Demand Planner

Snack Innovations Inc•Piscataway Township, NJ

2d•$80,000 - $90,000

About The Position

The Demand Planner is a critical, cross-functional role responsible for building and maintaining a rolling demand forecast that connects shipment sales, POS data, promotional calendars, and customer-level dynamics into a single, integrated view. The forecast will directly inform financial planning, supply and production scheduling, and MRP inputs, making this role a foundational piece of the company’s operational infrastructure.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Statistics, or a related field
2–6+ years of experience in demand planning, supply chain, or CPG forecasting
Proficiency with syndicated data platforms (Nielsen, IRI, SPINS) and/or retailer portals
Advanced Excel skills including pivot tables, Power Query, and structured financial/operational modeling
Experience in a multi-customer retail environment (grocery, club, mass, natural/specialty)
Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills

Nice To Haves

Experience with S&OP process design, facilitation, and continuous improvement
Familiarity with ERP environments (NetSuite, QuickBooks, SAP, Sage, or similar)
Club and natural/specialty channel experience
Background in snack, better-for-you, or perishable CPG categories
Retail analytics or category management experience

Responsibilities

Build and own a rolling 12–18 month forward demand forecast at the SKU × retailer / shipment / first receiver level, ensuring the model accommodates multiple pack size configurations as well as club rotation and seasonal/limited-time SKUs
Anchor the forecast to POS data where available (Nielsen, IRI, retailer portals) to reflect true consumer takeaway rather than relying solely on shipment history
Translate the demand forecast into actionable inputs for the financial forecast, supply and production planning, and MRP
Incorporate promotional lift factors and account for all demand-shaping events, including, but not limited to: new distribution resets and pipe-fills, display and shipper activity, club channel rotations, seasonal SKU introductions and wind-downs, and pricing and trade promotional periods
Maintain a shared input calendar for cross-functional teams (Sales, Marketing, Finance, Operations) to submit planned events, promotional activity, distribution changes, and other demand drivers on a defined cadence ahead of each forecast cycle
Be a key resource in building and running a structured monthly Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process, including owning the demand planning meeting cadence, pre-read materials, and post-meeting action tracking
Align cross-functional stakeholders (Sales, Finance, Operations, Supply Chain) around a single consensus forecast
Maintain a running Risks & Opportunities (R&O) log tied to promotions, new launches, distribution changes, seasonality, and customer-specific events and updating it monthly and presenting it as a standing agenda item in S&OP reviews
Leverage retailer and distributor inventory data to monitor customer inventory positions in near real-time, using that visibility to inform shipment timing recommendations by customer
Serve as a thought leader on inventory allocation strategy, proactively flagging customers at risk of over- or under-stock and recommending corrective actions
Partner with the Sales and Operations teams to plan for secondary display events, including forecasting incremental volume for shippers, off-shelf displays, pallet drops, case stack deals, and similar in-store execution vehicles
Support draw-down and load-in planning around promotional events and seasonal peaks
Establish a forecast accuracy measurement framework (MAPE, bias, SKU-level error tracking) and publish a recurring KPI scorecard covering forecast accuracy vs. actuals by customer and SKU, forecast bias trends, inventory position vs. target, and fill rate / service level metrics
Use KPI learnings to continuously improve forecast methodology, model inputs, and cross-functional input quality
Analyze category dynamics (seasonality, competitive pricing moves, promotional elasticity, and inventory load-ins and drawdowns) to sharpen forecast inputs and provide context to leadership
Support volume productivity analytics at retail on an ad-hoc basis (velocity, shelf productivity, penny profit); primary focus remains demand planning and retail analytics is a secondary, growth opportunity for the role.