Vanessa Wise

Experience

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  Federated Merchandising Group / Lazarus Department Stores Corporate Office

  Jun 1994 - Mar 1995

  Assistant Buyer | Women's Moderate Sportswear
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  Mercantile Department Stores Corporate Office

  Apr 1995 - Aug 1998

  Corporate Buyer | Accessories, Handbags
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  EssilorLuxottica

  Sept 1998 - Dec 2023

  Provided executive-level leadership and strategic direction for new products to fuel 20+ Rx Channels (brick-and-mortar retail, wholesale, franchisee, and e-commerce), across highly matrixed organizations. Chief integrator and technology expert for new Rx lens products (materials, coatings, processes). Increased product launches up to 1,500 annually through process optimization, and eliminated a two-year backlog. Led constantly evolving teams through stage gate process - IT, data, engineering, quality, manufacturing, sourcing, procurement, planning, brands, and commercial. Presented weekly recaps to business leaders to gather feedback, ensure transparency and alignment. Key Contributions: Reduced qualification time by 75% (to 3 weeks) with leadership and technical expertise. Increased business growth with improving new product qualifications 30x (to 1,500 per year). Led innovation/supply chain strategy to set up labs in South America, Europe, and AsiaImproved global bench strength in Asia and Europe to triple innovation growth. Partnered with vendors to develop first to market products, negotiated free access to use vendor's patented process for internal manufacturing. a. Fueled unparalleled company growth for Ray-Ban, Oakley, and Costa by qualifying the network with new assortments. Show less Steered efforts to effectively manage $200M+ spending across four commodities (lens, equipment, consumables, cleaning accessories, 3rd party labs), the largest category globally for all retail channels, including LensCrafters, Target Optical, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, EyeMed, and wholesale. Held purchases flat to support 2x sales growth, negotiated $75M in cost savings (cut premium product costs by 50%), and increased the inventory consignment by 70% ($17M) while maintaining strong vendor partnerships and vendor fill rates at 99% (best in the industry). Negotiated new business models including cost plus 10%, OEM supply chains, and offshore, along with robust contingency plans. Led multi-functional teams in product development/manufacturing, and managed buying teams across North America (Ohio, California) and Asia (China).  Achieved $52M in cost reductions, with a long-standing vendor baseManaged global integrations (mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, startups) in North America, South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Optimized 60% of company’s profits through category management, merchandising and supplier strategy globally. Preserved $10M in revenue and saved $2M in cost through the development of progressive designs. Launched first-to-market lens innovations, accounted for 70%+ sales by differentiating products (50 per year). Show less

  • Senior Director | Product Development

    Jan 2023 - Dec 2023

  • Senior Director | Advanced Sourcing, Innovation, New Products

    Oct 2012 - Dec 2022

  • Senior Director | Global Procurement Lens, Equipment, Consumables

    Feb 2009 - Oct 2012

  • Director | Rx Lens Sourcing & Strategy

    Jan 2005 - Feb 2009

  • Senior Manager | Lens Product & Buying

    Sept 1998 - Jan 2005
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  Wise Advise

  Jan 2024 - now

  Independent Consultant