Sarah E. Baist

About Sarah E. Baist

Experienced people leader in space planning, category optimization, and process improvement within the CPG and food & beverage industry. I specialize in data analytics (Nielsen, Tableau, PowerBI, Excel), project management, and cross-functional collaboration to enhance operational efficiency and business outcomes. With a track record of leading high-performing teams and streamlining workflows, I thrive on turning insights into action to drive growth.

Experience

1. Manager Commercial Execution Category Space

   Coca-Cola Consolidated

   Jul 2023 — Present

   Led a team of 7-9 analysts delivering high-impact planograms (POGs) that supported commercial execution, sales initiatives, and our Home Market and FSOP customers. • Identified process gaps and drove change management initiatives, implementing actionable solutions that improved team efficiency, POG execution, and onboarding of new captaincies.• Influenced cross-functional leaders to align retailer objectives with Coca-Cola Consolidated priorities, delivering tailored, data-driven space recommendations to key retail partners.• Leveraged Nielsen and customer scan data to identify cold vault growth opportunities and advocate for improved positioning, fair market share (FMS) gains, and incremental space with customers.• Prepared and delivered executive-ready insights and recommendations to senior leadership, highlighting achievements and uncovering growth opportunities to support long-term growth objectives.• Designed and implemented a standardized intake and prioritization process in ServiceNow, partnering with IT to improve visibility, governance, and execution of captaincies and other POG support projects across teams.• Identified team capability opportunities and collaborated with talent development to design a targeted training plan focused on enhancing customer-centric skills and expertise within the team.

Education

• North Carolina State University

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Political Science and Criminology

  2010 — 2014

Skills

• Teamwork
• Dynamic Routing
• Planning
• Management
• Logistics
• Creativity
• Public Speaking
• Social Media
• Wordpress
• Critical Thinking and Analysis
• Leadership
• Organizational Skills
• Googledocs
• Customer Service
• Powerpoint
• Mac Os
• Event Planning
• Windows
• Problem-Solving
• Microsoft Word
• Team Leadership
• Appleworks
• Research
• Student Development
• Facebook
• Distribution
• Verbal/Written Communication