Sr. Planner, Demand Planning

Ferrara Pan Candy Company - Chicago, IL

Full-time - Mid Level

Chicago, IL

Food and Beverage Retailers

About the position

As a Senior Planner in Demand Planning, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the demand forecast strategy for the organization. This individual contributor position is essential for driving accurate and strategic demand forecasts that influence various departments. You will collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Supply Planning, and other teams to develop and maintain comprehensive demand plans that align with the company's business objectives.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and refine 36-month demand forecasts, complementing the Sales team's 18-month forecast.
• Review statistical forecast outputs and incorporate insights from sales and market intelligence to ensure accuracy.
• Analyze historical sales trends and demand drivers using statistical models to inform forecasts.
• Understand and incorporate foundational building blocks of demand forecasts, such as store facings, store count, and product sales rates.
• Validate demand forecasts by leveraging calculations using metrics such as sell-through rates, distribution coverage, and market penetration.
• Collaborate with Sales to gather essential inputs, including promotional plans, customer forecasts, and new product introductions.
• Integrate external market intelligence, such as competitor activities, economic indicators, and category trends, to fine-tune forecasts.
• Analyze and interpret a wide range of data sources to improve the reliability of demand forecasts.
• Track and improve forecast KPIs such as accuracy, bias, forecast value add, and fill rate.
• Lead and facilitate monthly Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) meetings, ensuring a collaborative planning approach with internal teams.
• Coordinate with Sales, Marketing, and Finance to reconcile variances and ensure alignment of demand forecasts.
• Provide input to Supply Planning on inventory strategies for existing products, new launches, and product phase-outs.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in Demand Planning or data analytics.
• Knowledge of the Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience working within the food & beverage or fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry is preferred.