Demand Planner

Midwest Yogurt Inc•Minnetonka, MN

5h•$85,000 - $101,000

About The Position

The Demand Planner role at Midwest Yogurt is a highly visible role with direct accountability for the accuracy, integrity, and alignment of the demand plan across the business. This role serves as the single point of truth for demand, owning the development of unconstrained forecasts and driving cross-functional alignment between commercial strategy and operational execution. The Demand Planner will lead the monthly S&OP Consensus Demand Review process, integrating data-driven insights with inputs from Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Supply Chain to develop a balanced and unbiased demand plan. This role also plays a critical part in identifying risks and opportunities, improving forecasting capabilities, and influencing key business decisions through strong analytics and storytelling.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent required
3–6 years of experience in Demand Planning, Forecasting, Supply Chain, or related analytical roles
Advanced proficiency in Excel with general knowledge of other MS Office applications is required
Ability to work with large data sets and automate reporting processes
Strong analytical mindset with the ability to translate data into business insights

Nice To Haves

Degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Economics, or related field preferred
Experience in CPG or a high SKU, fast-paced environment strongly preferred
Experience with forecasting / planning tools (e.g., OMP, FuturMaster, SAP IBP, Anaplan)
Experience leveraging BI tools (Power BI, Tableau) for demand analytics preferred

Responsibilities

Own and lead the monthly S&OP Demand Review (Consensus Demand Meeting), ensuring alignment on assumptions, risks, opportunities, and final monthly demand plan
Own development of forecasts and integrate cross-functional inputs (Sales, Marketing, Finance) to deliver a consensus demand plan
Maintain item, location, and weekly forecasts to optimize service levels, inventory, and waste
Ensure forecast accuracy, bias management, and data integrity across all planning systems
Generate Demand Planning KPIs (Accuracy, Bias, Waste); lead root cause analysis where opportunities may exist
Drive effective cross-functional dialogue, challenge assumptions, and influence decision-making
Proactively identify demand trends, risks, and opportunities using internal and external data sources (e.g., shipments, POS, syndicated data)
Drive continuous improvement through enhanced forecasting methodologies, tools, and automation
Partner with Sales, Marketing, and Finance to understand customer strategies, promotional plans, and financial targets
Support new product launches by participating in initial forecast generation, monitoring performance, and adjusting assumptions
Engage in weekly Sales & Operational Execution (S&OE) meetings, escalating and informing the cross-functional team of demand-related issues
Drive continuous improvement by analyzing current processes and implementing new forecasting methodologies, tools, and techniques to reduce effort and improve results