Demand Planner I

Renfro Brands•Mount Airy, NC

8d•Onsite

About The Position

This role is responsible for generating accurate baseline forecasts for company accounts and Stock Keeping Units (SKU) across multiple brand lines and channels. The Demand Planner examines inventory levels to ensure optimal financial performance and potential future sales. They analyze and manipulate aggregated forecast and shipment data, along with time-series information, to create comprehensive documents for senior leadership and suppliers. The position involves participating in yearly financial budgeting, defining SKU-level safety stock using mathematical models, and communicating with brand managers to maintain data accuracy in the company's systems. The role requires creating interpretations of data through various tools, mathematics, statistics, industry experience, and logic to facilitate meaningful dialogue and decision-making. Additionally, the Demand Planner creates retail sales and shipment trend reporting, collaborates with sales, production planning, and operations teams to achieve inventory turn goals and sales budgets, and provides product performance and customer behavior analysis for line planning, merchandising, and post-seasonal reviews. They also develop and test mathematical and statistical models for accuracy and provide ad hoc business analyses. Effective communication channels with external and internal account contacts are essential, including consulting with them to verify data accuracy and future strategies. The role involves conducting store visits to understand competitive products, pricing, and market changes, and utilizing problem-solving methods to address root causes of planning issues. Adherence to all regulations, policies, work procedures, and instructions, including confidentiality requirements, is mandatory.

Requirements

High School education and degree, either Associates or Bachelor’s, in economics, mathematics, finance, statistics, engineering, supply chain, analytics or related field, or equivalent work experience.
At least three years of relevant and related work experience, such as in retail, wholesale sales, buying, planning or supply chain.
SQL
Access
Microsoft Office products
Expert level with Excel.
Must be a team builder and ability to navigate and work effectively in a large corporate matrixed organization.
Ability to collaborate with a team and act in an objective manner to solve problems.
Self-starter with proven experience in delivering results to an organization.
Demonstrated excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
Position requires interaction with senior level management, executives and customers.
Must be able to work unsupervised and thrive in a stressful environment; ability to work effectively under tight deadlines and in high-pressure situations.
Strong understanding of merchandise planning, allocation strategies, inventory management and operational accuracy.
Exceptional attention to detail with proven analytical and critical thinking skills.
Strong organizational skills with a proven ability to move multiple projects forward in a constructive and positive manner.
Familiarity with standard forecasting concepts, practices and procedures.

Nice To Haves

Desired experience working with web-based portals, business intelligence tools such as Qlik, Tableau, and Microsoft Dynamics.
Experience using statistical computer languages (R, Python, etc.) to manipulate and analyze data a plus.

Responsibilities

Generate demand accurate baseline forecast for company accounts and Stock Keeping Units (SKU) for multiple brand lines within multiple channels to reflect insightful analyses of seasonal patterns, POS trends, planned promotions and impact of competitive activity.
Facilitate collaborative monthly forecast meetings with Sales, Marketing and Operations team to review the baseline demand plan along with market trends and program assumptions to drive to a consensus forecast.
Analyze and manipulate aggregated forecast, shipments data and time-series into comprehensive documents to be published with senior leadership and suppliers for planning purposes.
Participate in yearly financial budgeting.
Define SKU level Safety stock through mathematical model to achieve in stock and inventory goals.
Communicate with brand managers to identify discrepancies with life cycle codes and correct them in Renfro’s in-house system & database.
Create an interpretation of data through the use of tools, Mathematics, Statistics, industry experience and logic to frame situations and allow meaningful dialogue and decision making.
Analyze data by comparing the planned output with actual output and correct imbalances.
Meaningfully interpret the data and present it through dynamic visualization.
Create retail sales and shipment trend reporting for collaboration for maximize sales and supply chain efficiency.
Collaborate on day-to-day business requirements with sales, production planning and operations to achieve inventory turn goals and sales budget to anticipate unidentified factors affecting the supply chain through intimate knowledge of product development initiatives.
Create reports, data bases and participate in line planning, merchandising, and post-seasonal reviews by providing product performance and customer behavior analysis.
Create mathematic and statistic models that best fit each category/brand and test created models to ensure high accuracy.
Provide ad hoc business analyses as needed.
Create effective channels of communication with external and internal account contacts.
Consult with these contacts as needed to verify accuracy of data, future strategies and current state.
Conduct store visits to better understand competitive products, pricing and changes.
Utilize problem solving methods to accurately define problems, generates alternatives and implements counter measures that permanently resolve planning problems by addressing their root cause.
Conform with and abide by all regulations, policies, work procedures and instructions including but not limited to confidentiality requirements.