Demand Planning Manager

Demand Planning Manager

At Vibrant Ingredients, demand planning is more than forecasting—it's a strategic capability that drives customer satisfaction, operational excellence, and business growth.

We're looking for a Demand Planning Manager to build and lead the demand planning function that connects our commercial teams with our supply chain. In this highly visible role, you'll serve as the trusted partner to Sales, Account Managers, Finance, Operations, and Executive Leadership, ensuring the business operates from a single, credible demand signal.

If you're energized by turning data into business decisions, collaborating with customers and commercial teams, and influencing executive decision-making, we'd love to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities:

Statistical & consensus forecasting

• Build and maintain statistical forecasts; lead the monthly demand consensus cycle across sales, marketing, finance and supply to land an unconstrained demand plan by SKU, account and BU.

Forecast Accuracy and Bias

• Own forecast accuracy (MAPE/WAPE) and bias measurement; diagnose drivers of variance, trace corrective actions, and report performance to the S&OP leadership team.

Account Demand Profiling

• Develop and maintain demand profiles for key accounts and channels (MTS, MTO, SPO and NPI), including seasonality, launch curves, phase – in/phase-out and cannibalization effects.

New Product & Lifecycle Management

• Forecast new product introductions, manage phase-in / phase-out transitions, and align demand plans with commercial launch calendars and promotional events.

S&OP / IBP Contribution

• Provide the unconstrained demand view as the input to the monthly S&OP cycle; surface demand risks, opportunities, and scenario tradeoffs for executive decision making.

Data, Tools & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain planning master data, forecast models, and KPI dashboards; champion process and tool improvements to reduce manual effort and improve signal quality.

Customer-Facing Support Network for Account Managers

This role builds and runs the connection between demand planning and the commercial front line. You will create a repeatable support model that gives account managers access to demand insight, so customer conversations are grounded in real demand signal – not guesswork.

• Account manager partnership – serve as the dedicated demand planning partner to the ACM team; provide each ACM with visibility into their customers' demand, forecast, and inventory position picture
• Customer business reviews – participate in key account business reviews and customer forecast collaboration meetings; help translate customer commitments and market intelligence back into the demand plan.
• Promotion, launch & event demand – partner with ACMs to forecast customer -specific promotions, seasonal programs, and new-item launches; align supply readiness to commercial commitments.
• Availability & lead time support – equip ACMs with accurate demand -driven context on availability, lead times, and order timing so they can set realistic customer expectations and protect service.
• Voice of the customer into planning - capture customer and market signal from the account team and feed it systematically into the forecast adjustments and the S&OP process.

What Success Looks Like (First 12M)

• Forecast accuracy improves, with bias trending toward neutral across key SKUs and accounts.
• A functioning customer-facing support network is live – ACMs have a named demand planning partner, defined service model, and dashboards they trust.
• Account-level demand profiles are maintained for top accounts and key MTO/SPO items
• Demand consensus is a credible, on-time input to S&OP, with risks and tradeoffs clear surfaced to leadership.

Minimum Requirements & Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, business, operations, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
• Five or more years of experience in demand planning experience in CPG, food & beverage, or natural ingredients; experience with MTS, MTO and SPO inventory models strongly preferred.
• Hands on experience contributing to or running S&OP/ IBP cycles; comfortable translating demand signal into executive level tradeoff conversations.
• Demonstrated ability to partner with commercial/sales teams and engage directly with key customers; comfortable in a customer business review
• Advanced excel (complex formulas, weighed averages, conditional formatting); proficiency with and ERP (e.g. Business Central, Great Plains) and demand planning tools. Familiarity with Pigment or similar IBP tools is a plus
• Player-coach mindset; ability to lead a small team and coordinate work across the planning function without formal direct reports.

Physical Requirements: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, stand, and walk; use hands and fingers; talk and/or hear. The employee may be required to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.

About Vibrant Ingredients

Founded in 1954, Vibrant Ingredients is a leading provider of natural, clean label ingredients and systems that power extraordinary food and beverage experiences. The company's broad portfolio — including natural flavors, botanical extracts, functional nutrition, cold brew coffee, tea essences, and food protection solutions — enhances taste, texture, color, shelf life, and performance across a wide range of applications. Vibrant operates four state-of-the-art facilities across the United States and works with leading brands, manufacturers, and foodservice operators. With vertically integrated capabilities and a proven track record of innovation and execution, Vibrant helps customers accelerate to market without compromise.