Strategic Supply Planner

American Greetings; Westlake (OH); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

American Greetings in Westlake, Ohio is seeking a Strategic Supply Planner to lead demand and supply planning for 3,000–4,000 SKUs. You will coordinate with Product teams, Space & Floor Planning, and manufacturing to meet service levels and inventory targets.

The role includes forecasting, converting forecasts to production orders, and driving continuous improvement across planning processes. This on-site position is based in Northeast Ohio.

Qualifications

• 5+ years experience in Supply Chain, forecasting and inventory management.
• Bachelor's degree in a related field is required.
• SAP and IBP experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Forecast baseline and event shipments over an 18-month horizon.
• Translate forecasts into production orders to manage DC inventory.
• Lead demand planning with cross-functional partners.
• Monitor POS trends and adjust forecasts to meet service levels.
• Ensure alignment with replenishment policies and inventory targets.
• Identify continuous improvement opportunities in planning processes.

Skills

Forecasting & Demand Planning

Supply Planning

Analytical Skills

Communication

Teamwork

Microsoft Excel

Power BI

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Supply Chain/Operations or related field

Tools

SAP

IBP

Excel

Power BI

Job description

Job Description

Because this position requires regular on-site work at our Creative Studios in Westlake, Ohio, we will focus on candidates who currently reside in Northeast Ohio.

Remote work and relocation assistance are not available for this role.

This Strategic Supply Planner position serves as a primary Supply Chain contact for and between Product teams, Space & Floor Planning, Supply Chain partners, manufacturing and distribution.

This is a dual role including both demand and supply planning responsibilities. The Supply Planner will hold ownership to retail and/or eCommerce programs comprised of 3000- 4000 SKUs.

In this role, your primary goal is to manage product supply to DC to support corporate service level targets, program objectives and inventory plans. In addition, the Strategic Supply Planner will be expected to regularly conduct SKU and aggregate level ad-hoc analysis using various data resources including shipments, POS, forecasts, inventory balances and distribution. The position will be counted on to provide best practices, system and technical expertise to the rest of the Supply Team.

Essential Tasks & Responsibilities

Forecasting and Demand Planning

• Accountable to develop, update and finalize item level baseline and event shipment forecasts over an 18-month planning horizon
• Analyzing, cleansing and refining product forecasts based on demand history, seasonality, forecast accuracy and DC/retail turn rates
• Comprehension of item level forecast impacts on service and inventory levels
• Analyze eCommerce POS trends at the item level and translate into a shipment forecast to ensure required inventory levels are met to support incoming POs
• Ability to identify, investigate and resolve variances in forecast accuracy at the item and aggregate level and communicate potential issues to the Lead Supply Planner or Supply Planning Manager
• Lead discussions with Product and Supply partners to identify & capture known future events in the demand plan
• Validate event level demand assumptions and objectives: analyze, develop and recommended a demand plan including new product introduction, distribution changes and execution intents
• Establish & sustain alignment with POSR to retail replenishment policies
• Roll-up of item level forecasts (both baseline and event) into an aggregated level demand plan
• Ability to interpret different demand, POS, and distribution data sources to identify trends requiring proactive and prescriptive actions
• Proactively identify opportunity for continuous improvement of forecasting and demand planning processes and provide recommendations to the Supply Planning team

Supply Planning

• Translation of item level forecasts into production orders to maintain distribution center inventory levels to support corporate retail inventory objectives
• Managing replenishment of cycle stock through established supply planning order policies
• Prioritizing firmed production orders with both internal manufacturing and suppliers (within capacities) to balance replenishment and event driven inventory requirements
• Conversion of event demand plans into an aggregate and item level manufacturing plan
• Tracking firmed event production orders to ensure on time delivery of the right quantities
• Lead discussions with Manufacturing, Capacity Planning, and Global Sourcing to convey upcoming event production volumes and order priorities
• Managing DC finished goods inventory to minimize obsolescence and scrap liability during product transitions
• Ability to identify, investigate and resolve root cause to disruptions in supply service levels and communicate to the Lead Supply Planner or Supply Planning Manager
• Ability to interpret different inventory data sources to identify potential future issues requiring proactive and prescriptive actions
• Proactively identify opportunity for continuous improvement across all Supply Planning processes and provide recommendations to the Demand and Supply Planning team

Experience Required

Required Length & Type of Experience:

5+ years experience in Supply Chain, Business analytics or Business Operations with a focus on forecasting and inventory management, preferably with a Consumer Products company.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Ability to demonstrate proficient communication and interpersonal skills while interacting with peers and management

Strong analytical, problem solving and technical skills.

Ability to work in a team environment and independently.

Ability to manage cross-functional meetings reaching a set of objectives within a given timeframe.

Ability to make sound business recommendations and decisions.

Ability to handle heavy workloads in a fast paced environment

Demonstrate leadership in a team environment.

Demonstrated ability of learning agility and adaptability

Strong organizational skills with attention to detail.

Advanced PC skills to include knowledge of Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Microsoft Power BI (preferred)

Education Required

SAP and IBP experience preferred

Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations or other business-related field

Please ensure all information submitted in your application is complete and accurate. Verification of candidate information may be conducted during the hiring process. Candidates who provide false, misleading, or materially inaccurate information, including residence or location information, may be disqualified from consideration.

Career Site Category

Corporate Jobs