Associate Director, Sales & Operations Planning

The Associate Director, Sales & Operations Planning is responsible for leading the organization's integrated Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) and Sales & Operations Execution processes. This role aligns demand, supply, inventory, capacity, product lifecycle, and financial plans to support business objectives and ensure reliable product availability.

Working cross-functionally with Commercial, Operations, Manufacturing, Finance, Procurement, Quality, Regulatory, and Supply Chain teams, the Associate Director facilitates executive planning discussions, evaluates business risks and opportunities, and translates strategic priorities into executable operational plans.

• Lead and manage the company's S&OP and S&OE planning processes to align demand, supply, inventory, capacity, financial objectives, and business priorities.
• Facilitate recurring Demand, Supply, S&OE, and Executive S&OP meetings, ensuring productive discussions, clear decisions, and defined action items.
• Consolidate commercial, operational, financial, and supply inputs into a unified business planning process.
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to balance demand and supply while supporting overall business objectives.
• Analyze changes in demand, supply constraints, inventory, capacity, and financial impacts to support scenario planning and executive decision-making.
• Identify risks, opportunities, and recommended actions related to supply continuity, inventory, customer service, and operational performance.
• Coordinate planning activities for new product introductions, product transfers, lifecycle changes, and discontinuations.
• Support product availability through integrated planning of production, inventory, capacity, quality release, and distribution activities.
• Monitor key planning metrics including forecast accuracy, service levels, inventory health, capacity utilization, schedule adherence, and financial performance.
• Document assumptions, decisions, risks, owners, and action plans while ensuring accountability across functional teams.
• Escalate planning issues and facilitate resolution of cross-functional constraints.
• Drive continuous improvement of planning processes, governance, reporting, and business execution.

• Strong understanding of integrated business planning, demand planning, supply planning, inventory management, production planning, and S&OP methodologies.
• Ability to connect operational decisions with commercial strategy and financial objectives.
• Experience working within a regulated manufacturing environment preferred.
• Strong analytical skills with experience performing scenario modeling and evaluating business trade-offs.
• Proficiency with ERP, MRP, planning, reporting, and business intelligence systems.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Office skills required.
• Experience using AI-enabled tools to improve workflow efficiency is a plus.
• Knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement methodologies preferred.
• Excellent leadership, collaboration, communication, and organizational skills.
• Ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and communicate effectively with senior leadership.

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations Management, Engineering, or a related discipline required.
• Master's degree or MBA preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in supply chain, operations planning, production planning, inventory management, or integrated business planning within a manufacturing environment.
• 5+ years leading or facilitating S&OP, S&OE, IBP, or comparable cross-functional planning processes.
• Experience collaborating with senior leaders across Operations, Commercial, Finance, Procurement, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain.
• Previous people leadership or functional leadership experience required.
• Experience with ERP, planning, analytics, and business intelligence platforms preferred.
• APICS/ASCM CPIM or CSCP certification preferred.
• Lean, Six Sigma, PMP, or related certifications are a plus.
• Office-based position with periodic interaction across manufacturing and operational teams as needed.