IBP Strategy & Transformational Lead

iHerb Inc.; Irvine, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

iHerb Inc. is seeking an experienced Inventory Transformation Process Leader in Irvine, CA to drive the evolution of planning and execution ecosystems. This role blends SAP IBP systems expertise with business judgment to enable faster, higher-quality decisions.

The successful candidate will challenge existing processes, apply decision-ready data, and implement exception-based planning, turning data into actionable insights and delivering measurable business value.

Qualifications

• Ten+ years of experience in supply chain transformation and analytics.
• 5–7+ years hands-on SAP IBP experience across planning areas.
• Strong understanding of SAP S/4HANA/ECC supply chain modules.

Responsibilities

• Design and lead IBP and SAP supply chain implementations, enhancements, and upgrades.
• Collaborate with Stakeholders to define roadmaps and measurable outcomes.
• Drive adoption through governance, training, and continuous improvement.
• Balance standard SAP practices with practical usability for planners.

Skills

10+ years experience

SAP IBP

SAP S/4HANA

End-to-end planning architectures

Data models & governance

Job description

Irvine, California, United States of America Corporate R106598 Posted 04/09/2026

For A Better You At iHerb, we believe that living a healthy and balanced life should be easy and accessible to everyone. As a team member, we’ll empower you to live this promise each day as you make a truly global impact in your career. We constantly strive for innovation, while transforming and improving the online shopping experience for our customers. We believe that individually we are incredible, but when we come together, our growth is infinite. In an industry that is constantly evolving, we are on a mission to make an impact on the global market, and the individual and collaborative efforts of our people are paramount to helping us succeed. Whether you work in one of our logistics centers, technology hubs, corporate offices or even from home, your role at iHerb will take you beyond what’s expected, turning challenge into change. If you're ready for it, we want you to join our team.

Job Summary:

We are seeking a highly capable Inventory Transformation Process Leader to drive the evolution of our planning and execution ecosystem. This role blends deep systems expertise (SAP IBP) and supply chain systems expertise with strong business judgement and operational pragmatism.

The successful candidate will challenge existing planning processes and systems architecture, apply decision-ready data sets, and implement exception-based planning to enable faster, higher-quality decisions. This role is hands‑on and outcome‑driven, focused on turning data into action and planning into a true operational decision engine.

This is an exciting time to start this journey, providing the candidate the opportunity to blueprint and drive change. The successful candidate will bring in relevant industry experience, vision for continuous improvements, influencing ability to drive process and solution standardization, and collaboration with various stakeholders to achieve common goals, while delivering consistent and thorough deliverables as required.

The ideal candidate will be someone who challenges “how it’s always been done”, is highly analytical, is a hands‑on‑leader who is equally comfortable at the whiteboard and in system configuration. One who values practical outcomes over theoretical perfection, builds systems that support how people actually work and is capable of articulating plans and ideas with all levels of the organization.

Job Expectations:

Strategy & Business Transformation

• Partner with Supply Chain Operations, Finance, Merchandising, Marketing, and IT leaders to redefine and/or optimize end‑to‑end planning processes, including Demand, Supply, Inventory, and IBP/S&OP

• Translate business strategy into a clear, executable IBP and Inventory Optimization roadmap

• Challenge legacy processes, assumptions, and system designs to improve speed, focus, and decision quality

• Drive measurable business outcomes across service, inventory, cost, and agility

Decision Enablement & Exception-Based Planning

• Design and apply integrated, decision‑ready data sets that align demand, supply, inventory, capacity, and financial views.

• Shift planning from calendar‑driven review cycles to exception‑driven workflows using clearly defined thresholds and tolerances.

• Ensure exceptions are actionable by defining:

• Business meaning

• Decision ownership

• Recommended actions and trade‑offs

• Embed decision logic directly into IBP workflows to enable same‑day or next‑day decisions.

• Reduce planner effort by eliminating manual data preparation and focusing attention on the few critical issues that matter most.

SAP IBP & Systems Architecture

• Own the solution design and architecture for SAP IBP (Demand, Supply, Inventory Optimization, Response & Supply, and related capabilities).

• Configure SAP IBP to support daily and weekly operational decision cycles, not just monthly IBP cadence.

• Design alerts, dashboards, and planning views that clearly answer:

• What changed?

• Why does it matter?

• What decision is required now?

• Ensure tight integration between SAP IBP, SAP S/4HANA (or ECC), BW/HANA, and execution systems to support fast response and closed‑loop learning.

• Balance SAP standard best practices with practical usability for planners and operators.

Data, Analytics & Applied Insights

• Apply forecasting, supply, and inventory analytics to prioritize action, not just improve model accuracy.

• Enable rapid scenario analysis and what‑if simulations focused on real operational trade‑offs (service vs. inventory, cost vs. speed).

• Partner with data and analytics teams to operationalize advanced models into repeatable, explainable decisions.

• Focus on speed to insight and decision clarity over analytical complexity.

Execution, Delivery & Adoption

• Lead or support IBP and SAP supply chain implementations, enhancements, and upgrades.

• Collaborate with internal teams and external partners to deliver high‑quality, usable solutions.

• Define success metrics and ensure solutions deliver tangible, measurable business value.

• Drive adoption through training, governance, and continuous improvement.

Key Performance Indicators:

Decision Speed & Focus

• Decision latency (time from exception detection to decision)

• Exception aging (open exceptions beyond defined thresholds)

• Exception volume per planner (trend downward)

• % of alerts acted upon vs. ignored

Planning Effectiveness

• Forecast accuracy and bias at agreed aggregation levels

• Plan stability (week‑over‑week or cycle‑over‑cycle changes)

• Scenario cycle time (time to evaluate and decide)

• % of plans auto‑approved vs. manually adjusted

Inventory & Service Outcomes

• Service level / fill rate

• Inventory turns and days of supply

• Excess and obsolete inventory

• Stockout recovery time

System & Adoption Health

• Planner touches per planning cycle

• Manual overrides as a % of total decisions

• Alert precision (true vs. false positives)

• Active user adoption and engagement rates

The duties and responsibilities described above may provide only a partial description of this position. Other duties and responsibilities not outlined in this document may be added as necessary or desirable, with or without notice.

Required Qualifications:

Technical and Functional Expertise

• Generally requires a minimum of ten (10) plus years of experience

• 5-7+ years of hands‑on experience with SAP IBP, across multiple planning areas

• Strong understanding of SAP S/4HANA or ECC supply chain modules (MM, PP; APO experience a plus)

• Proven experience designing end‑to‑end planning architectures and integrations

• Solid understanding of data models, master data governance, and planning heuristics

Business & Leadership Skills

• Deep understanding of end‑to‑end supply chain operations in complex, fast‑moving environments

• Ability to connect system and data design choices directly to business outcomes

• Strong stakeholder influence skills, with the ability to align cross‑functional teams

• Experience leading transformation initiatives, not just system implementations

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in retail, e-commerce, or high‑SKU, high‑velocity environments

• Proven track record of evolving organizations from basic S&OP to advanced IBP

• Exposure to hybrid planning landscapes (SAP and non‑SAP tools)

• Experience supporting global or multi‑region supply chains

What Success Looks Like

• Planners and leaders focus on decisions and exceptions, not data preparation

• Faster response to volatility with clear visibility into trade-offs and impacts

• Planning systems highlight issues early enough to act, with clear ownership and actions

• Measurable improvements in service levels, inventory health, and decision speed

• IBP is trusted as a daily operational decision engine, not just a planning calendar

Work Environment: The WFH environment is primary, office is optional. Other factors are:

• Hectic, fast‑paced with multi‑level distractions

• Professional, yet casual work environment

• Professional, private space for video meetings required

• Ability to work extended hours as required

LI-MK2

Compensation:

The expected salary range for this role is 130,000-170,000 USD. The actual base pay offered will be determined by factors such as the candidate's relevant experience, education, geographic location, and internal equity.

If you like wild growth and working with happy, enthusiastic over‑achievers, you'll enjoy your career with us!

iHerb is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status. iHerb provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment.