Sales Inventory Operations Planning Manager (SIOP)

About the position

The Planning Manager is responsible for leading the integrated planning process that aligns sales forecasts with supply planning, inventory management and operational capabilities. This role involves collaborating with various departments to ensure that supply and demand are balanced effectively, enhancing customer satisfaction while optimizing inventory levels and operations efficiency. Success in this role demands both hands-on efforts to work through low level details as well as a high level creative and analytical mindset to promote information flow and facilitate decision making. This position reports directly to the Site General Manager/Site Leader and with a dotted line to the Global Corporate SIOP team.

Responsibilities

• Lead the SIOP process, including demand planning, supply planning, and inventory management.
• Facilitate monthly SIOP meetings with cross-functional teams to review forecasts, inventory levels, and capacity constraints.
• Drive transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement through the global SIOP Process.
• Collaborate with the sales/BD team, strategic sales support and account managers to incorporate market trends and customer insights into demand planning.
• Gather, sanitize and validate historical data and forecast inputs (both internal and external data) to support the best demand forecast possible.
• Aggregate and disaggregate forecast and supply data to help key stakeholders make informed decisions.
• Use recognized statistical modeling metrics, KPIs, such as forecast accuracy and Mean Absolute Percent Error (MAPE) to help make informed decisions.
• Provide capacity planning requirements/needs for labor and machines to meet demand.
• Coordinate with procurement and production/operations teams to ensure alignment with demand forecasts.
• Develop supply plans that optimize inventory levels while meeting customer service goals.
• Develop 'what-If' scenarios that contemplate the impacts of changes to demand and supply assumptions and translate those impacts to the financials.
• Monitor inventory levels and turnover rates, implementing strategies to reduce excess stock and stock outs.
• Establish and maintain inventory KPI’s to assess performance and drive continuous improvement.
• Work closely with sales, production/operations, human resources, engineering, quality, procurement and finance teams to align strategies and communicate changes in supply and demand.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for SIOP-related issues across departments.
• Utilize data analytics tools including Power BI to assess performance metrics and provide actionable insights to senior management.
• Prepare regular reports on SIOP performance, highlighting key trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Enhance existing and help develop new capabilities and tools to support the Global SIOP process.
• Identify areas for process improvement within the SIOP framework and implement best practices.
• Stay current with industry trends and technologies to enhance the SIOP process.
• Participate in Continuous Improvement events.
• Provide training and support to team members, production planners and master schedulers on SIOP processes and tools.
• Foster a culture of collaboration and continuous learning within the SIOP team.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Engineering or related field; equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• 6+ years of experience in demand planning and/or operations planning.
• Experience in managing production plans in dynamic and volatile market environments.
• Understand manufacturing planning, forecasting, and scheduling principles.
• Knowledge of Lean/Six Sigma principles.
• Strong analytical skills with proficiency in data analysis tools (Excel, SQL, Power BI).
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Experience with SIOP software and ERP systems (SAP, Epicor, Oracle).
• Ability to work collaboratively in a cross-functional environment.

Nice-to-haves

• Aerospace experience.
• Planning certifications (CPIM, CPF, CADP, DDP).
• Strong project management skills and experience.
• Green Belt or black belt certification.