Inventory Planner Principal
About The Position
The Inventory Planning Principal develops and leads inventory strategy across the business to maintain optimal inventory levels that support customer demand, on-time delivery performance, and working-capital targets. The role provides subject-matter expertise in demand and supply planning, inventory optimization, and Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning (SIOP), partnering with Planning, Procurement, Commercial, and Finance to balance service, cost, and risk and improve planning performance and inventory health. The position governs inventory policies, safety-stock strategies, and planning parameters; optimizes inventory targets across raw materials, work in progress, and finished goods; and leads segmentation, root-cause analysis, scenario modeling, performance measurement, and continuous improvement. It also provides inventory insights for SIOP, develops dashboards and analytics, collaborates across functions, influences senior leadership, and mentors planners and analysts.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree required.
- At least 8 years of experience in inventory planning, materials management, production planning, or supply chain management, including lead or project leadership roles.
- Strong knowledge of inventory optimization, safety-stock strategies, ABC segmentation, and excess and obsolete inventory management.
- Strong analytical skills, including advanced Excel skills and experience with visualization tools such as Power BI.
- Ability to coach and guide supply-planner peers, influence across functional boundaries, and inform senior leaders.
- Organized, proactive, detail-oriented, and comfortable in a fast-paced environment.
- Ability to travel up to 15% as needed.
Nice To Haves
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
- APICS certification.
- Lean Six Sigma certification.
- Experience with balance sheets and inventory accounts.
- Proficiency with SAP ERP and APO SNP advanced planning systems.
- Demonstrated results driving inventory KPIs such as DOS, IOS, inventory accuracy, and inventory health.
Responsibilities
- Develop and govern inventory policies, safety-stock strategies, and planning parameters, including periodic refreshes of inventory Entitlement Models.
- Optimize inventory targets across raw materials, work in progress (WIP), and finished goods in alignment with Entitlement Model targets by product and region.
- Lead inventory segmentation methodologies, such as ABC/XYZ analysis and demand-variability profiles, to inform differentiated strategies.
- Analyze inventory drivers, including excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory, and lead corrective actions.
- Partner with Demand Planning and Supply Planning to support accurate forecasting and align inventory targets across the global network.
- Lead inventory scenario modeling to evaluate supply constraints, forecast volatility, and customer priorities.
- Support SIOP with forward-looking inventory insights, risk and opportunity analysis, and recommended actions.
- Own inventory KPIs, including inventory value, Days of Supply (DOS), inventory performance related to On Time to First Promise (OTFP), forecast-accuracy impact, and slow-moving inventory metrics.
- Develop dashboards, reporting, and analytics to support data-driven decision-making.
- Collaborate with Commercial teams to align inventory strategies with customer requirements, product lifecycle changes, and demand shifts.
- Partner with Operations and Procurement to optimize replenishment, lot sizing, production cycles, and supply reliability.
- Influence senior leadership by communicating actionable insights on inventory risk, trade-offs, and improvement opportunities.
- Drive adoption of inventory-planning best practices, including statistical modeling, parameter governance, and automation.
- Lead process improvements to reduce variability, enhance planning accuracy, and improve working-capital efficiency.
- Mentor planners and analysts and elevate capability across the planning organization.
Benefits
- Employer-subsidized medical, dental, vision, and life insurance.
- Short-term and long-term disability.
- 401(k) match.
- Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Accounts.
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
- Educational assistance.
- Parental leave.
- Paid time off for vacation, personal business, sick time, and parental leave.
- 12 paid holidays.
- Incentive-plan eligibility.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
