Senior Manager - Demand Planning

Location

This role is an office- first position. An office-first employee is an employee within the Greater Omaha Metropolitan Area whose default work location is a designated office and has office presence at least four days per week, specifically, Monday through Thursday. An office-first employee may at times perform work outside of a designated office location based on personal or professional need, at the discretion of their supervisor.

Description

As the Senior Manager, Demand Planning you will play a pivotal role in optimizing the supply chain by effectively forecasting and managing demand for our products. The Senior Manager, Demand Planning is responsible for leading the demand forecasting process and driving alignment across Supply Chain, Menu, Marketing, Finance, and Operations teams to develop accurate demand plans. This role serves as a key contributor, providing strategic insights that optimize inventory investment, improve service levels, and support business growth. The ideal candidate brings extensive demand planning experience, strong analytical capabilities, and the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders to achieve forecast accuracy and supply chain performance objectives.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Develop and manage baseline and consensus demand forecasts across multiple product lines, business units, channels, or regions.
• Lead monthly demand planning reviews and facilitate cross-functional forecast alignment.
• Analyze historical sales data, customer trends, market conditions, seasonality, and promotional activities to create accurate forecasts.
• Identify forecast risks and opportunities and recommend mitigation strategies.
• Drive continuous improvement in forecasting methodologies, tools, and planning processes.
• Present demand assumptions, forecast performance, and business risks to senior leadership.
• Collaborate with Supply Planning, Procurement, and Manufacturing teams to balance demand requirements with supply capabilities.
• Support executive decision-making through scenario planning and demand analytics.
• Develop and maintain forecasting models utilizing statistical analysis and business intelligence tools.
• Analyze forecast accuracy, forecast bias, customer demand variability, and inventory trends.
• Provide actionable insights to improve service levels, inventory productivity, and business performance.
• Conduct what-if analyses and model the impact of new products, promotions, pricing changes, and market conditions.
• Lead Supply Planning and Inventory Management team to optimize inventory strategies.
• Identify risks related to excess inventory, obsolete inventory, and stock-outs.
• Support inventory reduction initiatives while maintaining customer service objectives.
• Contribute to network and supply chain optimization initiatives.
• Build strong partnerships with Menu, Marketing, Finance, and Operations teams.
• Drive accountability for forecast assumptions and demand plan inputs.
• Lead discussions regarding demand changes and business impacts.
• Champion planning process improvements and best practices.
• Participate in ERP, forecasting, and planning system enhancements and implementations.
• Develop standard work, KPIs, and reporting tools to improve organizational planning capabilities.
• Promote data-driven decision-making throughout the organization.
• Develop and lead the demand planning process to generate accurate, timely, and reliable demand forecasts.
• Collaborate with the marketing, production, finance, and procurement teams to gather relevant information for forecasting to understand their inputs and provide insights into the demand planning process.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Finance, Statistics, Economics, or a related field.
• 5-10 years of progressive experience in Demand Planning, Supply Chain Planning, Forecasting, Inventory Management, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience leading demand review processes.
• Experience supporting complex product portfolios and multi-channel forecasting environments.
• Experience using ERP and advanced planning systems.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel.
• Strong experience with forecasting and planning platforms.
• Experience with Power BI or similar analytics platforms.
• Strong understanding of statistical forecasting methods and inventory planning concepts.

Disclaimer

The functions and skills described here are general in nature and represent the type of work performed, but they do not constitute an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities performed on the job. A successful candidate must be able to meet the listed essential duties and physical demands of the position, either with or without reasonable accommodation.