Position Overview:
The Director of Demand Planning is a critical leadership role responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the company's demand plan while translating that plan into timely and optimal purchasing decisions. This role manages a team of four Demand Planners and one Senior Demand Planner, leading the end-to-end forecasting process and overseeing the generation of purchase orders (POs) to maintain service levels and inventory targets.
This Manager acts as the primary link between Sales, Marketing, and Warehouse Operations, driving the consensus demand review.
Responsibilities:
1. Demand Planning & Strategy
· Process Ownership: Own the entire monthly demand forecasting cycle for a defined product portfolio, ensuring timely submission of the final consensus forecast.
· Strategic Forecasting: Oversee the development of both short-term (1-3 month) and long-term (12-24 month) demand forecasts, incorporating market intelligence, sales trends, promotional plans, and new product introductions (NPis).
· CPFR Leadership: Lead and facilitate the customer scheduled CPFR (Collaborative Planning, Forecast and Replenishment) meetings
· Performance Management: Establish, track, and report on key performance indicators (KPis) including Forecast Accuracy, Order Fill Rates and implement continuous improvement initiatives to enhance forecasting excellence.
2. Team Leadership & Development
· Management: Directly manage a team of Demand Planners and one Sr. Demand Planner, providing coaching, mentorship, and performance feedback.
· Workload Management: Assign and balance forecasting responsibilities, ensuring adequate coverage and expertise across product lines and geographical areas.
· Talent Development: Identify training needs, foster professional growth, and mentor the team to utilize advanced statistical methods and leverage forecasting software capabilities.
3. Procurement & Inventory Management
· Purchase Order Generation: Oversee the team's process for converting the finalized demand plan into actionable purchase orders (POs), ensuring POs are aligned with inventory strategies, lead times, and supplier agreements.
· Inventory Optimization: Partner with Supply Planning and Finance to set optimal inventory targets (safety stock, min/max levels) and monitor inventory health, driving actions to minimize excess, slow-moving, and obsolete (ES&O) stock.
· Supplier Relations: Work with Procurement/Sourcing to monitor supplier performance related to on-time delivery and quantity (OTIF) and address any supplier constraints that impact PO fulfillment.
· Expediting: Need to review timing of inventory, work directly with our suppliers to improve ship dates. Be able to make expedited shipment recommendations, either through Ocean or Air to management to make the decision on cost benefit.
4. Other duties as assigned
Qualifications:
· 3-5 years of experience directly managing or leading a team of planners
· 5-7 years Forecasting or Demand Planning experience
· Advanced Excel skills
· Strong working knowledge of MRP/ERP systems and the integration of demand planning with purchase order generation. (NetSuite experience preferred)
· Experience with StockIQ strongly preferred
· Proven expertise in Statistical Forecasting methodologies and proficiency with advanced planning systems
· Strong problem solving
· Analytical skills
· Excellent organizational and time-management skills
· Excellent communication, presentation, and influencing skills, capable of driving consensus among senior leaders
Education Requirements:
· Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience