Senior Associate Manager, Supply & Demand Planning and Procurement

Department: Supply Chain
Reports To: Head of Supply Chain
Location: New Jersey
Employment Type: Full-Time


Position Summary


The Senior Associate Manager, Supply & Demand Planning and Procurement will play a key role in connecting customer demand, production requirements, inventory, and supplier capacity across Yummy Açaí's growing food manufacturing operation.


This position will own and continuously improve the company's demand and supply planning processes, translate sales and operational requirements into actionable purchasing and inventory plans, and work closely with Procurement, Production, Warehouse, Logistics, Sales, Finance, and Quality to ensure materials and finished goods are available when needed while controlling inventory investment and minimizing shortages, excess stock, and obsolescence.


The role combines analytical planning with hands-on execution and supplier management. The successful candidate will be comfortable working in a fast-growing manufacturing environment where priorities can change quickly and where strong planning discipline, cross-functional communication, and proactive problem solving are essential.


Key Responsibilities


Demand & Supply Planning

• Develop and maintain rolling demand and supply forecasts using historical demand, customer requirements, sales projections, seasonality, promotional activity, production capacity, lead times, and inventory levels.
  
  
• Translate demand forecasts into material requirements, purchasing plans, production inputs, and inventory targets.
  
  
• Partner with Sales, Production, Warehouse, Finance, and other stakeholders to establish a reliable planning cadence and improve visibility into upcoming business requirements.
  
  
• Identify potential shortages, capacity constraints, excess inventory, and supply risks early and recommend corrective actions.
  
  
• Support the development and continuous improvement of the company's S&OP / demand and supply planning process.
  
  
• Conduct scenario planning to evaluate changes in demand, supplier availability, production capacity, lead times, and inventory requirements.
  
  

Procurement & Supplier Management

• Develop purchasing requirements based on demand forecasts, production schedules, current inventory, supplier lead times, and safety-stock requirements.
  
  
• Partner with suppliers to maintain appropriate availability of raw materials, ingredients, packaging, and other production requirements.
  
  
• Support supplier negotiations related to pricing, lead times, minimum-order quantities, service levels, and purchasing terms.
  
  
• Monitor supplier performance and proactively address delivery, availability, quality, and service risks.
  
  
• Work closely with the Procurement and Logistics team on purchase orders, open-order management, inbound requirements, and supplier follow-up.
  
  
• Identify opportunities for alternate sourcing, cost improvement, supplier consolidation, and supply-risk reduction.
  
  

Inventory Management

• Establish and monitor appropriate inventory levels, reorder points, safety stock, and purchasing parameters.
  
  
• Balance material availability and customer service requirements against working-capital and inventory-cost objectives.
  
  
• Monitor slow-moving, excess, and obsolete inventory and coordinate actions to reduce inventory exposure.
  
  
• Partner with Warehouse, Production, Finance, and Procurement to improve inventory accuracy and material availability.
  
  

Analytics & Performance Management

• Develop and maintain supply chain KPIs including forecast accuracy, forecast bias, inventory turns, service levels, stock-outs, supplier performance, material availability, excess and obsolete inventory, and purchasing performance.
  
  
• Analyze planning and purchasing data to identify trends, root causes, operational risks, and process-improvement opportunities.
  
  
• Create clear reporting and recommendations for Supply Chain leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
  
  
• Support ERP/MRP system utilization and improvements related to forecasting, purchasing, inventory, and material planning.
  
  

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Serve as a central planning link between Supply Chain, Production, Sales, Finance, Warehouse, Logistics, Quality, and other business functions.
  
  
• Lead recurring planning and supply review discussions and ensure agreed actions are tracked through completion.
  
  
• Work with Production to ensure purchasing and inventory decisions support production schedules and changing operational priorities.
  
  
• Support new-product launches, packaging or ingredient transitions, and product phase-ins/phase-outs from a supply planning and procurement perspective.
  
  
• Provide guidance and planning direction to team members supporting procurement and logistics execution.
  
  

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations, Business, Finance, Engineering, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
  
  
• Approximately 5+ years of progressive experience in supply planning, demand planning, procurement, inventory management, or a related supply chain function.
  
  
• Experience within food, beverage, CPG, consumer products, or another manufacturing environment strongly preferred.
  
  
• Demonstrated experience translating demand forecasts into supply, inventory, purchasing, or production requirements.
  
  
• Working knowledge of MRP/ERP systems and inventory-planning principles.
  
  
• Strong Excel and analytical capabilities; experience with reporting, forecasting, or data-visualization tools is preferred.
  
  
• Experience managing supplier relationships and supporting commercial negotiations.
  
  
• Strong understanding of inventory management, lead times, reorder points, safety stock, and material availability.
  
  
• Ability to work cross-functionally and communicate effectively with both operational teams and senior leadership.
  
  
• Strong organizational, analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
  
  
• Ability to work independently, prioritize competing requirements, and operate effectively in a fast-paced and growing organization.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with food manufacturing ingredients, packaging, refrigerated/frozen products, or other perishable supply chains.
  
  
• Experience developing or improving S&OP, demand-planning, supply-planning, or MRP processes.
  
  
• Experience supporting new-product introductions and material or packaging transitions.
  
  
• Supply chain certification such as CPIM, CSCP, or CPSM.
  
  
• Experience implementing or improving ERP/MRP planning functionality.
  
  

Key Performance Indicators


Performance in this role may be measured through improvement in forecast accuracy, material availability, supplier performance, inventory turns, stock-outs, excess and obsolete inventory, purchasing effectiveness, service levels, and the reliability of the company's overall demand and supply planning process.