Director, Demand Planning

Twin-Star International Inc•Delray Beach, FL

About The Position

The Director, Demand Planning is responsible for leading global demand management strategies and inventory deployment for the company. This includes establishing inventory stocking policies to optimize service and inventory levels for specified product categories and lead sales and operations planning process. This position will manage a team of planners with responsibility for meeting all established goals for the company such as customer service and inventory levels as well as team development and coaching.

Requirements

Education: Bachelor’s Degree (B.A./ B.S.) in Business or Supply Chain Management. Master’s Degree (M.A./M.S.) preferred
Experience: 15+ years of demand planning and forecasting experience working with Asian suppliers
Ability to lead key initiatives, set priorities and take ownership for results
Experience in Supply Chain, Inventory Control, Forecasting (with large sku counts) and Purchasing
Expert regarding demand planning, forecasting models and inventory strategies
Excellent creative thinking skills with an emphasis on developing innovative solutions to complex problems
Strong facilitation and collaboration skills with ability to operate effectively at all levels within the company
Ability to effectively analyze large amounts of forecast data, identify issues, draw conclusions and generate solutions
Ability to drive system changes that enhance the forecasting process, reporting and analysis
Strong customer focus with an outstanding responsiveness to needs identified
Proficiency in using Demand Works Smoothie or other demand planning software tools
Superior computer skills in spreadsheet applications, dashboards, and report writing tools
Excellent oral, written and presentation skills
History of successful leadership roles managing effective teams
Ability to solve complex problems through data analytics and best practices
Passion for continuous improvement and team devolvement

Nice To Haves

Master’s Degree (M.A./M.S.) preferred
ERP (Microsoft Dynamics) experience preferred

Responsibilities

Support Leadership in defining and establishing “best in class” demand planning processes and driving continuous improvement activities
Utilize and improve current demand-planning systems and tools to create the best statistical forecast possible
Drive accuracy analyses to maintain validity of forecast and assumptions
Collaborate with sales, product management and finance teams to improve effectiveness of S&OP process to include metrics and scorecards
Responsible for forecast accuracy, fill rates and inventory levels
Key participant in the financial outlook process. Document and articulate key demand drivers and assumptions while highlighting areas of concern
Ensure effective inventory policy is in place for each stocking location (domestic warehouses and factory locations)
Analyze and update SKU level demand signal based on trends, modeling and business assumption changes
Ensure and improve all planning parameters such as safety stock levels, lead times and factory capacities
Monitor and root cause stock outs and customer backlogs to improve performance
Ensure Business/Sales Team plans are supported through the Demand Forecast process
Interface with suppliers to improve collaborative forecasting and ship on-time performance
Obtain early warning data on potential inventory and shortage issues and monitor corrective actions as required
Develop a sales forecast rollup by business from individual sku level forecasts to support discussions at the monthly meetings with Marketing, Sales and Finance. Provide insights on market and customer trends in order to complete a gap analysis
Develop and lead demand planning team to include training, education and mentoring. Take responsibility for team development to increase their personal contributions to the company
Planning the development of production schedules and inventory management. Identify bottlenecks and establishes a plan to eliminate excess goods. Escalate issues impacting forecast performance to senior management
Foster strategic thinking professional business acumen and teamwork
Other duties as assigned