can be based in UK/CH/NY/NJ