Director, Business Planning & Analytics

Macmillan•Gordonsville, VA

17h•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Business Planning and Analytics is a senior leadership role responsible for advancing data-driven decision-making across inventory control, logistics, and operational planning within a high-volume print book distribution environment. The Director will work closely with the VP of Planning and Analytics to absorb institutional knowledge, technical systems expertise, analytical methodologies, and strategic planning capabilities. The Director will assume increasing ownership of mission-critical analytics, ERP-adjacent systems, and cross-functional operational strategy initiatives, and develop into a key role on the senior leadership team. This position requires a rare combination of operational leadership, analytical capability, systems fluency, and business modeling expertise.

Requirements

8–12+ years of experience in distribution, supply chain, or operations leadership.
Significant experience in high-volume distribution environments (book publishing experience strongly preferred).
Demonstrated experience in: Advanced Excel modeling, SQL querying and database design, Data extraction from ERP/WMS systems, Business intelligence tools (Cognos Analytics, Power BI, etc.).
Experience building and maintaining analytical databases or operational reporting systems.
Strong financial modeling skills.
Ability to translate operational data into strategic insight.

Nice To Haves

Experience in publishing or media distribution.
Experience with ERP-integrated bolt-on systems.
Lean/Six Sigma or similar process optimization training.
BA/BS in Supply Chain, Analytics, or related field.
Experience with SAP Financials and Order-to-Cash.

Responsibilities

Assist inventory control with strategies across a multi-location print book distribution network.
Analyze shrinkage, adjustments, and systemic inventory accuracy trends.
Partner with the logistics manager to evaluate inbound, outbound, and inter-facility freight strategies.
Model service levels vs. cost trade-offs.
Support peak season planning and capacity modeling.
Quantitative evaluation of: New customer terms and policy changes, Internal process changes, Inventory deployment strategies, New business models and distribution channels.
Build financial and operational models to support executive decision-making.
Translate complex data analysis into clear executive recommendations.
Extract and analyze large datasets from ERP and WMS systems.
Maintain and enhance mission-critical databases and analytical tools that augment core ERP functionality.
Oversee the architecture, documentation, and sustainability of internally developed analytical systems.
Ensure business continuity of all bolt-on databases and reporting tools.
Partner with IT to improve data governance, automation, and reporting reliability.
Work directly with the VP to: Document institutional knowledge, Understand historical decision logic and modeling frameworks, Map data sources and analytical workflows, Catalog all custom-built systems and tools.
Gradually assume ownership of strategic analyses and executive reporting.
Develop a long-term roadmap for analytics maturity within the distribution organization.
Serve as the analytical backbone for Operations, Sales, and Supply Chain teams.
Present complex data in accessible, actionable formats.
Influence policy and strategy through rigorous, data-based reasoning.
Mentor analysts and develop internal analytical capability.