Demand Planning Manager

Edgewell•Shelton, CT

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Demand Planning Manager is responsible for the total US forecast within their respective category and focused on sales and marketing forecast assumptions to develop the monthly forecast in volume (Unit) and value ($). This role will build relationships with sales and marketing partners to challenge and align marketing and commercial intelligence and apply promotional, distribution, cannibalization and competitive forecast impacts to the Demand Consensus forecast. The Demand Planning Manager will gather key input from cross functional partners and challenge assumptions to drive improved forecast accuracy. The Demand Planning Manager represents demand planning and promotes its good practice and strategy with key business stakeholders. This role will own, lead and be accountable for all demand meetings to support the NA EBP and subsequently the Global EBP. This leader provides oversight and guidance to the Demand Planner(s) and functions as the lead point of contact to Commercial, Marketing, and Operations. Driving high forecast accuracy is the foundation of an agile and efficient supply chain—enabling the right product, in the right place, at the right time, while minimizing waste, reducing costs, and maximizing service levels. It directly informs planning, procurement, production, and deployment, making it the single most impactful metric for end-to-end supply chain performance.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in Demand Planning or Forecasting
2-3 years of Management experience
BA/BS required (Supply Chain, Engineering, Mathematics, Business)
Technical aptitude and Forecasting and data software experience required (i.e. jda demand/Manugistics, SAP, PowerBI, Syndicated data/ Nielson etc.)
Intermediate to advanced skills working in Excel and PowerPoint (Microsoft Office)

Nice To Haves

CPG experience a plus
MBA or MS a plus
Professional Certifications a plus (APICS, IBF, SCOR etc.)

Responsibilities

Own the process of managing and reviewing Sales and Marketing forecast inputs and to develop the monthly forecast projections in volume (Unit) and value ($).
Incorporate marketing insights on consumption trends, seasonality, and competitive activity to inform forecast assumptions—and constructively challenge these inputs to drive optimal outcomes.
Incorporate sales input on promotional forecasts for finished goods and displays, distribution changes, POG updates, and new product launches—and critically assess these assumptions to drive optimal outcomes.
Develop and maintain event-based data sets that influence the forecast, new product projections, promotional lift factors, and customer or channel-specific insights to the market intelligence forecast tool.
Conduct thorough analysis on the demand plan to ensure its completeness, validity, and to identify and highlight trends for necessary actions.
Report forecast accuracy and root cause on promotional forecasts and new product introductions and drive actions for improvement to hit accuracy targets.
Own entry of commercial intelligence into jda Demand / Manugistics and collaborate with Base Forecasting team on impacts to statistical forecast.
Focus on forecast details for the fiscal year. Apply strategic assumptions of market intelligence forecast up to 36 rolling months to align with company strategy.
Support Base Forecasting team in analysis of forecasts and forecast error reports to improve forecast accuracy, bias, out of stocks, SLOBs, inventory issues.
Partner with Base Forecasting team: historical impacts, new product set up and forecast, cannibalization assumptions, competitive activity and forecast impact, promo analysis, distribution changes, like item assignments, risks and opportunities, and product allocation in case of capacity constraints.
Partner with CPFR Analyst on latest Customer inventory position, safety stock strategies and consumer trends to improve short term forecast accuracy.
Accept Lag 0/1 forecast recommendations from CPFR Analyst and input into Demand Plan.
Align on promotion and feature assumptions during Demand Group Review meetings.
Align on account level inventory and recommendations to mitigate markdown/reclamation exposure on discontinued/deleted items.
Serve as the single contact between Sales and Marketing and Fulfillment.
Participate in all appropriate brand and commercial team meetings and serve as the key liaison for assigned brands between Sales/Marketing and Fulfillment.
Validate and challenge and align on Sales and Marketing assumptions.
Support customer service by providing demand information for CS proactively to support delivery to customers.
Identify and elevate to Sales, Marketing & Fulfillment Risk that drives SLOBs creation, service and inventory goals.
Focus and report on forecast gaps to Plan, Risks and Ops to Plan, key drivers and gap closing actions.
Facilitate Demand Group Review and Demand Alignment meetings (IBP) including deck preparation, key drivers for changes through appropriate waterfalls, gaps to plan, risks and ops, and action items.
Provide all demand plan support needed in all EBP steps.
Ensure consensus with Sales and Marketing and sign-off of demand forecast as output of Demand Consensus meeting and elevation to Regional EBP meeting for VP sign-off.
Support Demand CoE roadmap projects for forecast improvement, delivering required strategic improvements and maintaining aligned demand processes.
Support the development of direct reports and drive demand planning maturity.