Business Analyst Sales & Ops Planning

Advantage Solutions•St. Louis, MO

3d•$64,200 - $84,000•Remote

About The Position

The Business Analyst – Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) plays a critical role in aligning client demand with workforce capacity and operational execution in a high-volume, field-based services environment. This position serves as a central analytics and planning partner across operations, staffing, and account teams to ensure programs are delivered accurately and on time. This role is instrumental in improving forecast accuracy, labor utilization, and overall operational performance while enabling data-driven decision-making across the business.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, or a related field
1–3 years of experience in S&OP, workforce planning, supply chain analytics, or a related function
Experience in service-based, staffing, or field operations environments preferred
Strong analytical skills with attention to data accuracy and integrity
Advanced proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets for modeling and forecasting
Experience with BI and analytics tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, Looker)
Familiarity with workforce management or scheduling tools (e.g., Kronos, Deputy, Replicon)
Understanding of S&OP or integrated business planning processes
Ability to translate complex data into clear, actionable insights for non-technical stakeholders
Strong organizational, problem-solving, and communication skills
Ability to collaborate across multiple teams and manage competing priorities
Basic influencing and stakeholder alignment capabilities
Bachelor’s degree (Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, business, operations, or related field preferred)
2–4 years experience in relevant field (Sales and operations planning, workforce planning, or supply chain analysis experience preferred)
Proficiency in spreadsheet tools for forecasting and scenario modeling
Strong analytical skills with attention to data integrity
Ability to work across multiple departments and manage competing priorities
Ability to translate data into actionable insights for non technical stakeholders
Experience in retail, merchandising services, or consumer packaged goods environments
Experience with workforce management or scheduling systems
Experience with business intelligence or analytics tools
Familiarity with planning and forecasting systems
Strong influencing and communication skills
Strong organizational and problem solving skills

Nice To Haves

Experience in service-based, staffing, or field operations environments preferred
Experience in retail, merchandising services, or consumer packaged goods environments

Responsibilities

Translate retailer and client program requirements into structured labor demand forecasts across campaigns, store resets, product launches, and seasonal initiatives.
Analyze workforce supply and capacity across field teams, labor pools, and third-party partners to balance staffing with forecasted demand.
Support and facilitate weekly and monthly S&OP processes, coordinating inputs across operations, recruiting, finance, and account teams.
Perform variance and gap analysis to identify discrepancies between planned and actual execution, quantify impact, and recommend corrective actions.
Develop and maintain KPI dashboards tracking metrics such as fill rates, labor utilization, schedule adherence, and cost efficiency.
Partner with account management teams to incorporate client-specific needs, volume changes, and scheduling constraints into planning models.
Identify opportunities to improve forecasting accuracy, planning processes, and overall S&OP maturity.
Translate retailer and brand program requirements into structured labor forecasts across campaigns, store resets, product launches, and seasonal promotional events.
Monitor workforce availability across field labor pools, regional teams, and staffing partners to align supply with forecasted demand.
Lead or support weekly and monthly sales and operations planning cycles by coordinating inputs from operations, account management, recruiting, and finance.
Identify gaps between planned and actual labor deployment and quantify operational and revenue impact while recommending corrective actions.
Build and maintain reporting on key performance metrics including fill rates, labor utilization, schedule adherence, coverage rates, and cost efficiency.
Partner with account teams to incorporate client program changes, volume shifts, and scheduling constraints into planning models.
Drive continuous improvement in forecasting accuracy, scheduling efficiency, and planning processes.