Demand Planning

Demand & Supply Planner - Grocery

Job Summary

The Grocery Demand & Supply Planner is responsible for developing, managing, and continuously improving demand forecasts and supply plans across grocery SKUs and programs. This role plays a critical part in aligning sales expectations with purchasing, inventory, and financial strategies across defined planning horizons.

This individual partners closely with Sales and Purchasing to build accurate, time-phased demand plans, while collaborating with Marketing, Finance, and Logistics to ensure effective execution across the end-to-end supply chain. This role requires both strategic oversight and hands-on execution in a fast-paced, high-growth Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain demand forecasts across weekly, monthly, and seasonal planning horizons
• Translate sales inputs, promotional plans, and market trends into accurate, data-driven forecasts
• Partner with Sales and Marketing to incorporate customer programs, promotions, and new product launches into demand plans
• Collaborate with Purchasing and Operations to convert demand forecasts into executable supply and procurement plans
• Build and manage supply plans aligned with supplier lead times, production constraints, and distribution requirements
• Lead or support monthly demand review and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) / Integrated Business Planning processes
• Monitor forecast accuracy and continuously refine forecasting models and assumptions
• Analyze POS data, shipment history, promotional lift, and seasonality to improve forecast performance
• Balance service levels, inventory turns, and shrink/spoilage, particularly in perishable categories
• Identify risks and opportunities (e.g., demand variability, supply disruptions) and recommend mitigation strategies
• Partner with Finance to align forecasts with budgets, revenue targets, and financial plans
• Coordinate with Logistics to ensure plans are operationally feasible
• Maintain data integrity across forecasting systems and tools

Education & Certifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Finance, Statistics, or a related field preferred but not required
• Professional certifications are a plus:
• APICS / ASCM CPIM (Certified in Production & Inventory Management)
• APICS / ASCM CSCP (Certified Supply Chain Professional)
• IBF CPF (Certified Professional Forecaster)

Experience

• 5+ years of experience in demand planning, supply chain planning, or forecasting within a CPG environment (food industry preferred)

• Experience managing SKU-level forecasts across multiple retailers and sales channels

• Experience supporting or leading S&OP / Integrated Business Planning processes

• Proven experience collaborating cross-functionally with:

• Sales

• Marketing

• Finance

• Operations

• Vendors and external partners

• Experience with new product launches and promotional forecasting

• Experience working with retailer POS data (e.g., Nielsen, IRI, or retailer portals)

Technical Skills

• Advanced Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, Power Query, forecasting models)

• Experience with demand planning or ERP systems (e.g., SAP, NetSuite, Oracle)

• Strong analytical capability with the ability to interpret:

• POS data

• Shipment history

• Promotional lift

• Seasonal trends

• Experience with data visualization tools (e.g., Power BI) preferred

Leadership & Business Skills

• Ability to lead monthly demand review meetings and contribute to S&OP processes
• Strong cross-functional leadership, particularly with Sales and Marketing teams
• Ability to translate sales pipeline and promotional activity into statistical forecasts
• Experience managing and improving forecast accuracy metrics
• Ability to balance customer service levels, inventory investment, and operational constraints
• Capable of mentoring others and helping build demand planning capabilities across the organization

Industry Knowledge

Strong understanding of food CPG dynamics, including:

• Retailer replenishment processes and lead times
• Promotional calendars and trade spend management
• Shelf resets and product lifecycle management
• Perishability and shelf-life considerations
• Co-manufacturing and supplier constraints

Additional Attributes

• Hands-on and comfortable building and adjusting forecasts directly
• Able to work effectively with imperfect or incomplete data
• Strong partnership mindset with sales leaders and key account managers
• Comfortable managing rapid SKU growth and innovation pipelines in a dynamic environment
• Ability to help scale processes and develop team capabilities as the organization grows