Brand & Innovation Demand Planner

Job Description:

The Demand Planner, Brand & Innovation is responsible for working cross‑functionally with strategic Commercial Teams, such as Marketing, Innovation, and Finance to create and maintain a consensus depletion forecast at the brand and item levels as part of the IBP process, enabling effective operational planning, financial guidance, organizational execution signals, and strategic direction at the enterprise level. This role serves as the primary demand planning counterpart to Marketing, bridging brand strategy and execution by translating portfolio decisions, innovation plans, and cannibalization impacts into a coherent demand outlook and generating content for decisions needed in the Portfolio Review process.

As a Planner, this role will support the Manager, Brand and Portfolio Demand Planning in additional key activities such as team process definitions and improvements, long‑range annual planning, and scenario development. This role requires a professional with a strong analytical background, the ability to communicate effectively and collaboratively and a track record of delivering results.

• Forecasting & Demand Planning – Proactively gather and validate commercial assumptions that are aligned and approved with appropriate insight owners prior to integration into demand plans. Demonstrate the ability to quantify relationships between business drivers and demand outcomes. Proficiency in statistical modeling and its application to forecasting. Expertise in data visualization and business intelligence tools to drive decision making/consensus across cross‑functional partners.
• Digital Competency – Demonstrated experience across use of Data Science and Analytics – knowledge of advanced analytics and ML models and use of predictive and prescriptive analytics. Own and defend demand volumes, drivers, and Risks & Opportunities (R&Os) at item, brand, and brand‑family levels.
• Provide content for the Monthly Portfolio Review – Frame tradeoffs, risks, and opportunities for gap closure to plan.
• Collaboration and Communication – Foster strong relationships with marketing, operations, and finance teams to integrate relevant data and insights to drive the right forecast enhancements. Work closely with counterparts in regional Demand Planning team to ensure overlay of brand insights are appropriately integrated into the consensus forecast. Lead cross‑functional meetings with partners in sales, marketing, and finance to align on commercial insights affecting the depletion forecast.
  
  Demonstrate effective communication that is genuine and authentic, as well as clear, concise, and persuasive in both written and oral communication. Own, present and drive consensus of overall forecast to multiple levels and functions in the organization.
• Continuous Improvement – Stay updated and apply relevant industry trends, best practices and emerging technologies in demand planning and supply chain management. Challenge the status quo to improve demand planning processes and tools. Drive continuous improvement efforts to increase forecast accuracy and operational efficiency.

• Must have a bachelor’s degree.
• Prefer 2 years’ experience in a demand planning role, sales or marketing forecasting role.
• Experience in CPG industry, preferred.
• Experience leveraging data and analytics solutions, such as o9 and Power BI, preferred.
• Excellent quantitative and qualitative skills to consolidate and analyze large volumes of data, with the ability to translate information for all areas of the business.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with the ability to communicate well across all levels of the organization.
• Excellent customer service skills with the ability to work with both internal and external customers.
• Make decisions independently and recommend viable solutions to problems and issues.
• Mediate issues that arise and drive planning and data gathering meetings to successful resolutions.

• Excellent analytical skills with a demonstrated ability to zoom into the details to find root causes of deviations and to zoom out to understand the big picture impact to the organization.
• Except…