Demand Planner

Demand Planner

Torrance, California, United States

Neros is a defense technology company rebuilding America's drone industrial base. We design and manufacture high-performance unmanned systems that are tested in combat, iterated at startup speed, and built at massive scale. Our team culture is fast, hands-on, and obsessed with closing the gap between design and deployment.

As drones transform the character of warfare, Neros is delivering the systems the West needs to compete on the modern battlefield and deter the adversaries of democracy. We're hiring engineers, operators, and builders who want to move fast, take on extreme ownership, and get capability into the hands of warfighters in months, not years.

We're looking for a Demand Planner to own Neros' long-range demand planning, forecast alignment, and procurement spend forecasting as we scale drone production. This role will partner closely with Business Development, Finance, Production, Engineering, and Sourcing to translate volatile customer demand into actionable supply plans, investment decisions, and strategic risk mitigation. The Demand Planner will focus on forward-looking planning horizons, scenario analysis, and cross-functional decision making, with minimal ownership of day-to-day material execution.

Responsibilities

• Lead monthly demand planning and Sales & Operations reviews with Business Development, Contracts, Production, Engineering, Finance, and Sourcing to align long-term forecasts, production assumptions, and supply chain constraints
• Build and maintain demand scenarios across signed orders, high-confidence opportunities, upside forecasts, and at-risk programs to guide procurement timing and capacity planning
• Own procurement spend forecasting by translating demand plans, BOM assumptions, supplier lead times, and inventory positions into forward-looking cash requirements for Finance and leadership review
• Identify strategic supply chain risks 6+ months ahead of need, including long-lead components, supplier capacity constraints, demand volatility, engineering changes, and inventory exposure
• Drive cross-functional decisions on at-risk procurement, upside demand coverage, supplier commitments, and risk mitigation plans while balancing production readiness, cash flow, and excess inventory
• Partner with Material Planning, Purchasing, GSMs, Manufacturing Engineering, and Production to hand off approved supply plans and ensure execution teams have clear priorities, assumptions, and escalation paths

You should have the following

• 5+ years of demand planning, supply planning, S&OP, or procurement planning experience in fast-paced manufacturing environments with complex products and long supplier lead times
• Hands-on experience building demand forecasts from customer orders, opportunity pipelines, program assumptions, production capacity, and cross-functional stakeholder inputs
• Strong procurement spend forecasting experience, including translating demand and BOM requirements into cash forecasts, at-risk spend recommendations, and leadership decision packages
• Proven ability to lead Sales & Operations, demand review, or supply review processes with Business Development, Finance, Production, Engineering, Sourcing, and Operations stakeholders
• Experience using scenario planning to manage volatile demand, unsigned customer opportunities, long-lead materials, supplier capacity constraints, and production ramp risk
• Strong analytical skills in Excel or similar planning tools, with the ability to build clear models, explain assumptions, and convert ambiguous inputs into actionable recommendations
• Ability to influence cross-functional decisions without relying on heavy process, including pushing for timely tradeoffs between customer upside, cash flow, inventory exposure, and production readiness
• Bachelor's degree in engineering, supply chain, business, operations, or a related field, or equivalent supply chain planning experience

Nice to have

• Defense industry experience with ITAR compliance, DPAS-rated contracts, government program demand signals, and procurement risk tied to unsigned or changing contract requirements
• Experience with ERP, MRP, or planning systems such as NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Kinaxis, Anaplan, or similar platforms, especially in environments where planning models require manual judgment and validation
• Background in aerospace, robotics, defense technology, or electro-mechanical assembly supply chains with complex multi-level BOMs and long-lead specialty components
• Previous startup or high-growth company experience building planning processes, forecast governance, and executive decision rhythms during rapid production scaling
• Experience partnering directly with Business Development, Contracts, or Program Management teams to evaluate forecast quality, customer timing, and probability-weighted demand

US Salary Range

$80,000 - $160,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are considered part of Neros' total compensation package.

We're an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all applicants without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.