Regional Business Unit Planner

Festo SE & Co. KG•Hamilton Township, OH

About The Position

The Regional Business Planner is responsible for leading and continuously improving the demand planning processes by fostering strong collaboration across Sales, PMM, and HQ BU Management team. Integrate short and long-term forecast based on roundtables, market trends, historical patterns, promotional activities, and corporate strategy. Aim to maximize forecast accuracy and minimize bias, adding value to the planning process. Regular monitor to the business and proactively analyzes any deviation from the forecast. Will be the owner of KMAT Planning and Capacity evaluation of the Value Stream associated to the Business Unit. Responsible for the correct planning of configurable materials and their components, working with the Procurement Team and Inventory Analyst in the appropriate stocking strategy. Lead the tDCA and RCCP process to ensure the correct capacity and FTEs to satisfy the demand by minimizing the cost. The BU Planner will also have active role in the CUP2 process, support Operations projects and participate in Phase in and Phase Process.

Requirements

Bachelor and/or master’s degree in business administration, Economics or Engineering.
3-5 years of relevant business experience necessary.
Proficiency in supply chain planning tools and software (e.g., SAP, Rapid Response Maestro or comparable)
Expertise in Sales & Operations Planning
Strong knowledge in processes like Procurement, Production Planning & Scheduling.
Basic knowledge of Sales and Order Management
Advanced knowledge of MS Office and Analysis for Office (AO)
Implementation (Hands-On) skills
Motivational, Inspirational and Convincing skills
Change Management skills

Nice To Haves

APICS certification is a plus

Responsibilities

Contributor to the S&OP process, aligning sales, PMMs and Supply Chain teams around a reliable, consensus-based forecast.
Own and improve forecast accuracy and bias KPIs, conducting root cause analysis and driving corrective actions.
Lead regular demand review meetings, highlighting key insights, risks, and required actions.
Develop end-to-end demand planning cycle and update short-to-long term demand forecasts, incorporating promotions, new launches, partnership with customers, and historical trends.
Responsible for tDCA process, to align Demand and Production.
Responsible to ensure routines determined by HQ are complete on time.
Collaboration with Customer Planning and CUP2 projects.
Operate advanced planning tool Maestro to generate accurate forecasts across product families.
Responsible for regular SNP tasks associated to KMAT planning.
Component planning of the first stockable level to ensure material availability for production.
Maintain process documentation and training materials, contributing to knowledge sharing and standardization.
Incorporate AI tools for market insights, based on economic situation, customers expectations, commodities, GDP and competitors.
Optimize use of planning system Maestro, identifying opportunities and promoting adoption of new functionalities across teams.
Be open minded and share constructive feedback for improvement with the Process Team in HQ.
Support corporate change management and cultural change.
Continuous improvement in local and global processes.
AI and analytics champion, looking for efficiency, automation and having more accurate data.
Facilitate cross-functional alignment by leading regular monthly forecast consensus meetings with Sales, PMMs and Supply Chain teams to ensure shared ownership of demand plans.
Act as a central communication bridge between Procurement, HQ BU planning, Production and customer-facing teams, ensuring forecast updates, constraints, and demand signals are clearly communicated.
Collaborate closely via Roundtables with Sales teams to gather market insights, promotional input, and customer expectations — translating these into accurate demand forecasts.
Coordinate with global and regional planning hubs, ensuring integrated information flow through the system.
Provide forecast-related insights and reports to Management and other departments, enabling data-driven decision-making across the organization.
Facilitate transparency and accountability in planning processes by sharing forecast performance KPIs, risks, and mitigation actions with all relevant stakeholders (Sales, PMM, HQ BU Planners, Management)
Support business partners by sharing knowledge, best practices, and tools that enhance planning effectiveness and analytical thinking.
Demonstrate planning leadership in cross-departmental projects, acting as the key demand planning voice in business decisions, new product launches, and strategic planning platforms.
Support alignment and motivation across teams by effectively communicating the impact of planning accuracy on business performance and customer satisfaction.
Build influence without authority, driving engagement and alignment across multiple stakeholders (Sales, PMM, HQ BU Planners, Management) even in matrixed or indirect reporting environments.