Leader, Demand Planning

Newell Brands•Atlanta, GA

About The Position

The Amazon Customer Demand Planning Lead is a high‑impact, analytical leadership role with end‑to‑end ownership of demand planning for one of Newell’s largest and most strategically critical customers: Amazon. This role sits at the intersection of data, customer insight, and supply chain execution, translating complex signals into a reliable, decision‑ready demand forecast that directly drives supply planning, service performance, and inventory health. This leader is accountable for ensuring the demand planning process delivers a credible, unbiased, and risk‑aware forecast that enables confident decision‑making across the organization. Success in this role requires strong analytical rigor, the ability to quantify risk and opportunity, and the confidence to challenge assumptions while partnering closely with Sales, Amazon support teams, Supply Planning, Operations, and Finance. Operating within the established Integrated Business Planning (IBP) framework, the Amazon Demand Planning Lead plays a critical role in aligning customer demand, operational feasibility, and financial expectations- ensuring Amazon plans are not only ambitious, but executable.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain management, Engineering, Business Management or related technical field.
Minimum 7 years’ experience which includes:
Customer Demand Planning experience or across multiple aspects of the supply chain with previous roles in inventory management, supply/production planning and demand planning.
Worked in a CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) organization or a business-to-business supplier organization
Technical understanding of ERP or bolt-on forecasting systems (SAP IBP preferred)
Expertise in data acquisition, spreadsheet/database model development and analysis. Able to process large amounts of data and deliver a concise recommendation.
Experience utilizing Lean principles and tools (Flow, Pull, Kanban, Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, etc.).
Highly proficiency with Excel, Access, other MS Office applications, reporting and data warehouse and forecasting systems. SAP APO/IBP or Power BI experience is a plus.
Demonstrated ability to represent Supply Chain as a strategic partner, collaborating cross‑functionally to influence business decisions and drive process improvements that measurably improve service, inventory performance, and total cost outcomes.
Strong analytical and problem‑solving capability, with experience translating complex data (e.g., POS, demand signals, operational constraints, financial inputs) into actionable insights that support end‑to‑end supply chain and demand planning decisions.
Proven experience working cross‑functionally across Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Operations, Sales, Finance, and Trade/Marketing teams, with the ability to align diverse perspectives into a single, executable plan.

Responsibilities

Create, maintain, and continuously improve SKU / DC / customer‑level forecasting models across designated product lines to achieve forecast accuracy, bias, and stability targets.
Execute the end‑to‑end demand planning process, clarifying ambiguity, addressing forecast bias, and developing approaches to new or evolving business conditions to deliver unconstrained, decision‑ready customer demand forecasts.
Review and challenge system‑generated statistical forecasts, identifying account‑level and SKU/DC inconsistencies and applying informed overrides using POS data, shipment history, business trends, and promotional insights across the planning horizon.
Manage demand history integrity by realigning forecasts for item version changes, customer/entity changes, and lifecycle events.
Lead the forecast collaboration process with Customer, Sales, and Channel Trade teams to establish a credible baseline dollar and unit forecast for downstream alignment.
Assess customer‑level POS forecasts, establish performance metrics, and facilitate guardrail forecasting to manage promotional expectations and upside/downside risk.
Ensure all discrete demand signals are accurately reflected in planning systems, including promotions, events, POG changes, new items, discontinuations, and version transitions.
Develop a deep understanding of key customer business drivers, identifying opportunities for growth and risks to current demand plans.
Integrate Trade Marketing and commercial development activities into the demand plan, aligning internal expectations through IBP / PRM / S&OP processes.
Prepare and present the demand plan, assumptions, drivers, risks, and mitigation actions in S&OP Demand Review forums.
Communicate demand plan implications clearly with Supply Planning, Operations, Manufacturing, Sales, Trade, and Finance to ensure end‑to-end alignment and execution readiness.
Identify and quantify risks and opportunities within the demand plan, review gaps with Customer and Trade teams and lead development of clear, actionable countermeasures.
Diagnose the highest drivers of forecast error, performing root‑cause analysis and leading corrective actions to improve forecast quality and process performance.
Identify opportunities for process and capability improvement, make data‑driven recommendations, and drive execution to measurable results.
Represent Supply Chain interests in cross‑functional initiatives and project teams, influencing changes to business processes that improve service, inventory, and cost outcomes.
Act as a strategic thought leader and change agent, partnering across Demand, Supply Planning, Operations, Sales, and Finance to optimize performance across the total value chain.
Mentor, coach, and train team members on planning systems, analytics, and processes, while enabling effective collaboration with trading partners and cross‑functional stakeholders.