Job Description

Job Summary

Responsible for development of demand plans for their assigned categories. Responsible for understanding the demand for their categories and items. Determines accurate forecasts for replenishment, promotional sales and one-time buys, new item forecasting and planning. Responsible for the forecast accuracy for specific department for specified line(s) of business. Responsible for recognizing trends or patterns and adjusting forecasts using statistical modeling techniques and qualitative data. In addition, the demand planner is responsible for purchasing for the assigned categories and working with supply planners track Purchase Order execution and distribution of inventory from DCs to stores. Accountable for in stock, Inventory $ and DOS for their related categories.
Support the company’s long term strategy and inventory reduction while maintaining high Customer Service Level metrics.

Job Responsibilities

• Develops initial forecast modeling based on historical data and causal factors. Evaluates impact of promotional strategy on the forecast including product placement, various promotion types, acquisition methods, etc. and make recommendations to meet margin and profit goals.
• Understands the dynamics of assigned categories and items, including: seasonality, competitive activity, trends, ad plans, category role, sales objectives, sales drivers and life cycle plans.
• Creates merchant facing forecasts at the Category, Ops Study and BU level (in dollars) and collaborates with merchandising via S&OP process
• Provides input into S&OP supply planning process. Collaborates with DC and Transportation via S&OP.
• Evaluates the consumption plan and the financial plan to make recommendations to business stakeholders and collaborate with DC Ops on promotion preparedness.
• Works with vendors and Category Managers (CMs) in determining clones for new item forecasts, providing clone options and historical sales patterns. Create supply chain facing sales forecasts at the vendor and DC level (in dollars and units).
• Makes purchases for the assigned categories and working with supply planners track Purchase Order execution and distribution of inventory from DCs to stores. Accountable for in stock, Inventory $ and DOS for their related categories
• Aggregates and incorporates incremental sales impact of promotional events (both category specific and cross category), initiatives, and new items into Macro forecasts by Division / Ops Study (Quantified during micro activities).
• Reviews the merchandising plans for designated category(s), and meets with category managers to present and agree on forecast numbers.
• Meets daily with supply planners to discuss key in-stock and inventory issues, focus areas for the week and extended timeframes. The Demand Planner is accountable for in stock, Inventory $ and DOS for their related categories
• Identifies and resolves out of stock issues, focusing on minimizing shortage occurrences through analysis of data and review of safety stock levels.
• Works with vendor base with the use of vendor scorecards to resolve chronic issues such as Lead Time, Fill Rate, Data Quality, Cost Accuracy, Etc. to ensure a world-class customer experience. Works closely with Category Supply Planner to ensure proper stock levels and allocation for Promotional and Seasonal items, collaborate with suppliers on Buy plans, and demand plan to effectively increase fill rate.
• Utilizes system-generated reports to determine priorities and areas of opportunity and to confirm/communicate results. Creates adhoc reporting when needed.

Qualification:

• Bachelor’s Degree and at least 2 years of experience in retail/wholesale planning OR a High School Diploma / GED and at least 4 years of experience in retail/wholesale planning.
• Experience in negotiating operational aspects of business and understand the impact these decisions have to the overall company (for example: impact delivery lead time, purchasing minimums, shelf mins, etc. have on in stocks, inventory, & costs).
• Knowledge of the impact that operational aspects of business have to the overall company  (for example: impact delivery lead time, purchasing minimums, shelf minimums, etc. have on in stocks, inventory, & costs).
• Knowledge of inventory management practices & definitions, such as safety stock, EOQ, carrying cost, etc.
• Experience in statistical modeling techniques and concepts of forecasting such as MAPE, WMAPE, and BIAS.
• Experience using time and project management skills such as prioritizing/organizing and tracking details and meeting deadlines of multiple projects with varying completion dates.
• Experience identifying operational issues and recommending and implementing strategies to resolve problems.
• Experience analyzing data to preform Root Cause Analysis, ROI, and Cost-Benefit Analysis.
• Willing to travel up to 10% of the time for business purposes (within state and out of state).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in Supply Chain or MBA.
• Supply Chain/Logistics Certification - P.Log, CSCMP or APICS.
• Previous experience in an S&OP environment.
• Mathematical and statistical knowledge.
• Experience in Supply Chain or Inventory Management.
• Experience analyzing and reporting data in order to identify issues, trends, or exceptions to drive improvement of results and find solutions.
• Knowledge of costs, deals/terms and/or inventory processes related to Inventory Management in a retail environment.
• Experience controlling inventory purchases and ensuring proper distribution center inventory levels.
• Experience creating and issuing Purchase orders.