Senior Manager Demand Planning - Wholesale

Role Details Reporting Structure: Reports to: Senior Director, Demand Planning. Manager, Demand Planning (Wholesale). Leads: Demand Planning team, including multiple direct reports. Location: On-site — Major Metropolitan Area. Role Purpose The Manager, Demand Planning is responsible for leading the development and execution of a decision-ready wholesale demand plan within an Integrated Business Planning (IBP) framework. This role combines people leadership, cross-functional influence, and analytical rigor to ensure the organization has a high-quality demand signal that supports operational execution and strategic decision-making. As a leader in a modern, evolving supply chain, the Manager, Demand Planning will oversee a team of demand planners, establish planning discipline and governance, and drive the adoption of faster, more automated planning processes. The role partners closely with Sales, Account Management, Manufacturing, Supply Planning, Distribution/Fulfillment, Procurement, and Finance to translate demand signals into actionable business insights, operational priorities, and enterprise trade-off decisions. This leader will also help advance forecasting capabilities through the use of statistical, AI-enabled, agentic, and large-language-model-supported planning approaches, while ensuring the team remains focused on accuracy, accountability, and business value. Key Responsibilities Lead the Demand Planning Function within an IBP Framework Own the rolling wholesale demand plan and ensure alignment to IBP, S&OP, and S&OE cadences. Lead the team in creating demand plans that are assumption-based, documented, risk-aware, and decision-ready. Consolidate market, customer, historical, and causal inputs into a cohesive demand plan that supports enterprise planning. Prepare and present demand outputs, key assumptions, risks, and scenario implications for IBP leadership forums. Ensure planning processes, timelines, and deliverables are executed consistently across the team. Manage and Develop a Team of Demand Planners Lead, coach, and develop multiple direct reports to build a high-performing demand planning organization. Set clear goals, performance expectations, and development plans for team members. Establish standard work, planning routines, and accountability measures across the function. Provide guidance on forecast construction, exception management, scenario analysis, and communication of business risks. Build bench strength and support organizational design, succession planning, and capability development within demand planning. Drive Cross-Functional Alignment and Accountability Partner with Wholesale Sales and Account teams to incorporate customer commitments, programs, promotions, and market intelligence into the demand plan. Collaborate with Manufacturing, Supply Planning, Procurement, and Distribution/Fulfillment to translate demand changes into operational implications. Work closely with Finance to ensure demand assumptions align with revenue, margin, inventory, and cost-to-serve expectations. Serve as the primary planning point of contact for escalations, trade-off discussions, and cross-functional issue resolution. Foster strong working relationships across functions to improve transparency, responsiveness, and decision quality. Advance AI-Enabled, Agentic Forecasting and Analytics Lead the team in leveraging statistical, machine learning, and causal forecasting techniques to improve forecast quality and responsiveness. Operate within emerging agentic forecasting workflows, including anomaly detection, signal monitoring, and LLM-generated insight interpretation. Partner with data, systems, and analytics teams to monitor model performance, improve adoption, and reduce manual effort. Ensure planners use technology and advanced analytics appropriately, balancing automation with business judgment. Champion the practical application of modern forecasting tools that improve efficiency and decision support. Translate Demand into Operational and Business Meaning Guide the team in interpreting demand plans into implications for capacity, inventory, sourcing, fulfillment, and service levels. Proactively identify risks and opportunities and escalate them through the appropriate IBP and S&OE governance forums. Ensure that demand plan changes are clearly communicated and tied to business impact. Support rapid response planning when market conditions, customer needs, or operational constraints shift. Provide Financial Insight and Scenario Leadership Quantify demand scenarios and alternatives, including impacts to revenue, margin, inventory, working capital, and cost-to-serve. Frame key business trade-offs and support leadership decision-making with clear scenario analysis. Partner with Finance and senior leadership to ensure demand planning outputs are actionable and relevant to financial planning. Improve the organization’s ability to evaluate upside, downside, and constrained-demand scenarios. Lead Planning Modernization and Continuous Improvement Drive initiatives that reduce planning cycle times, improve forecast usability, and increase automation across the demand planning process. Standardize planning methods, reporting, and team workflows to improve scalability and consistency. Identify process gaps and lead continuous improvement efforts across systems, data, governance, and team capability. Support transformation efforts related to IBP maturity, digital planning, and supply chain modernization. Promote a culture of operational excellence, continuous learning, and change leadership. Required Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Analytics, Operations, Engineering, or a related field. 8+ years of demand planning, forecasting, or supply chain planning experience in complex environments. 2+ years of people leadership experience, including leading teams with multiple direct reports. Strong experience working within cross-functional planning processes such as IBP, S&OP, and/or S&OE. Demonstrated ability to lead teams, influence stakeholders, and drive alignment across commercial, operational, and finance functions. Strong analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills with the ability to connect data to business action. Preferred Qualifications Experience with SAP IBP, o9, Kinaxis, Anaplan, or similar planning platforms. Experience in wholesale, consumer products, manufacturing, or other vertically integrated supply chain environments. Working knowledge of AI/ML forecasting approaches and LLM-enabled planning tools. Experience leading planning transformation, capability building, or process improvement initiatives. MBA or advanced degree in a related field is a plus. #J-18808-Ljbffr Ashley Furniture Industries