Demand Planner

SUMMARY

The Manager, Demand Planning is responsible for all unit-based sales forecasting activities associated with accounts and products. This includes the alignment, input and maintenance of demand forecasting policies and parameters to generate an accurate forecast. Responsibilities include sales and inventory alignment with the Merchandise Financial Planning (MFP) team to achieve business KPIs. They will partner with the Allocation Analyst to ensure alignment between the sales forecast and the inventory distribution.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

• Incorporate business intelligence and data analytics to create an accurate demand forecast on a periodic basis for accounts, products, locations and items across pre-season and in-season timeframes.
• Develop demand forecasts at multiple levels of aggregation for various time horizons.
• Review historical sales trends, demand drivers, validate forecast data and develop statistical models for forecast accuracy.
• Coordinate with cross functional teams and Strategic Business Units (SBUs) to align on the forecast for major accounts and core categories.
• Reconcile the bottom-up demand forecast with the MFP top-down latest forecast. Communicate and align with cross-functional partners including the SBU teams on issues and recommendations
• Develop demand forecasts for owned retail locations and eCommerce, partner with the respective SBUs for alignment.
• Develop and foster working relationships with Merchandise Financial Planning, the SBU organizations and Merchandise Operations to communicate purchase order and flow projections.
• Use and maintain the Demand Planning software as the primary forecasting tool.
• Prepare materials and participate in the monthly demand forecasting reconciliation / consensus process.
• Develop processes and metrics to measure the effectiveness and accuracy of sales and inventory forecasting.
• Provide input and preparations for the following meetings as indicated by the business calendar
• Hindsight
• Budget
• Quarterly Forecast Review
• Monthly Demand forecast reconciliation meetings
• S&OP Meeting

QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated financial acumen, including the use of algorithms for forecasting
• Demonstrated ability to recommend solutions to problems
• Experience using allocation and replenishment systems are a plus
• Intellectual curiosity and excellent prioritization skills
• Proven ability to perform in a fast-paced environment.
• Able to build and maintain productive relationships with cross functional teams.
• Strong work ethic with a commitment to achieving targeted objectives

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

Bachelor's degree with 4-6+ years of merchandise demand forecasting, financial analysis in a mid to large size company or equivalent combination of education and experience.

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