Sr Demand Planner (Sr Forecast Analyst

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain demand forecasts at multiple levels, including product, customer, channel, plant, and aggregate business views, using statistical models, historical sales data, market trends, and business intelligence.
• Serve as a senior functional expert for forecasting processes, including forecast generation, consensus planning, exception management, and continuous improvement.
• Learn, support, and leverage SAP IBP or other forecasting systems to improve forecast accuracy, process efficiency, reporting, and data visibility.
• Partner with Sales, Marketing, Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, and IT to gather input on demand drivers, promotional activity, customer trends, supply constraints, and business assumptions.
• Translate analytical findings into clear business insights, recommendations, and action plans for cross‑functional stakeholders and leadership.
• Lead or support consensus forecast discussions by facilitating alignment between statistical forecasts, commercial input, operational realities, and financial expectations.
• Monitor forecast accuracy, bias, and variance to actual results; identify key drivers of forecast misses and recommend corrective actions.
• Analyze trends, seasonality, turning points in demand, customer behavior, and changes in key business drivers to improve forecast visibility and accuracy.
• Develop planning strategies and forecast assumptions for new products, product transitions, discontinued items, customer changes, and promotional events.
• Participate in S&OP meetings and provide forecasting insights, risks, opportunities, and scenario analysis to support business decisions.
• Support inventory optimization by providing demand insights that help balance service levels, production capacity, working capital, and cost efficiency.
• Use pilot opportunities, post‑event analysis, and data validation to test assumptions, evaluate conclusions, and improve planning outcomes.
• Partner with IT and data owners to collect, cleanse, validate, and improve forecast data, reporting, and system inputs.
• Create and maintain reports, dashboards, and presentations that communicate forecast performance, demand trends, and business recommendations.
• Mentor or provide guidance to less experienced analysts or planners, as needed, and help promote best practices within the forecasting process.

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, Supply Chain, Operations, or a related field required; equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
• 5+ years of experience in forecasting, supply chain planning, analytics, or a related function required.
• Experience using forecasting or planning tools such as SAP IBP, Oracle Demantra, Excel, Power BI, or similar systems required.
• Experience in consumer goods, food manufacturing, food service, retail, or a similar demand‑driven business environment preferred.
• APICS, IBF, or related supply chain or forecasting certification preferred.

• Advanced analytical, quantitative, and problem‑solving skills with the ability to interpret complex data and develop practical business recommendations.
• Strong understanding of statistical forecasting principles, seasonality, trend analysis, forecast accuracy metrics, and variance analysis.
• Ability to understand both demand and supply considerations and connect forecast decisions to service, inventory, production, and financial outcomes.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to present findings and recommendations to stakeholders ranging from analysts to senior leaders.
• Demonstrated ability to influence without direct authority, build consensus, and develop positive cross‑functional relationships.
• Strong proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint; experience with SAP IBP, forecasting software, reporting tools, or data visualization platforms preferred.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, work under pressure, meet deadlines, and adapt to changing business conditions.
• High attention to detail, intellectual curiosity, and commitment to continuous process improvement.

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