Lead Demand Planner

Community Coffee•Frisco, TX

7d•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead Demand Planner serves as the enterprise-wide forecasting expert responsible for developing, maintaining, and continuously improving the demand plan across all commercial channels including Grocery, eCommerce, Coffee Service/On-Premise, and DSD-impacted items. As an advanced individual contributor within the Sales Division, this role builds the Total Commercial Demand Plan that informs revenue expectations, shapes sales and category strategies, and enables Supply Planning to execute accurate production and purchasing decisions. This role will act as the primary integrator of demand signals, combining statistical models, POS and syndicated data, customer insights, promotional calendars, competitive activity, and new product projections into a unified forecast. You will serve as the commercial forecasting subject matter expert (SME), partner cross-functionally to advance the S&OP process, and lead continuous improvements in forecasting tools, processes, and analytics.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Finance, Mathematics, Statistics, Data Analytics, or a related field required.
7+ years of experience in demand planning, forecasting, S&OP, or advanced supply chain analytics (CPG industry strongly preferred).
Demonstrated experience owning forecasts across multiple commercial channels (Grocery, eCommerce, Foodservice, On-Premise, or Retail).
Experience integrating POS, syndicated data (IRI/Nielsen), and customer demand signals into forecasting models.
Experience supporting or contributing to enterprise S&OP processes.
Advanced Excel skills required (complex modeling, nested formulas, pivoting, lookups, multi-variable scenarios).
Proficiency with demand planning or forecasting solutions (e.g., SAP IBP, APO, Logility, Anaplan, Blue Yonder, etc.).
Strong statistical and analytical capability, including knowledge of forecasting algorithms, demand drivers, and variance analysis.
Strong understanding of CPG product lifecycles, promotions, pricing dynamics, and customer programs.
Ability to model new item launches, promotional activity, seasonality, and competitive behavior.
Deep knowledge of forecasting KPI frameworks (MAPE, bias, forecast accuracy, demand variability).
Business acumen to align forecasts to financial plans, revenue targets, and customer strategies.
Ability to build and interpret dashboards, insights packages, and executive-level summaries.
Internal Only: Experience with Community Coffee, even if unrelated, may fulfill this requirement at the discretion of the hiring manager with approval from Human Resources

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with ERP/MRP systems and data visualization software (Power BI, Tableau) preferred.
Experience contributing to system enhancements or process improvements within demand planning or S&OP systems is a plus.

Responsibilities

Manage the end-to-end enterprise demand planning cycle for all finished goods across all commercial channels.
Build multi-level forecasts (SKU, customer, channel, total business) across short-, mid-, and long-range time horizons.
Integrate POS data, syndicated data (IRI/Nielsen), customer replenishment signals, and demand sensing inputs to refine forecast accuracy.
Develop and maintain advanced forecast performance dashboards, including MAPE, bias, forecast accuracy, variability, and channel-level KPIs.
Conduct root-cause analysis, identify variances, and recommend corrective actions across the commercial portfolio.
Facilitate the Consensus Demand Review as part of the S&OP cycle, ensuring alignment across Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Supply Planning.
Communicate risks, opportunities, and forecast changes to leadership in business reviews and S&OP.
Serve as the commercial forecasting SME and strategic partner to Finance to support revenue planning, financial reconciliation, and scenario analysis.
Provide demand assumptions for production planning, inventory strategies, and product transitions.
Develop launch curves and forecast models for new products, packaging changes, and product renovations.
Assess promotional performance, price changes, and competitive activity to determine demand implications.
Monitor sell-through trends for major items and key customers; refine forecasts based on observed performance.
Serve as the functional owner of the demand planning system (e.g., forecasting tool configuration, data hygiene, model refinement, enhancements).
Partner with IT and Supply Chain Systems on upgrades, testing, integrations, and process improvements.
Lead continuous improvement initiatives for S&OP, demand planning processes, and data integrity.
Build tools, templates, and training materials to standardize inputs and enhance forecast consistency across the enterprise.
May be asked to perform additional duties as necessary