Director of Demand Planning

Bunzl Career•St. Louis, MO

11d

About The Position

This role drives the end-to-end Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process with other cross-functional business leaders, ensuring demand insights shape inventory strategy, optimize service levels, and fuel business growth. You’ll leverage Blue Yonder (JDA) planning expertise to lead a high-performing team, influence senior leadership, and deliver actionable insights that directly impact company performance. The Director of Demand Planning will lead the organization’s demand planning and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) initiatives, ensuring inventory strategies align with customer demand and business objectives. This role drives supply chain efficiency, service excellence, and data-driven decision-making. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in demand planning, strong leadership capabilities, and hands-on experience with Blue Yonder (JDA) planning solutions to optimize forecast accuracy, inventory management, and cross-functional alignment.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent required
Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, or a related field; MBA preferred.
Proven leadership experience in demand planning, forecasting, or S&OP within a complex supply chain environment.
Hands-on expertise with Blue Yonder (JDA) Demand Planning and Supply Planning modules.
Strong analytical skills and experience leveraging data to drive strategic decisions.
Exceptional cross-functional collaboration skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders.
Demonstrated ability to optimize inventory, balance service levels, and improve forecast accuracy.

Responsibilities

Lead the demand planning function, overseeing accurate forecasts that incorporate historical data, market trends, sales insights, and promotional activity.
Drive forecasting for new customer onboarding, ensuring demand projections support seamless ramp-ups and sustained customer satisfaction.
Integrate long-term strategic planning into operational forecasts, supporting business growth objectives.
Own and enhance the S&OP process, facilitating alignment between demand planning, purchasing, sourcing, and sales teams.
Lead cross-functional S&OP meetings, presenting actionable insights and recommendations while collaborating with cross-functional leaders.
Ensure demand plans are executable, balancing customer service targets with inventory and operational efficiency.
Leverage Blue Yonder (JDA) and other advanced planning tools to analyze demand trends, forecast accuracy, and inventory performance.
Develop dashboards and reports for executive leadership, highlighting forecast performance, service levels, and inventory health.
Implement process improvements and corrective actions based on forecasting accuracy metrics.
Align inventory strategies to demand forecasts to minimize stockouts and excess inventory across multiple distribution centers.
Drive continuous improvement in planning processes to enhance service levels and operational efficiency.
Collaborate with procurement, logistics, and sourcing teams to ensure timely replenishment and optimal inventory positioning.
Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing demand planning team with expertise in forecasting, S&OP, and planning technologies.
Champion best practices and continuous learning, promoting adoption of advanced tools and data-driven decision-making.
Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and strategic thinking within the team.
Partner with sales, sourcing, and service teams to understand demand drivers, product lifecycle changes, and market dynamics.
Engage directly with key customers and suppliers, as needed, to ensure forecasts accurately reflect customer requirements and align inventory strategies with demand.