Sr. Demand Planner

RG Barry Brands; Columbus (OH); On-site; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

RG Barry Brands in Columbus, Ohio is seeking a Senior Demand Planner to maximize service levels and profitability through accurate demand forecasting. This role requires strong analytical skills, particularly in the areas of ecommerce, especially Amazon, and the ability to manage large datasets effectively.

The ideal candidate will collaborate across departments, provide insightful analysis, and ensure the accuracy of forecasts while managing multiple projects in a dynamic environment. A solid knowledge of supply chain processes is also essential.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years in Demand Planning or related field.
• Experience with ecommerce customers, especially Amazon.
• Ability to work with large datasets.

Responsibilities

• Develops pre‑season assortment plans and demand forecasts.
• Documents forecast methodology and provides indicators.
• Monitors forecast accuracy and identifies root causes.

Skills

Amazon/ecommerce business understanding

Advanced Excel skills

Statistical analysis

Strong communication skills

Quantitative methods

Education

Undergraduate degree in Supply Chain or related field

Tools

Tableau

SQL

MS Access

Job description

The Senior Demand Planner is responsible for maximizing service levels, sales, profitability, and inventory productivity by accurately and responsively forecasting time‑phased demand by Business Unit, key customer, distribution segment, product, and other attributes as needed. This person needs to apply exceptional quantitative and analytical skills, along with knowledge of retail and forecasting, to deliver actionable insights to Management and key cross‑functional stakeholders including Supply Planning, Logistics, Account Support, Finance, Sales and Merchandising.

Responsibilities

• Collaborates with Sales, Merchandising and customers to develop pre‑season assortment plans and demand forecasts by business unit, customer, style_color_label, by month. This includes year‑over‑year, side‑by‑side comparisons as well as progress against strategic objectives.
• Creates and maintains demand forecasts submitted monthly to Supply Planning and Finance which extends out months into the future with a cascading level of product granularity, ultimately down to SKU for purchasing. These demand forecasts will be used for long‑range supply chain network capacity planning; materials planning; volume and cost negotiations; product range rationalization and life‑cycle management; inventory management and liquidation cadence; and purchasing finished goods. These demand forecasts should be aligned to given top‑down guardrails and guidance.
• Documents forecast methodology, inputs, assumptions and submission‑to‑submission change drivers. Provides indicators with forecast submission as to levels of demand risk, inventory risk, and confidence level.
• Monitors and measures forecast accuracy and volatility. Diagnoses, categorizes, quantifies and summarizes root causes of inaccuracy, poor service levels, and higher‑than‑expected excess and obsolete inventory. Leverages the results of this analysis in future forecasting process improvement.
• Assists in auditing and cleansing the customer sales order/demand pool by analyzing order backlogs, cancelations, supply allocation inside lead‑time, and forecast and bulk order consumption. Alerts Supply Planning as to demand inaccuracy risks and suggest corrective action to the Account Support Team.
• Provides standardized and ad‑hoc analysis including but not limited to the following: Customer Point Of Sale Data; Third‑party Market Research and Market Share Data; Shipments; At‑once Orders; Cancelation Rates; Order Expectation Curves; Size Analysis and Curves; Customer Adoption Patterns; Price Sensitivity; New Product Launches; Life Cycle Analysis; Pareto Curves; Assortment Optimization / Diminishing Returns of Assortment Adds; Profitability; Replacement/Cannibalization; Promotions/Events; Allowance Risk Monitoring and Mitigation, Marketing Styles; Hot and Slow Seller Early Warning Indicators; Lost Demand Due to Out‑of‑Stocks (at retail and wholesale); Logistics Route to Customer; Measuring Specific Tests; Market, Trends; Formal Seasonal Hindsight; Seasonality Curves; Customer Fill Rates; Service Levels; Return Rates; etc.
• Supports Vendor Managed Inventory and customer planning/merchandising activities as needed, such as, but not limited to, replenishment and allocation.
• Assists in preparing demand inputs for a Monthly Executive S&OP Meeting. Attends and provides inputs into regular cross‑functional meetings such as Buy Meetings, Inventory Meetings, Business Reviews, etc. Prepares to provide insight and propose actions to mitigate risks and capitalize on opportunities.
• Collaborates cross‑functionally on go‑to‑market preparation including aligning Buying/Stocking Strategies with Supply Planning; Customer and market distribution business planning with Sales; Product life cycle and marketing strategies with Merchandising.

Qualifications

• Requires experience working for or selling to Amazon or similar ecommerce customer. Must be extremely strong Amazon / ecommerce business understanding and relative forecasting methodologies.
• Must have outstanding computer analytical skills working with large datasets, including advanced Excel; MS Access or other database management tools; and reporting/analysis, data mining and manipulation tools such as Tableau, Business Objects, Crystal Reports, MicroStrategy, SQL, etc. Must be able to learn new systems and tools quickly.
• Requires a minimum of undergraduate degree or equivalent, preferably in the area of Supply Chain, Mathematics, Statistics, Operations Research, or other quantitative business discipline is required.
• Requires at least 3 years of experience in Demand Planning, Sales Planning, Forecasting, or other related field is required. Experience in Wholesale Customer/Account Service and/or Finance a plus. Footwear or apparel industry experience is a plus.
• Must have excellent quantitative skills including statistical and financial analysis. Apply quantitative methods both predictively and diagnostically to identify root causes and improve processes and outcomes.
• Must have a deep functional knowledge of demand planning, forecasting, integrated business planning and other related areas is required. Proven experience helping build and implement best in class practices from the start is desired.
• Needs to be passionate customer‑oriented mindset with demonstrated deep sense of urgency and attention to detail is a must.
• Needs to have strong written and verbal communication skills, including both presentation to leadership and interpersonal skills. Must be able to document facts, changes, assumptions and models in an easily understood format, and present them clearly is required.
• Must listen effectively, seek opinions, anticipate issues, be prepared to challenge others but also embrace consensus.
• Must have a solid knowledge of broader Wholesale business processes and must be familiar with supply chain management, order fulfillment, inventory management as well as domestic and import logistics.
• Requires the ability to adapts to change and changing priorities. Must be able to effectively manage time, including multiple tasks/projects and consistently meeting deadlines.