Sr. Demand Planning Process Manager

Job Description

The Sr. Demand Planning Process Manager for Lindt & Sprungli (North America) Inc. (LSNA) drives end to end planning process standardization across US Business Units (Lindt US, Ghirardelli, and Russell Stover. The role supports the Businesses Demand, Supply, and Production Planning teams, acts as an analytical person, independent decision-maker, and liaison between the Brands Planning teams and various company departments and functions. It works as part of a team of analytical people, helping to solve complex business issues from defining the strategy to process execution. This position is an advocate for and implementer of continuous planning process improvements. This position will include analysis, forecasting, project management, tracking KPIs, relationship management, training, and planning process consultancy. The role will energize operational excellence initiatives, enabling enterprise-wide standardized planning collaboration across businesses and best-in-class demand and supply planning organization.

Essential Functions

• Analyze and disseminate information, driving standardization and collaboration, resolving issues, and leading teams to identify and improve key performance metrics utilizing formalized action plans to eliminate gaps.
• Optimizing and further developing demand planning, supply planning, forecasting, and related business processes.
• Acts as the subject matter expert and provides recommendations to leverage SAP IBP system functionality.
• Advice on master data management related to demand planning/supply/production.
• Support for the overall demand planning continuous improvement roadmap and all scoping, functional specification, justification, and functional design.
• Driving fundamental performance indicator improvement around forecast accuracy, OTIF, production adherence, Waste and Inventory levels.
• Develop and implement integrated demand and supply planning solutions that increase business effectiveness, optimize cost, and enable growth, driving front-line process adaptation, standardization, and performance improvement.
• Assessment of Brands Planning team members, identifying cross-functional development opportunities.
• Coach personnel to ensure optimal team member interactions, driving team performance.
• Define processes for data cleansing of historical demand data.
• Contribute to the hiring, training, and onboarding new team members into the Planning team.
• Drive standardization of reports and other demand inputs into the organization's S&OP and S&OE process and enable demand-supply balancing analysis.
• Through collaboration with key stakeholders, take accountability for driving continuous improvements and securing alignment of key matrixed cross-functional teams.
• Analyze Demand Planning KPIs to identify process and technology gaps that need improvement.
• Knowledge of and experience with best practice demand planning metrics, such as forecast accuracy, forecast bias, FVA, etc.

Basic Qualifications

• 5 years' experience in Demand Planning, Supply Chain BPO, or SC Business Intelligence
• 3 years' experience as Demand Planning Manager
• Bachelor's degree in relevant field, e.g. Industrial Engineer, Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Business Analytics.
• Experience in business ERP planning systems (SAP IBP preferred) or a related system, as well the ability to navigate fluently within Microsoft tools, i.e., Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
• Change Management Agent, adapt to change, approachable, coach, and manage execution of change along with the ability to influence and monitor required changes within the enterprise driving continuous service improvement.
• Excellent written verbal communication and facilitation skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Demand Planning experience in CPG and one other industry
• Previous experience in SAP IBP implementation
• Experience leading implementation of Supply Chain Planning systems
• Previous experience validating BI Platform dashboards and metrics.
• MBA in business administration, operations management, supply chain management or equivalent
• Solid understanding of ERP systems (SAP Preferred
• Certification(s) Preferred: APICS, CPIM, PMP

Company Description

Lindt and Sprungli (North America) Inc. is the Supply Chain and Business Shared Services Company supporting the Lindt & Sprungli family of brands (Lindt USA, Ghirardelli Chocolates and Russell Stover Chocolates), headquartered in Kansas City, MO.

Employment by Lindt & Sprungli (North America) Inc. is contingent upon I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification, passing the urinalysis drug screen, and satisfactory employment and background checks.

Lindt & Sprungli (North America) Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, veteran status, pregnancy, or any other status protected by law. Principals only, please.