Demand Planner

Job Description

Job Description

As employees of a farmer-owned cooperative, we come to work every day trying to honor the tireless effort and care these farming families put in every day, all day, 365 days a year. Our farmer-owners tend to think in generations, with some of our farms being run by the same families for over a century. We carry this approach into our business, knowing that each and every one of us makes a difference in allowing these generational traditions to continue, taking pride in knowing that we nourish our friends, neighbors, nation, and even the world with healthy and delicious dairy products. Our products include milk, flavored milk, yogurt, dip, sour cream, cottage cheese, Italian cheese, and ice cream mix marketed under the Upstate Farms®, Bison®, Milk for Life®, and Intense Milk® brands.

Role & Responsibilities:

The role of the Demand Planner (DP) is to evaluate the past customer demand, determine past forecast and demand plan accuracy and generate an order forecast using predictive algorithms. The DP collects and organizes inputs from sales and marketing teams to generate consensus demand plan to meet the volume and financial growth targets of the organization. In the process, Demand Planner evaluates quality and validity of cross-functional and marketplace inputs in the forecasting process to ensure continuous improvement in the demand plan accuracy, cycle over cycle.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

The Demand Planner is responsible for the following activities:

• Develop and manage 36-month forecast and demand plan at multiple levels of aggregation for multiple time horizons (operational and strategic).
• Evaluate accuracy and bias of forecasts generated by demand planning tools and cross-functional forecasts provided by sales managers, marketing managers, customers, and other stakeholders to determine the forecast value add (FVA)
• Coordinate cross-functional activities to reconcile significant variances between system generated forecast and functional forecasts and refine the demand plan to reflect updated sales and marketing assumptions or trends.
• Support sales managers and marketing managers in initial financial target setting, documentation of demand assumptions, and the creation of scenarios to address the gaps between the demand plan and annual operating plan on an ongoing basis.
• Lead Demand Review meetings of IBP to present analysis and options around exceptions.
• Participate in Supply Review meetings to understand demand fulfillment risks, understand fulfillment options and provide guidance on demand probability.
• Analyze and understand material variances to forecast performance and drive corrective action or adjustment efforts with Sales and Marketing teams to reduce forecast variances.
• Release the consensus demand in accordance with process design, to support the tactical inventory and production planning for the short-term and communicate any material changes to demand plan.
• Prepare and release the consensus demand plan monthly in alignment with S&OP calendar to support the inventory planning, rough cut capacity planning and decision-making under the IBP process.
• Collaborating with the Sales and Marketing team to maintain a documented view of the volume Risks and Opportunity Pipelines to the demand plan and communicating to the Supply team to support scenario analysis on the ability to supply and an understanding of implications to the business.

Education and Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree in data Analysis, Mathematics, Business Administration or related field of study.
• 3 -5 years of Sales and Marketing, Business Analysis, or Supply Chain experience.

Preferred Skills:

Business Acumen

Activity

Targeted Proficiency Level

Understanding of demand influencers for product categories and customers

Proficient

Understanding of demand planning performance KPIs

Expert

Understanding of impact of demand planning KPIs on organizational and cross-functional KPIs and vice-versa

Proficient

Soft Skills

Activity

Targeted Proficiency Level

Negotiation

Proficient

Decision-making

Proficient

Relationship Building, Teamwork, and Collaboration

Proficient

Technical / Analytical Skills

Activity

Targeted Proficiency Level

Knowledge of DP systems & capabilities – Ross preferred.

Proficient

Knowledge of forecasting algorithms and parameters

Proficient

Data analytics

Proficient

Problem solving

Expert

Spreadsheet Management & Presentation

Expert

Data driven Insight generation.

Proficient

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

This position will primarily operate in a fast-paced office environment that requires a combination of team-based work as well as in-depth individual analysis. This individual must be comfortable sitting/standing at workstation for extended periods of time. Must be able to operate standard office equipment such as computer, phone, copier…etc. Periodic travel to support customer interactions may be required.

Pay: $75,000-$95,000/yr.

*The salary range indicated in this posting represents the minimum and maximum of the salary range for this position. Actual salary will vary depending on factors including, but not limited to, budget available, prior experience, knowledge, skill and education as they relate to the position’s qualifications, in addition to internal equity. The posted salary range reflects just one component of our total rewards package. Other components of the total rewards package may include participation in group health and/or dental insurance, retirement plan, wellness program, paid time away from work, and paid holidays.

Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Inc. is committed to equal employment opportunity for all, without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic.