Demand Planning Manager - The Toro Company

The Toro Company•Bloomington, MN

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Demand Manager, IBP for the Residential & Landscape Contractor (RLC) business unit is responsible for leading the development, alignment, and delivery of accurate demand plans supporting operational, financial, and strategic objectives across a 24–36‑month horizon. This role oversees RLC’s demand consensus process and ensures cross‑functional accountability for forecast accuracy and forecast‑value improvement. The position partners closely with Marketing, Supply Planning, and Product Teams within the RLC portfolio to translate market intelligence, POS insights, promotional plans, channel dynamics, and historical performance into a reliable demand signal.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, Analytics, or related field.
5+ years of experience in demand planning, forecasting, or supply chain planning; RLC or similar industry experience preferred.
Knowledge of advanced planning tools.
Expertise in forecasting methods, data modeling, and demand planning best practices.
Strong analytical, mathematical, and problem‑solving skills.
Advanced Excel; preferred experience with SQL, Power BI, or Tableau.
Excellent communication and influence skills.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities.
Strong leadership and team development capabilities.

Responsibilities

Lead the monthly RLC Demand Consensus process, ensuring alignment across Marketing, Sales, Finance, and Supply Chain.
Own the family‑level demand plan for 24–36 months and ensure SKU‑level forecast quality within the cumulative lead‑time horizon.
Guide, mentor, and develop RLC-focused demand planning analysts.
Ensure full adherence to enterprise IBP standards and the RLC business unit’s planning calendar.
Owns and leads the weekly RLC Integrated Tactical Planning (ITP) process, ensuring short‑term alignment across Sales, Marketing, Supply Planning, and Operations.
Facilitates weekly ITP meetings, driving visibility to near‑term demand changes, supply constraints, risks, and required trade‑off decisions.
Consolidates and validates short‑term demand signals from Sales, Marketing, channel partners, and POS trends.
Partners with Supply Planning to evaluate capacity, inventory, and production feasibility, escalating issues when tactical plans diverge from IBP.
Ensures cross‑functional accountability for actions and closure of issues identified during the ITP cycle.
Identifies and communicates deviations from the IBP demand plan, quantifying impacts on service levels, inventory, and revenue.
Drives scenario planning to support decisions related to demand surges, supply shortages, promotions, and seasonal shifts.
Delivers weekly ITP dashboards, KPIs, and executive summaries highlighting risks and required decisions.
Ensures alignment between tactical (ITP) and strategic (IBP) horizons.
Integrate POS trends, shipment history, channel inventory, promotional activity, and customer insights into the RLC forecast.
Partner with RLC Sales & Marketing to validate assumptions and ensure alignment to a single consensus demand plan.
Work closely with Supply Planning to identify constraints, assess risks, and escalate supply/demand misalignments.
Oversee forecasting within SAP IBP for RLC, ensuring model effectiveness and data quality.
Monitor EVA, BIAS, forecast accuracy, and stability; perform root cause analysis and lead corrective actions.
Deliver reporting and insights on RLC forecast performance, risks, and variances to leadership.
Identify and size risks and opportunities; lead scenario-based planning.
Lead demand planning for RLC new product introductions, including pre‑launch volumes and ramp curves.
Manage RLC end‑of‑life demand plans and inventory transitions.
Provide demand inputs to RLC annual business planning and long‑range strategy.
Support improvements in IBP, forecasting systems, and RLC data integrity.
Lead implementation and optimization of new tools and planning processes for RLC.