Senior Demand Planning Analyst / Consultant

Plan Optimus; Coimbatore District; Hybrid; INR 1,200,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Plan Optimus is seeking a seasoned Demand Planning Analyst/Consultant with 4+ years of hands-on experience in enterprise planning platforms such as Blue Yonder, o9, or Kinaxis. The role focuses on forecasting, planning workflows, and IBP, collaborating with product development, implementation, and customer-facing teams to deliver a robust demand planning solution.

You will translate business needs into functional specs, configure planning parameters, and support data integration.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of hands-on experience in demand planning.
• Experience with Blue Yonder, o9 Solutions, or Kinaxis.
• Strong knowledge of forecasting methods and IBP.
• Experience with Excel and SQL.
• Experience in Agile/Scrum environments.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Design and enhance demand planning capabilities for the product.
• Translate business requirements into functional specs.
• Configure planning workflows, hierarchies and KPIs.
• Support forecasting, anomaly detection, and dashboards.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams in Agile ceremonies.
• Mentor junior analysts.

Skills

Demand Planning

Forecasting

Agile/Scrum

Communication

Education

B.E./B.Tech / B.Sc / B.Com / BBA or equivalent

MBA in Operations / Supply Chain Management / Industrial Engineering

Tools

Blue Yonder

o9 Solutions

Kinaxis

Excel

SQL

Job description

Role Summary

Plan Optimus is looking for an experienced Demand Planning Analyst / Consultant with 4+ years of hands-on experience working with leading supply chain planning platforms such as Blue Yonder, o9 Solutions, or Kinaxis.

The ideal candidate should have strong functional knowledge of demand forecasting, statistical forecasting, demand planning processes, and Integrated Business Planning (IBP). The candidate will work closely with our product development, implementation, and customer-facing teams to design, enhance, configure, and support the Plan Optimus Demand Planning solution.

This role requires an individual who can independently understand business planning requirements, translate them into functional specifications, work with technical teams, and contribute to building a competitive enterprise demand planning platform.

Key Responsibilities

1. Demand Planning Solution Design & Development

• Work with the Plan Optimus product development team to design and enhance demand planning capabilities.
• Translate business requirements into functional specifications, workflows, configuration requirements, and solution designs.
• Apply experience from Blue Yonder, o9, or Kinaxis to recommend industry‑standard demand planning features and best practices.
• Define planning workflows, business rules, calculations, exceptions, and KPIs.
• Participate in solution testing, validation, and product enhancements.

2. Demand Forecasting & Analytics

• Support statistical forecasting, baseline forecasting, and demand forecasting processes.
• Understand forecasting methods, including moving averages, exponential smoothing, trend, seasonality, and machine learning‑based forecasting.
• Analyze forecast accuracy, forecast bias, MAPE, WMAPE, and other demand planning KPIs.
• Support demand sensing, promotional planning, new product introductions, and product cannibalization analysis.
• Assist in developing exception‑based planning and demand planning dashboards.

3. Demand Planning Configuration & Implementation

• Configure demand planning parameters, planning hierarchies, time buckets, and business rules.
• Support demand planning implementations, enhancements, and ongoing application support.
• Understand demand planning data requirements, including sales history, product hierarchies, customer hierarchies, promotional events, and external demand drivers.
• Collaborate with technical teams on data integration, validation, and planning calculations.
• Troubleshoot functional issues and recommend improvements.

4. Business Analysis & Customer Engagement

• Conduct requirement‑gathering sessions with customers and business stakeholders.
• Understand existing demand planning processes and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Prepare functional requirement documents, solution design documents, test scenarios, and user acceptance testing plans.
• Conduct solution demonstrations, user training, and workshops.
• Work independently as a Demand Planning Subject Matter Expert (SME).

5. Product Development & Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with software developers, data engineers, data scientists, and optimization specialists.
• Provide functional inputs for AI‑enabled demand planning, scenario planning, and exception management.
• Work with Supply Planning, Inventory Planning, and S&OP teams to ensure integrated planning capabilities.
• Participate in Agile/Scrum ceremonies, sprint planning, and product backlog prioritization.
• Mentor junior analysts and support knowledge sharing.

Must‑Have Skills

• 4+ years of experience in Demand Planning, including hands‑on experience with at least one of the following:
  • Blue Yonder Demand Planning
  • o9 Solutions Demand Planning / Integrated Business Planning
  • Kinaxis RapidResponse / Maestro Demand Planning
• Strong understanding of demand forecasting, statistical forecasting, and demand planning business processes.
• Experience configuring, implementing, enhancing, or supporting enterprise demand planning applications.
• Ability to translate business requirements into functional specifications and technical requirements.
• Experience with demand planning hierarchies, forecasting parameters, planning workflows, and exception management.
• Good understanding of forecast accuracy metrics, including MAPE, WMAPE, and forecast bias.
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving, and troubleshooting skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and working knowledge of SQL.
• Experience working with software development teams in Agile/Scrum environments.
• Strong communication, documentation, and stakeholder‑management skills.
• Ability to work independently and take ownership of functional deliverables.

Good‑to‑Have Skills

• Experience with Integrated Business Planning (IBP), Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP), Supply Planning, or Inventory Optimization.
• Experience in CPG, Food & Beverage, Retail, Quick Service Restaurants (QSR), or Distribution industries.
• Exposure to AI/ML‑based demand forecasting and predictive analytics.
• Knowledge of Python, SQL, Snowflake, or modern data analytics platforms.
• Experience with promotional forecasting, demand sensing, new product forecasting, and cannibalization.
• Understanding of scenario planning, what‑if analysis, and exception‑based planning.
• Experience participating in product development for enterprise planning software.
• Experience conducting customer workshops, solution demonstrations, and user acceptance testing.

Educational Qualifications

Undergraduate: B.E. / B.Tech, B.Sc, B.Com, BBA, or equivalent qualification.

Preferred: MBA in Operations / Supply Chain Management, Master's in Supply Chain Management, Industrial Engineering, or related disciplines.

Ideal Candidate Profile

We are particularly interested in candidates who have worked as Demand Planning Functional Consultants, Business Analysts, Solution Consultants, or Product Analysts on Blue Yonder, o9, or Kinaxis implementations.

The candidate should have a strong understanding of how enterprise demand planning solutions work, including their business processes, configuration capabilities, planning workflows, and analytical features.

This is primarily a functional and techno‑functional role, not a pure software development position. Candidates should be comfortable collaborating with developers to translate supply chain planning requirements into software capabilities.