Associate Demand Planner

Smithfield Foods - Smithfield, VA

Part-time - Entry Level

Smithfield, VA

Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods

About the position

The Associate Demand Planner at Smithfield Foods is responsible for managing all forecasting activities related to finished goods products across various customers, plants, and distribution locations. This role involves creating and maintaining forecast models, leading consensus meetings, and collaborating with sales and business development teams to ensure accurate demand planning and operational forecasts.

Responsibilities

• Accountable for all forecasting activities associated with finished goods products, customers, plants, and distribution locations.
• Creates and maintains forecast models for product categories at a SKU level, incorporating business intelligence and forecast information from various sources.
• Leads monthly consensus meetings with Sales and Business Development and participates in S&OP meetings.
• Gathers, analyzes, and validates data to create statistical forecasts using statistical modeling software.
• Applies error analysis techniques to improve forecasting accuracy.
• Reviews sales plans, business development updates, and demand drivers, recommending adjustments for operational forecasts.
• Tracks sales inputs to new and lost business and sales promotions, aligning forecasts to changing demand by distribution center.
• Facilitates a collaborative planning process with sales and business development personnel to achieve consensus for operational demand forecasts.
• Maintains demand planning system and software, monitoring trends in forecast errors and taking action to improve accuracy.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year college or university in business administration or related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Proven analytical ability combined with attention to detail.
• Knowledge of SAP is a plus.
• Strong mathematical aptitude and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent oral, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented with excellent customer service skills.
• Ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams in a complex matrix organization.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with Nielsen data and Logility software.

Benefits

• Competitive Pay
• Annual Bonus Earning Potential
• Comprehensive Health Insurance
• Retirement Benefits
• Education benefit available to full and part-time employees
• Opportunities for career growth and professional development
• Tuition assistance