Specialist-Business Plnng

Alps Alpine•Auburn Hills, MI

20h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Business Planning Specialist serves as a support to the BU Executive and Management Team, supporting the National Sales team through cross-functional business planning, forecasting, performance analysis, and operational alignment. This role contributes to the company’s BEST (Business Execution & Strategic Thinking) framework by ensuring strategy are embedded into planning processes, data-driven insights, and execution rhythms across the organization. This role serves as an important link between internal teams and external partners, ensuring accurate data flow, clear communication, and strong operational execution. Advanced Excel skills and strong analytical capabilities are necessary for performing the essential functions of this role related to building forecasts, evaluating business performance, and supporting strategic initiatives.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in finance or business administration preferred and four or more years of experience as or equivalent combinations of experience, training and education.
Advanced Excel skills
Strong analytical capabilities
Problem Solving Skills
Verbal Communication Skills
Use verbal skills to communicate with co-workers or customers and respond to upset individuals
Written Communication and Skills
Technical in SAP MM Module
Basic Arithmetic.
Database / Contact Management Software
Internet / Email
Presentation Software
Spreadsheet Software (During the interview process, candidates will be required to complete an Excel skills assessment.)
Word Processing Software

Responsibilities

Support annual, quarterly, and monthly business planning cycles aligned with the company’s best practices.
Assist in developing sales forecasts, budget simulations, and performance projections using advanced Excel and analytical tools.
Coordinate budget planning to ensure alignment with the organization’s growth strategy.
Analyze historical sales data, market trends, and dealer performance to support strategic planning.
Prepare business planning presentations, dashboards, and reports for leadership review.
Track progress against business plans to identify risks, gaps, and opportunities.
Monitor and report key performance indicators related to sales performance, dealer engagement, and financial outcomes.
Build and maintain reporting tools that provide visibility into sales trends, program performance, and operational metrics.
Translate analysis into actionable insights and recommendations that reinforce BEST principles of strategic thinking and execution.
Serve as a central point of communication between sales, finance, marketing, and dealer partners.
Ensure alignment across departments on business plans, promotions, forecasts, and program execution.
Facilitate issue resolution between dealers and finance to support smooth operations and accuracy of financial record keeping.
Maintain accurate documentation of dealer interactions, sales activities, and financial transactions.
Identify opportunities to improve business processes, reporting accuracy, and operational workflows.
Assist in the development and execution of business programs, promotions, and strategic initiatives that reinforce the BEST framework.
Contribute to strategic price setting as part of the business planning process, using data-driven analysis to support pricing alignment with corporate objectives.
Provide support toward certification and ensure compliance with customer-required quality management systems (TISAX, TS16949, IATF, etc.).
Positions within Product Development, Legal, HR, IT, and Executive Management must exercise a higher level of confidentiality and discretion when handling sensitive information.