Demand Inventory Planner

Advance Auto Parts•Raleigh, NC

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Demand Planner is responsible for driving best in class forecasting metrics across key forecast metrics, analyzing business & industry trends, as well as partnering with cross functional teams to build a consensus forecast plan. A top performing demand planner will bring a sense of urgency, ownership and accountability to the forecast to make sure they are always driving the business forward. The role will also be responsible for collaborating with keep partners such as Merchants, Vendors, Visual Merchandising, Transportation, Field Operation Teams, S&OE, S&OP, and Distribution Centers to ensure full support of each individual business function and improving product flow through accurate forecasts.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Finance, Statistics, Economics, Supply Chain Management or other related field.
4-7 years related experience in Demand Planning or Inventory Management or related role within the retail industry.
Proficient in the use of MS Office Product Suite ie Excel, PowerPoint, & Power Bi
Extensive knowledge and familiarity in inventory management or demand planning systems and Software (Blue Yonder, Relex, Manhattan Associates, or SAP preferred)
Excellent analytical abilities, problem-solving, and leadership skills.
Strong business acumen and inventory management knowledge as well as the curiosity to ask “why” behind the data and dig into the root cause opportunities.
Ability to present to leadership as well as prepare well-structured content for presentation.
Strong organizational and project management skills with the ability to collaborate across departments.
Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

Maintain forecast models using historical sales data, market trends, & business intelligence.
Analyze ever changing demand patterns and identify key drivers of variability.
Monitor forecast accuracy & implement continuous improvement initiatives.
Support new product introduction ensuring appropriate assumptions around ramp-up curves, cannibalization, & marketing support.
Manage promotional events and product phase-outs with accurate demand projections.
Perform root cause analysis on forecast errors and implement corrective actions to reduce bias and improve SMAPE.
Be a supportive partner to our supplier community to align on forecast expectations and communicate meaningful changes to their key stakeholders.
Lead monthly demand review meetings with your inventory team and key vendor partners as well as own & guide the vendor projection process with your inventory management analyst team.
Partner with cross functional partners; merchants, finance, pricing, marketing to align on forecast assumptions & consensus forecasting workflow.
Collaborate with data science teams to refine forecasting algorithms to ensure alignment with business needs.
Partner with Merchant leadership to continuously improve forecast performance results in key areas: on time delivery, inventory optimization, and order fill accuracy.
Proactively share insights to your cross functional partners to help facilitate discussions around inventory strategies, challenges & opportunities.
Be a mentor to the Analysts on your team and help provide them guidance on forecasting processes, data interpretation to collaborate with our vendor and cross functional partners.
Act as a secondary point of leadership for the team to help maintain workflow, prioritize tasks, and ensure deadlines are met.
Play a role in the onboarding and upskilling of new or less experience team members ensuring full knowledge sharing across the department