Sr. Demand Planner

Summary of Position

The Sr. Demand Planner is responsible for providing demand forecast planning and analysis to assist United Sports Brands in achieving its business goals.  This highly collaborate role will work closely with internal Sales, Brand Management, Product Development, Finance, Ecommerce and Supply Planning functions, as well as external customer planning departments.  The Sr. Demand Planner is expected to be a planning expert and balance both top-level planning with low level customer-item detail.  This role requires omnichannel forecasting experience with added focus on planning for apparel items with seasonal lifecycles.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Drive cross-functional Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes.  Use analytics to highlight changes in the business environment and suggest adjustments to the original plan.  Seek consensus for the way forward.
• Facilitate a monthly cadence of forecast planning meetings with both internal and external planning departments to align on planning volume.
• Dynamic forecasting for customers across various sales channels, including big box Sporting Goods, Mass merchants, independent retail stores, and ecommerce sites.  Align forecasts to match business goals, ecommerce tactics and event campaigns. 
• Track key inputs/indicators such as customer sell-thru trends, customer inventory holding, historical sell-in, promotions and item seasonality.  Consolidate information, upload forecasts into system, tune statistical forecasts, and provide visibility to Supply Planners.
• Own the forecast development process.  Become a system and process expert.  Look for improvement and lead change as needed.  Focus on exceptions and key items.  Challenge assumptions.  Document significant events for YOY lookback.
• Monitor demand planning KPIs.  Measure and report forecast accuracy at both the channel/customer and the product style/sku levels.  Identify forecast error root causes.  Refine the model/process accordingly to ensure continuous forecast accuracy improvement.
• Manage forecasting of product lifecycles.  Establish initial forecast for new products and the sell-down forecast of discontinued products. Adequately plan for seasonality and trend.
• Support other departments and perform additional ad hoc analysis as needed.  This may include some supply-side planning.

POSITION SPECIFICS:

• This is a full-time position
• Typical work hours and days are Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 
• No travel is expected for this position
• This position is based in Fountain Valley, CA

Pay Transparency

• The Company is committed to fair, equitable, and transparent compensation. Final compensation will be determined by various factors such as your relevant work experience, education, certifications, skills, and geographic location.
• The salary range for this role in Fountain Valley, CA is $80,000 – $110,000
• In addition, you may be eligible for additional compensation, such as a bonus. Employees may also be eligible for a wide range of other benefits, including health & wellness benefits, retirement, time off, employee discounts, and others.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: This position does not currently have any direct reports.

Qualifications

Experience:

• 5 years of analytical demand planning experience in a consumer products (CPG) business with goods that require frequent replenishment across various channels
• 2 years of experience with omnichannel forecasting. Experience with Amazon FBA is highly preferred.
• Previous experience planning relatively large SKU counts (5,000 skus) across multiple customers.

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in business, operations, finance, supply chain, or related field preferred.

Qualifications:

• Superior analytical skills. Displays the patience and curiosity to review all relevant information. Has the ability to analyze large volumes of data and identify patterns and trends.
• A self-starter. Motivated to take action without requiring additional prompting from a supervisor. Takes pride in the quality of their work.
• Strong planning and organizational skills. Performs repeatable processes with attention to detail and accuracy.
• Nimble. Able to plan in a fast-paced environment with high growth, and periods of high ambiguity.
• Demonstrated cross-functional collaboration.
• Structured thinking and logical communication. Capable of presenting information to all levels of management with supporting analysis and assumptions.
• In-depth knowledge and experience with ERP and planning systems. Strong Microsoft Office Suite skills are required.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

Minimal: Candidate must be able to successfully perform the essential functions of this job with ability to: sit/; use hands to finger, handle, and feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk and hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, or crouch. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, and ability to adjust focus. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Salary : $80,000 - $110,000