Demand Planner, Wholesale

Jellycat; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 60,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual discretionary bonus

Health coverage (medical, dental, vision)

401k matching

30 Days PTO

Employee Assistance Program

Paid parking

Social events

Job summary

Jellycat is seeking a Demand Planner in Minneapolis, MN, to develop demand plans for wholesale channels and optimize inventory flow. The candidate should have 3-5+ years of relevant demand planning experience, strong analytical skills, and proficiency in Excel.

The role involves ensuring forecast accuracy, supporting the S&OP process, and collaborating with various business teams to identify trends, risks, and opportunities. Benefits include annual bonuses, health coverage, and 30 days PTO.

Qualifications

• 3‑5+ years of experience in Merchandising or Demand Planning.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills.
• Experience with sales & operations planning (S&OP).
• Ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders.
• Advanced Excel skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain the 18-month rolling Demand Plan.
• Analyze demand data and adjust forecasts.
• Perform root cause analysis of supply/demand issues.
• Support monthly S&OP process and prepare demand data.
• Ensure application of product status and lifecycle planning.

Skills

Analytical skills

Critical thinking

Retail experience

Advanced Excel skills

Communication skills

Job description

Jellycat is a privately owned design‑led, gift brand headquartered in London. We create innovative luxurious products in the soft toy, accessory, baby and book categories that are loved around the world. We have an established and growing global customer base and we work with our partners to maximize the potential and reach of Jellycat throughout, sharing joy as we go!

As we continue to grow throughout North America, we continue to develop and improve the presence and awareness of our brand.

The objective of the role is to deliver best in class demand plans for the wholesale channel to ensure forecast accuracy, financial alignment, optimization of inventory flow and effectiveness of the S&OP process by identifying trends, risks and opportunities.

The scope of this role is to generate, analyze and publish the 18‑month rolling forecast for the full wholesale product portfolio.

The demand plan will feed into the sales and operations plan (S&OP) process to be consolidated, reviewed, and signed off by the management team.

You'll be:

Demand Planning

• Developing the 18‑month rolling Demand Plan at SKU and Category level to the financial plans in collaboration with the Commercial, Finance, Marketing, and Operations functions.
• Analyzing demand data and working closely with the Commercial team to gain valuable consumer insights to make any necessary forecast adjustments.
• Performing root cause analysis of supply/demand issues, providing commercial solutions, and escalating where necessary.
• Analyzing forecasting accuracy for the monthly performance management cycle, ensuring all forecast variations and exceptions are understood and supported with a recovery plan where necessary.
• Supporting and actively contributing to the monthly S&OP process by preparing demand data, generating forecast reports, and participating in review meetings as needed.
• Undertaking regular data integrity checks of all demand planning master data fields to ensure all forecasts can be passed over to Senior Planning and Production Planning without error.
• Ensuring application of product status and product lifecycle planning.
• Adjusting demand plans to reflect seasonality, trends, and uplifts due to marketing activities, product lifecycle changes, category strategy, and consumer demand.
• Planning around new product introductions, considering cannibalization of existing products due to new product introductions.

Managing Inventory

• Owning and maintaining inventory reporting, including statistics on sales, inbound deliveries, stock holding, out‑of‑stock prevention, and reorder analysis.
• Ensuring optimal inventory levels are held to maximize sales and minimize inventory liability risk.

Analyzing and Communicating

• Communicating risks and opportunities to the business.
• Ensuring supply constraints are considered, and supply chain information is communicated to the relevant teams.
• Analyzing and reporting on forecast accuracy and bias measures, as well as quantitative and qualitative insights.

You'll have:

• 3‑5+ years relevant experience in a Merchandising or Demand Planning role.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills with high business acumen are required to be able to convert complex problems into actionable solutions.
• Retail experience required.
• Experience with sales & operations planning (S&OP).
• Ability to communicate effectively and build cross‑functional relationships with a range of business stakeholders.
• Ability to multi‑task in a fast‑paced, dynamic and high growth environment with multiple deadlines.
• Good presentation skills – ability to articulate potentially complex and vague concepts clearly; take a data‑led approach to meetings and updates.
• Advanced Excel skills essential.
• Demonstrable knowledge of end‑to‑end supply chain and different teams’ roles & responsibilities.

The good stuff:

• Bonus – Annual discretionary bonus tied to both company performance and personal contribution.
• Health Coverage – Medical (Blue Cross Blue Shield + generous Health Savings Account contribution), dental, vision, disability, and life insurance – most of it on us.
• 401k – We’ll match every single dollar up to 5% of your salary.
• 30 Days PTO – Prorated and then loaded at the start of each year. Vacation and sick time combined, and yours to use.
• Employee Assistance Program – Confidential support for whatever life throws your way.
• Paid Parking + Perks – Covered, skyway‑connected parking on us, plus a free gym, on‑site clinic, pharmacy, and many local restaurants within walking distance.
• Social Events – A very active social committee keeping the calendar full of celebrations and good times.

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.

Compensation

• $60k - $70k

Jellycat Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and make employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or any other protected status. We are committed to a fair, inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.