Demand Planner

Overview

Rooted in California, Califia Farms is on a mission to create a future where plants replace dairy, without compromise. The company creates a variety of great-tasting plant-based beverages that make the transition to eating plant-based dairy easy and delicious. Califia Farms is one of the fastest-growing, independently owned, natural beverage companies in the U.S., the UK and Australia, and is well-known for its iconic curvy bottle. Califia Farms was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in the downtown Los Angeles Arts District, with a manufacturing facility in Bakersfield, Calif. The company’s culture is built around four core values: passion for purpose, insights into action, fierce interdependence, and challenger spirit.

Responsibilities

Seeking an experienced and analytically driven Demand Planner to join the growing team of supply chain professionals at Califia Farms. We are in search of someone with a high level of adaptability who can work both independently and collaboratively, excels at problem solving, and will thrive in a fast-paced environment while taking on growing levels of complexity. This person will need a constant sense of urgency to navigate through daily challenges and execute changes in an efficient manner while maintaining a drive for continuous improvement and strategic planning focused on future growth.

The Demand Planner will be a critical link in the partnership between Supply Chain, Field Sales, Sales Operations, FP&A, Brand Marketing, and Manufacturing. In addition to the responsibility of developing and dynamically optimizing item and customer level forecasts, this role will also be a key leader in the monthly S&OP process, the annual budgeting process, and long-term strategic network planning. The Demand Planner will also be an active member of the project charter working to implement an Advanced Planning software system.

• Analyze SKU level, promotable group, and customer level trends in both historical shipments and retailer POS scan data to create, optimize, and dynamically maintain item level forecasts for a rolling 18-24 month horizon
• Rapidly develop and iterate new item forecasts utilizing historical shipment benchmarks, our Salesforce CRM customer opportunity tracking process, and IRI/Spins market data while fostering strong collaboration with our Sales Ops and Brand Marketing teams
• Work with both the Sales Ops and Brand Marketing teams to evaluate the potential supply chain impacts of over/under-projecting new item innovation launches
• Perform daily, weekly, and monthly reconciliation of confirmed orders vs. item/location forecasts to drive efficient inventory deployment and maximize fill rate while minimizing inventory carrying costs & inventory spoilage
• Develop and maintain trended demand planning KPIs/metrics, including robust forecast accuracy and bias measures across multiple time lags
• Measure forecasting errors using KPIs and variance reporting and perform root cause analysis to help supplement the preparation of executive summary reporting
• Prepare month-end executive summary reports using accurate data-driven detail on sales performance
• Build visual models and reports in Excel and Microsoft Power BI to help identify trends and present variances between actual shipments, the dynamic forecast, and the budget for review during the monthly S&OP process
• Actively communicate forecast changes and trends to supply chain partners in master production scheduling, inventory deployment, procurement, and customer service/logistics
• Lead customer/account level forecast and Salesforce CRM opportunity tracking reviews with Sales account leads to validate incremental volume opportunities, plan for major promotional activity, and adjust baseline volume assumptions
• Model various demand scenarios on an ad-hoc basis to perform risk assessments on operational line capacity, purchasing volume agreements, co-packer commitments, warehousing utilization, and freight rates
• Continuously work to improve forecasts by evaluating retailer Point-of-Sale scan data, major promotional activity, retailer inventory bullwhip, category trends, historical shipment data, and impacts caused by extended inventory shortages

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree; preferably in Supply Chain/Logistics/Operations, Finance, Business Administration, Mathematics, Economics, Industrial Engineering, or related analytical field
• Minimum of 2-3 years of experience in Supply Chain, with a minimum of 1-2 years of experience in Demand Planning or Sales Forecasting roles
• An expert in using MS Excel
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and organizational skills
• Ability to meet the requirements of a fast-paced environment with multiple demands and priorities in a rapidly growing business
• Relentless attention to detail and capable of multi-tasking in a dynamic environment
• Outstanding analytical skills with a proven ability to problem solve and develop solutions to complex problems
• Must be able to understand and balance the needs of sales/marketing, operations, and finance to make quick win-win decisions that are in the best interest of the total business

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in a consumer product goods (CPG) company is preferred
• Experience using Advanced Planning software tools (SAP APO, Oracle SCM, Blue Yonder/JDA/Manugistics, Anaplan) and ERP master data maintenance
• Experience building reports and charts using Business Intelligence and ERP Data Warehousing software (Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, SAP Business Warehouse)
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally to drive continuous improvement into the S&OP process
• Working knowledge of SQL and/or VBA Editor is a PLUS

The Company is committed to providing equal opportunity for employees and applicants in all aspects of the employment relationship, without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, marital status, veteran status, disability, age, religion or any other classification protected by law.