Manager, Planning Excellence

Timex Group•Shelton, CT

5d•$95,600 - $146,800•Hybrid

About The Position

The Manager, Planning Excellence works within the Demand Planning organization to reduce manual workload, automate planning routines, and build synchronized, scalable planning processes through technology, analytics, continuous improvement, and change management. The role partners with Supply Chain, Finance, IT, and Commercial teams to improve business planning processes, including Forecast Accuracy, S&OP, and OTB, and to advance planning maturity and digital transformation. This position assesses reporting and data flows, removes non-value-added work, and streamlines data structures to improve transparency, accuracy, operational standards, and decision-making. It identifies inefficiencies in planning routines and designs automation using existing planning systems and tools such as Power BI, advanced Excel, and AI, in collaboration with IT and project teams. The manager serves as a subject matter expert, supports and trains Demand Planners on new tools, and shares effective practices with other Planning areas. The role is hybrid, with two days per week on-site at the Shelton, Connecticut office. Remote candidates will not be considered.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Economics, or a related field.
3–5 years of relevant experience in supply chain, planning, data science, or project management roles.
Broad knowledge of planning functions and processes, including S&OP/S&OE, Order Management, and planning tools such as Oracle, Logility, and Demantra.
Strong written and verbal communication skills and demonstrated ability to drive change by influencing others.
Ability to bring structure to ambiguity and turn raw ideas into well-formed, governed initiatives.
Strong bias toward action, experimentation, and continuous learning.
Results-oriented approach and understanding that planning maturity improvement is continuous.
Technical proficiency, especially in advanced Excel (macros), SQL, Python, and applying AI to automation.
Experience in performance management, governance, and creating clean reporting.
Strong analytical skills and ability to simplify complex issues into clear concepts and logic.

Nice To Haves

MBA or master’s degree.
APICS certification (CPIM, CSCP, or CPF), Lean Six Sigma certification, or Project Management certification.

Responsibilities

Analyze existing processes, data sources, and information in line with departmental priorities and projects, and develop technical solutions to improve efficiency and address gaps.
Understand the business needs behind reporting and planning tools, identify opportunities to automate and improve data and outputs, execute approved automation, and ensure transitions do not disrupt core processes.
Select appropriate methods and techniques to develop solutions, calculate metrics for complex issues, and develop and implement KPIs and other metrics as needed.
Collaborate with senior internal and external personnel in the area of expertise and share knowledge with the team.
Resolve complex technical issues and provide on-demand support to the organization in scope.
Recommend process improvements to leadership and assist in driving change.
Improve communication between planning teams by replacing touchpoints with better data visibility and automated information flows.
Ensure coherence of planning routines, governance standards, documentation, and regular training and upskilling across the Planning organization.
Explore existing system capabilities and teach Planning teams how to use them.
Manage potential adoption roadblocks through change management and risk mitigation.
Partner with cross-functional teams to align with Business Planning and OTB process needs.
Represent Planning in transformation workshops and governance reviews.