Inventory Control & Cost Sr. Analyst

Winebow•Glen Allen, VA

9d•$100,000 - $110,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Inventory Control & Cost Sr. Analyst supports inventory and margin control through analysis, forecasting, reporting, and cross-functional partnership. Approximately 60% of the role focuses on identifying and addressing slow-moving, aged, excess, and at-risk inventory; reporting inventory value, turns, days on hand, and working-capital impact; developing forecasts and scenario analyses; modeling purchasing decisions; and improving inventory reporting and analytical tools. Approximately 40% focuses on pricing adherence, supplier agreement compliance, gross-margin analysis, identifying margin improvement opportunities, and maintaining controls that prevent margin leakage. The position partners with Finance, Supply Chain, and Operations, and communicates findings and recommendations, including to senior leadership. This is a hybrid position, with the employee expected to work in the office Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in finance, Supply Chain, Economics, Business Analytics, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
3–5 years of experience in inventory planning, supply chain analytics, pricing, or commercial/FP&A analysis.
Advanced Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, scenario modeling, and working with large data sets.
Proficiency with a business intelligence tool such as Power BI or Tableau.
Working knowledge of generative AI tools such as Claude, Microsoft Copilot, or ChatGPT.
Strong understanding of inventory metrics such as turns, days of supply, fill rate, and safety stock, and margin drivers such as price, cost, mix, and volume.
Experience extracting and reconciling data from ERP systems.
Clear written and verbal communication skills, including presenting to senior leadership.
Strong attention to detail and comfort owning recurring reports and controls.
Analytical rigor and curiosity.
Commercial judgment and ability to connect analysis to business decisions.
Ability to influence across functions without direct authority.
Ownership and follow-through.

Nice To Haves

Experience in wine, spirits, or beverage alcohol distribution or importing, including three-tier pricing and supplier programs such as rebates, depletion allowances, and chargebacks.
Experience with statistical or demand forecasting methods, or tools such as Python or R.
Familiarity with distribution-specific ERP and planning systems.
A track record of delivering measurable inventory reduction or margin improvement.

Responsibilities

Identify slow-moving, aged, excess, and at-risk inventory, and recommend action plans such as depletion programs, transfers, or supplier returns.
Report inventory value, turns, days on hand, and working-capital impact against targets by portfolio, location, and supplier; explain variances and develop inventory optimization recommendations.
Partner with Finance and Supply Chain to develop and maintain near-, mid-, and long-term forecasts and scenario analyses for inventory on hand and on order, purchase dollars, purchase receipts, and sales.
Analyze and forecast inventory and working-capital impacts of portfolio mix changes, including import, domestic, and SKU category mix.
Model purchase-order timing, quantities, lead times, order minimums, and container economics to support an optimal balance of inventory and operational costs.
Design and enhance inventory reporting, dashboards, and analytical tools using business intelligence platforms, artificial intelligence capabilities, and enterprise data sources.
Monitor pricing adherence by comparing invoiced prices with approved price lists, frontline pricing, discounts, and deal structures; report and escalate exceptions.
Audit supplier agreement compliance, including depletion allowances, marketing funds, rebates, chargebacks, price protection, and volume incentives, to ensure amounts due are accurately billed and collected.
Analyze gross margin by supplier, brand, SKU, channel, customer, and sales representative; build margin bridges attributing changes to price, cost, mix, and volume.
Identify and quantify margin improvement opportunities, including price increases, mix shifts, cost renegotiation, discount leakage, and underperforming SKUs.
Partner with Finance and Operations to design and maintain controls, approval workflows, and exception reports that prevent margin leakage.