Demand Planning & Inventory Analyst

Department: Marketing, Demand Planning & Inventory
Reports To: Director of Marketing Services
Location: Insert Location
Employment Type: Full-Time

Position Summary

The Demand Planning & Inventory Analyst will support the company's demand planning, forecasting, inventory management, and excess inventory initiatives. This position will analyze sales trends, customer demand, inventory levels, production requirements, and historical data to help ensure the company maintains appropriate inventory levels while minimizing excess, obsolete, and aged inventory.

The Analyst will work closely with Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Operations, Production, Purchasing, Finance, and Supply Chain to develop accurate forecasts, identify inventory risks, and support informed business decisions.

This position will also play an important role in the company's transition to SAP, helping establish accurate data, processes, reporting, and inventory planning practices within the new system.

Key Responsibilities

Demand Planning & Forecasting

• Develop and maintain customer, product, and channel-level demand forecasts.
• Analyze historical sales, customer orders, trends, seasonality, promotions, new product launches, and discontinued items.
• Monitor forecast accuracy and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Partner with Sales and Marketing to incorporate customer knowledge and market activity into forecasts.
• Identify significant changes in demand and communicate potential impacts to management and operations.
• Maintain forecasting files, reports, and planning tools to support monthly and weekly planning activities.
• Assist with establishing standardized forecasting processes and reporting.

Inventory Management

• Monitor finished goods inventory levels and identify excess, slow-moving, aged, and at-risk inventory.
• Track inventory against forecasted demand and customer requirements.
• Identify potential inventory shortages or overages before they become significant issues.
• Support inventory reduction strategies and recommend actions to minimize write-offs and obsolete inventory.
• Maintain visibility to inventory that may require special sales programs, promotions, closeout opportunities, or alternative channels.
• Assist with developing inventory action plans and tracking results.
• Work with Operations and Production to understand inventory availability, production schedules, and capacity constraints.

Excess & Closeout Inventory

• Maintain accurate reporting of excess, aged, and discontinued finished goods.
• Identify products that are approaching shelf-life, becoming obsolete, or exceeding forecasted demand.
• Work with Sales and Marketing to identify opportunities to sell excess inventory through existing or alternative channels.
• Support the development of closeout programs, including available quantities, timing, pricing recommendations, and customer opportunities.
• Track movement of closeout inventory and provide regular status updates to management.
• Analyze the financial impact of excess inventory and potential inventory recovery opportunities.

Marketing Support

• Provide inventory and demand insights to support Marketing initiatives and promotional programs.
• Assist in identifying products appropriate for promotions, closeout programs, customer-specific opportunities, and new sales initiatives.
• Support marketing calendars by aligning planned activities with available inventory and production capabilities.
• Help develop reporting and presentations that communicate inventory opportunities and risks.
• Collaborate with Marketing to ensure promotional activity is aligned with inventory objectives.

SAP Implementation & Data Management

• Participate in the company's transition to SAP and support the development of demand planning and inventory processes within the system.
• Assist with data validation, item setup, forecasting parameters, inventory data, and reporting requirements.
• Help identify and correct data inconsistencies that could impact forecasting or inventory planning.
• Participate in testing, process development, documentation, and user acceptance activities.
• Support the development of standardized SAP reports and dashboards.
• Become a subject-matter resource for demand planning and inventory-related SAP processes following implementation.

Reporting & Analytics

• Develop and maintain recurring reports and dashboards related to:
• Demand forecasts
• Forecast accuracy
• Inventory levels
• Excess and aged inventory
• Inventory turns
• Product velocity
• Customer demand
• Closeout inventory
• Potential shortages

• Inventory value

• Analyze data and translate findings into clear recommendations for management.

• Identify trends, discrepancies, and opportunities through data analysis.
• Maintain accurate and timely reporting for weekly and monthly business reviews.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

The Demand Planning & Inventory Analyst will work closely with:

• Sales
• Marketing
• Customer Service
• Production
• Operations
• Purchasing
• Supply Chain
• Finance/Accounting
• Quality
• Senior Management

The position will be expected to communicate effectively across departments and help create alignment between customer demand, production, purchasing, and inventory objectives.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Finance, Analytics, Operations, Marketing, or a related field preferred.
• 2-5 years of experience in demand planning, inventory analysis, supply chain, forecasting, business analytics, or a related field.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Advanced Excel skills, including PivotTables, lookups, formulas, data analysis, and reporting.
• Ability to work with large data sets and identify trends and discrepancies.
• Strong attention to detail and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with SAP, ERP, or inventory management systems.
• Experience in food manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, or manufacturing environments.
• Experience with demand planning or forecasting software.
• Experience managing excess, obsolete, or closeout inventory.
• Experience developing dashboards or business intelligence reporting.
• Power BI experience is a plus.
• Experience supporting an ERP implementation is a plus.

Key Performance Indicators

Success in this position will be measured through improvements in:

• Forecast accuracy
• Inventory turns
• Reduction of excess and aged inventory
• Reduction of obsolete inventory and inventory write-offs
• Inventory availability
• Timeliness and accuracy of forecasting
• Closeout inventory movement
• Data accuracy
• Reporting efficiency
• SAP implementation readiness and adoption

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a highly analytical, detail-oriented, and proactive individual who enjoys working with data but also understands the business behind the numbers.

This person should be comfortable asking questions, identifying problems, and making recommendations rather than simply producing reports. The successful candidate will have the ability to look at inventory and demand data and answer the critical business questions:

What do we have? What do we need? What are we likely to need? What are we going to have too much of? And what can we do about it before it becomes a problem?

The position requires someone who can operate both independently and collaboratively and who is interested in developing into a key resource for the company's demand planning, inventory management, and SAP processes.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Finance, Analytics, Operations, Marketing, or a related field preferred.

2-5 years of experience in demand planning, inventory analysis, supply chain, forecasting, business analytics, or a related field.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Advanced Excel skills, including PivotTables, lookups, formulas, data analysis, and reporting.

Ability to work with large data sets and identify trends and discrepancies.

Strong attention to detail and organizational skills.

Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.

Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with SAP, ERP, or inventory management systems.

Experience in food manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, or manufacturing environments.

Experience with demand planning or forecasting software.

Experience managing excess, obsolete, or closeout inventory.

Experience developing dashboards or business intelligence reporting.

Power BI experience is a plus.

Experience supporting an ERP implementation is a plus.

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