Sr. Manager, Demand & Inventory Process Excellence

Novolex•Lake Forest, IL

6d•$150,000 - $170,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Lead, Demand & Inventory Process Excellence owns the enterprise standards, policies, and governance for demand planning and inventory management within the SIOP operating model. This role ensures that demand forecasts and inventory targets are unbiased, policy-compliant, decision-ready, and align to enterprise objectives. This role exists to govern how demand and inventory plans are created, not to create the plans themselves – providing assurance, discipline, and transparency so SIOP decisions are credible, comparable, and executable across the enterprise.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Statistics, Operations, Industrial Engineering, or a related field
8+ years of experience in demand planning, inventory strategy, or integrated planning environments
Hands-on experience in S&OP / SIOP operating models
Strong working knowledge of forecasting methods, inventory policy, and segmentation strategies
Planning standards and policy design
Forecast evaluation and bias identification
Inventory strategy and capital efficiency
Process auditing and assurance
Cross-functional collaboration and influence
Governance mindset with strong business judgement

Responsibilities

Define and maintain enterprise demand planning and inventory management standards
Govern forecasting methodologies, consensus rules, and bias thresholds
Own segmentation frameworks and inventory policy principles
Ensure consistent application of demand and inventory standards across business units
Audit demand planning and inventory processes for compliance with enterprise standards
Identify gaps in planning discipline, data usage, and adherence to policy
Certify demand and inventory readiness entering SIOP forums
Ensure assumptions, methodologies, and targets are decision-ready
Serve as the Process Excellence authority for demand and inventory topics within SIOP
Partner closely with Analytics to align metric definitions, diagnostics, and insight usage
Support Demand Consensus and Pre-SIOP with governance perspective, not analytical ownership
Escalate policy conflicts, bias risks, and structural demand/inventory issues to the Director
Assess demand and inventory planning maturity and policy effectiveness
Drive continuous improvement in planning standards, governance rigor, and assurance methods
Contribute to enterprise SIOP maturity roadmaps and governance evolution
Lead and develop Process & Policy Analysts supporting demand and inventory governance
Build repeatable audit tools, templates, and standards documentation
Act as a subject-matter authority on demand and inventory governance across Supply Chain