Owned by 250+ family farms, Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Inc. is a food and beverage company that has offered innovative, award-winning, high-quality dairy products since 1965. Our progressive cooperative's success is based on a commitment to quality in everything we do that extends to every stage of operations, from our farms to the consumer. Our product offerings include milk, flavored milk, yogurt, dip, sour cream, cottage cheese, Italian cheese, and ice cream mix marketed under the Upstate Farms, Bison, Milk for Life, and Intense Milk brands.Role & Responsibilities:The role of the Demand Planner (DP) is to evaluate the past customer demand, determine past forecast and demand plan accuracy and generate an order forecast using predictive algorithms. The DP collects and organizes inputs from sales and marketing teams to generate consensus demand plan to meet the volume and financial growth targets of the organization. In the process, Demand Planner evaluates quality and validity of cross-functional and marketplace inputs in the forecasting process to ensure continuous improvement in the demand plan accuracy, cycle over cycle.Job Duties and Responsibilities:The Demand Planner is responsible for the following activities:
- Develop and manage 18-month forecast and demand plan at multiple levels of aggregation for multiple time horizons (operational and strategic).
- Evaluate accuracy and bias of forecasts generated by demand planning tools and cross-functional forecasts provided by sales managers, marketing managers, customers, and other stakeholders to determine the forecast value add (FVA)
- Coordinate cross-functional activities to reconcile significant variances between system generated forecast and functional forecasts and refine the demand plan to reflect updated sales and marketing assumptions or trends.
- Support sales managers and marketing managers in initial financial target setting, documentation of demand assumptions, and the creation of scenarios to address the gaps between the demand plan and annual operating plan on an ongoing basis.
- Lead Demand Review meetings of IBP to present analysis and options around exceptions.
- Participate in Supply Review meetings to understand demand fulfillment risks, understand fulfillment options and provide guidance on demand probability.
- Analyze and understand material variances to forecast performance and drive corrective action or adjustment efforts with Sales and Marketing teams to reduce forecast variances.
- Release the consensus demand in accordance with process design, to support the tactical inventory and production planning for the short-term and communicate any material changes to demand plan.
- Prepare and release the consensus demand plan monthly in alignment with S&OP calendar to support the inventory planning, rough cut capacity planning and decision-making under the IBP process.
- Collaborating with the Sales and Marketing team to maintain a documented view of the volume Risks and Opportunity Pipelines to the demand plan and communicating to the Supply team to support scenario analysis on the ability to supply and an understanding of implications to the business.
Education and Experience Required
- Bachelor's degree in data Analysis, Mathematics, Business Administration or related field of study.
- 3 -5 years of Sales and Marketing, Business Analysis, or Supply Chain experience.
Preferred Skills:Business AcumenActivityTargeted Proficiency LevelUnderstanding of demand influencers for product categories and customersProficientUnderstanding of demand planning performance KPIsExpertUnderstanding of impact of demand planning KPIs on organizational and cross-functional KPIs and vice-versaProficientSoft SkillsActivityTargeted Proficiency LevelNegotiationProficientDecision-makingProficientRelationship Building, Teamwork, and CollaborationProficientTechnical / Analytical SkillsActivityTargeted Proficiency LevelKnowledge of DP systems & capabilities - Ross preferred.ProficientKnowledge of forecasting algorithms and parametersProficientData analyticsProficientProblem solvingExpertSpreadsheet Management & PresentationExpertData driven Insight generation.ProficientPhysical Demands and Work Environment:This position will primarily operate in a fast-paced office environment that requires a combination of team-based work as well as in-depth individual analysis. This individual must be comfortable sitting/standing at workstation for extended periods of time. Must be able to operate standard office equipment such as computer, phone, copier...etc. Periodic travel to support customer interactions may be required.Pay: $75,000-$95,000/yr.Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Inc. is committed to equal employment opportunity for all, without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic.Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with DisabilitiesThe contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)