Demand Planning Analyst

Demand Planning Analyst

The Demand Planning Analyst supports the sales, finance and operations teams in demand, sales, trade and revenue forecasting for Minor Figures North American (MF NAM), and enables the team with various sales and operations support. They will input, update, monitor and analyze data that enables the sales team to increase topline revenue, while improving forecast accuracy to improve demand and supply planning. The role actively engages internal team members on initiatives, works with external data-management partners, and will outreach specific distributors as needed to ensure 100% order fulfillment. This role demands incredible attention to detail, an obsession with numbers, the ability to work as part of multiple teams and on one's own, a desire and ability to learn systems and processes very quickly, initiative to proactively improve systems, strong problem solving skills, a commitment to keep work moving against key deadlines, and the skills to adapt to ever-changing business requirements. This role requires residence in states located in Mountain Standard Time (CST) or Central Standard Time (CST).

The Demand Planning Analyst assumes a critical link between finance, sales and operations, ensuring all departments are in lock-step with the latest views of forecasts, gaps and opportunities, always focusing on initiatives that increase topline revenue, improve reporting & forecast accuracy, and decrease selling and distribution costs. Here's how you'll likely go about that:

• Become the internal expert on our demand and trade forecasting tool, Modus, including maintaining and inputting all sales & trade forecasting data, while owning all system updates and outputs to create monthly, quarterly and annual forecasts.
• Participate in weekly sales updates to identify revenue gaps and opportunities that need to be reflected in forecasts and addressed by sales teams.
• Lead monthly forecast review meetings with each sales lead to amend customer forecasts and identify sales gaps; keeping teams on track and accountable to meeting agendas.
• Own the monthly Demand Review process, including preparation of reporting tools, facilitation of forecast review meetings, documentation of agreed forecast changes, and publication of the Rolling Latest Estimate (LE).
• Build and distribute Retailer Forecast Performance, Customer DC Forecast Performance, Pipeline Review and Rolling LE reports in support of the monthly S&OP process.
• Build and distribute all sales reports, continually seeking system or output improvements that better enable the sales team.
• Manage customer and consumption-data portals (ie, SPINS, Nielsen) to update sales reporting files, tools and platforms.
• Update pipeline reporting tools via the CRM platform.
• Own weekly Modus actuals uploads, invalid connection management, forecast snapshots, and master data monitoring

Trade Analysis

• Monthly comparisons of On-Premise distributor chargebacks against forecast, making dynamic system updates to improve customer-investment planning accuracy.
• Enable the team to better utilize customer-investment budgets by monitoring and tracking distributor spend.
• Support PMAT and customer-investment forecasting by ensuring approved investments are accurately reflected within Modus and the demand plan.
• Maintain promotion, trade-spend, and customer-investment forecasting inputs within Modus.
• Support revenue planning and trade promotion planning by incorporating promotional activity, trade spend and customer investment assumptions into the demand plan.
• Participate in regular meetings with our external trade management partner to identify gaps and optimization opportunities within the trade forecast.

Sales Enablement

• Support Sales, Operations and Finance teams through the monthly S&OP process by ensuring forecasts, pipeline reporting, promotional plans and demand assumptions are accurately maintained and communicated.
• Serve as the primary administrator for forecasting workflows, reporting files, and forecast governance processes.

Estimated Time Allocation (May vary based on business cycle, budget planning, RFCs, and forecast review requirements.)

• 30–35% | Forecasting, Data Entry & Modus Administration
• 20–25% | Demand Review Ownership & Forecast Governance
• 10–15% | Pipeline & PMAT Administration
• 10–15% | Reporting & Data Quality Management
• 10–15% | Cross-Functional Support
• 5–10% | Team Culture & Administrative Support

Although the entire team is remote we are a very close knit bunch. We might be a small team but we truly believe in our product and know how to speak the language of coffee. We like to build lasting relationships within our team as well as with our customers. This role is a member of the Operations team, and reports to the Senior Planning Manager. They collaborate deeply with the sales and finance teams. The entire global organization has high visibility to the reporting and forecast outputs produced by this role.

We hire humans, not machines, and our team is made up of people who will bring the energy, are eager to learn, and embrace every day being different. We're big on collaboration, and we want everyone on the team to take pride in their work. You'll thrive here if you adapt easily to change, face challenges head-on, and love to jump right in and figure it out as you go along. Whether you're WFH, or at an event, you will support your teammates and you're comfortable asking for support when you need it yourself. Approach every day like it's day one, stay open-minded, and (as always) have fun with it. For this specific role, you must have a love and knack for systems and numbers. You're likely someone who thrives in an environment where there is a black-or-white answer and little ambiguity. If you sit down to do Sudoku or Crossword, you're the type of person who won't stand up until it's done, because you know there's a finite solution. If you see a discrepancy in reports, you want to dig in to find out the cause, and then you want to find the solution. You're also someone who takes ownership of a planning calendar, follows through on commitments, and proactively brings the right people together to solve problems and keep work moving.

• Experience building bottoms-up forecasts (strongly preferred)
• Experience with Modus, SAP IBP, Logility, o9, Blue Yonder, or other demand planning software (strongly preferred)
• Strong commercial acumen, preferably in CPG, grocery, or coffee (strongly preferred)
• Experience with grocery forecasting and/or trade spend (strongly preferred)
• Experience with UNFI and KeHE (preferred)
• Experience working with a trade promotion management or trade spend management tool (preferred)
• Experience navigating and building reports via SPINS and Nielsen (preferred)
• Deep knowledge of Google Sheets: pivot tables and VLOOKUPS are your baseline
• Self-motivation to complete required work autonomously while proactively optimizing systems and processes
• Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple deadlines and deliverables
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to identify issues, determine root cause, and drive solutions
• Ability to collaborate cross-functionally and engage the right stakeholders to keep work moving
• Ability to create ad hoc reporting and demand-planning models
• Demonstrated ability to manage a recurring planning calendar, meet deadlines consistently, and proactively follow up to keep deliverables moving.

As part of the MF team, not only will you have the opportunity to own your role and make it a success, you'll also be becoming part of something very special. As part of the Minor Figures team, you'll have the opportunity to invest in the business, with the option to buy shares in the company at an agreed price. Having skin in the game and really contributing to our success. Because it's all of us that make this happen. But of course, we look after you in the other ways that you'd expect:

• Health, Dental, Vision and Life Insurance plans
• 15 days vacation, 14 days paid holiday
• Employee share options scheme, available to all full time employees.
• 1 day paid leave to support a cause of your choice through volunteering or activism
• 401(k) retirement plan with company match
• Paid Parental leave policy
• Flexible working to meet the needs of the role
• Access to the Calm app
• Flexible CoWorking Spaces across the US

Work schedules are flexible, but in general hours of work will be 9:00am – 5:00pm. This