Sr Analyst Capacity Management

Ulta Beauty, Inc. • Bolingbrook, IL

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Sr. Capacity Analyst manages end-to-end capacity and product lifecycle management across Ulta Beauty’s distribution center network. The role maintains and enhances tools that provide visibility into network capacity, monitors the single source of truth for capacity management, leads capacity planning reporting and follow-up actions, and identifies risks, opportunities, and solutions to address distribution center capacity limitations. The analyst also uses the Cost-to-Serve tool to assess costs and inform business trade-offs.

This position works with Merchandise Planning & Inventory, Merchandise Planning & Operations, Store Operations, Information Technology, distribution center partners, Finance, and other Supply Chain teams. It supports enterprise planning by translating capacity forecasts, risks, and operational constraints into actionable insights and recommendations. The role also leads new capacity initiatives, serves as a subject matter expert for network distribution center capacity and product lifecycle management, and drives continuous improvement and automation.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 4–6 years of relevant work experience in supply chain, capacity planning, or operations.
• Ability to travel as needed, up to 20%.
• Ability to adapt to shifting priorities, demands, and timelines.
• Comfort learning new software.
• Ability to contribute to cross-functional meetings and short-term projects.
• Strong analytical skills and experience with process improvement and best practices.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet strict deadlines.
• Ability to learn in a growing, fast-paced environment.
• Ability to lead and facilitate meetings.
• Ability to lead and manage projects related to capacity visibility.
• Strong business acumen and financial understanding of decision-making trade-offs.
• Analytical mindset and focus on continuous improvement.
• Advanced Excel and Microsoft Office skills.
• Enthusiastic, persistent, action-oriented approach and strong accountability.
• Ability to manage multiple projects, prioritize work, and operate independently with minimal direction.
• Ability to elicit cooperation from upper management, project teams, and other departments.
• Strong strategic mindset, critical reasoning, and qualitative analysis experience.
• Thorough knowledge of business process documentation.
• Proven ability to exercise sound judgment in business decisions.

Nice To Haves

• Microsoft Power BI experience.
• Working knowledge of SAP.

Responsibilities

• Own recurring EOH and network capacity reporting, providing visibility into inventory levels, available capacity, utilization, and distribution center trends.
• Integrate inventory projections, operational throughput, and business planning assumptions; evaluate forecast accuracy, identify constraints, quantify risks, and recommend mitigation strategies.
• Partner with Merchandise Planning & Inventory, Supply Chain Operations, and Finance to translate plans into future capacity requirements and recommend adjustments to inventory flow, timing, or execution.
• Lead analytical planning and tracking for distribution center-to-distribution center inventory transfers, including volumes, timing, execution, and capacity impacts.
• Assess inventory disposition and other capacity initiatives; track expected and realized impacts, milestones, execution gaps, and trade-offs.
• Quantify capacity relief, operating costs, service implications, and financial trade-offs to develop actionable recommendations.
• Create and present weekly Supply Chain capacity updates covering current and forecast conditions, risks, mitigation actions, initiative status, and distribution center impacts.
• Collaborate with distribution center operations and cross-functional stakeholders to align capacity plans with operational constraints, priorities, and execution readiness.
• Perform scenario and sensitivity analyses involving receipts, shipments, inventory movement, and initiative timing.
• Evaluate financial and operational impacts of capacity constraints and mitigation strategies, including handling and transportation costs, inventory investment, and service impacts.
• Translate capacity forecasts, risks, and operational constraints into business insights and scenario-based recommendations for cross-functional leadership.
• Act as project lead for new capacity initiatives and projects.
• Serve as the subject matter expert and point of contact for network distribution center capacity and product lifecycle management.
• Identify improvement and automation opportunities and lead continuous improvement projects through implementation.
• Provide day-to-day distribution center operational support, including 911, RTV, RTDC, DIF, and DC2DC transfer analysis.
• Partner cross-functionally on distribution center assortment strategies, evaluating effects on inventory, capacity utilization, network efficiency, and inventory placement.
• Manage and ensure end-to-end compliance with the DIF process.
• Assist with data gathering and ad hoc reporting and analysis.
• Create and maintain best-practice documents as needed.
• Liaise with stakeholders to elicit, analyze, communicate, and validate requirements for capacity planning and management changes.
• Build and enhance dashboards, reporting tools, and standardized metrics to improve forecast accuracy, visibility, and decision-making.
• Validate data quality and reconcile reporting discrepancies across planning and operational data sources.
• Support S&OP planning cycles, network capacity reviews, peak readiness, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Escalate emerging capacity risks with proposed actions, owners, and timing, and follow through on resolution and measured results.
• Use data to influence stakeholders and drive capacity rightsizing, primarily through Product Lifecycle Management.
• Help develop and iterate more in-depth capacity forecasting tools.
• Partner with the Data & Analytics team to create reports showing the role of capacity in Ulta’s long-term planning goals.
• Drive process improvement and automation to streamline distribution center capacity KPI tracking, reduce manual reporting, and enable proactive analysis.

Benefits

• Paid time off for full-time positions.
• Health benefits for full-time positions.
• Dental, vision, life, and disability benefits for full-time positions.
• Opportunity for eligible associates to earn additional compensation under the Company’s bonus plan.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level