Demand Planner

Job Title: Demand Planner
Job Location: East Hanover, NJ
Job Duration: 6-7 Months (possibility of extension)
Payrate: $63.00/ hr. on w2

Job Summary:

• This is a key role in our Customer Demand Planning team and is crucial in supporting customer + location level forecasting, short term demand + Client alignment, new item distribution and assortment forecasting, forecast reconciliation and cross functional demand representation.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Customer & Location Level Forecasting:

• Support customer level Bottoms-Up demand forecasts for key customers (Food Service & E-comm), including regional and location-level oversight to ensure accuracy and alignment.

Short Term Demand & Client Alignment:

• Manage near-term executional forecasts (0-13 Weeks) and support alignment to Lag 2 Month and Lag 5 Week forecasts across planning Client.

New Item, Distribution & Assortment Forecasting:

• Maintain forecasts for new item launches, customer-specific distribution changes, resets, and assortment updates including timing and volume assumptions.

Forecast Reconciliation & Performance Management:

• Lead reconciliation between Bottoms-Up and Brand / IBP forecasts, monitor sales vs forecast, investigate variances, and track forecast accuracy and bias.

Cross Functional Demand Representation:

• Represent Customer Demand in S&OE and DMS forums, supporting demand insights, promotion & event forecasting, and root cause analysis tied to service and CFR impacts.

Position Requirements:

Experience Level:

• Entry Level Manager (5+ Years or work-related equivalent).

Must Haves:

• Demand & Forecasting Experience.
• APO System Functional knowledge preferred.
• Strong analytical skills with advanced excel.
• Proven ability to analyze forecast accuracy, bias, and error trends.
• Ability to identify gaps between plan vs actuals and quantify Root causing.
• Relationship & Influence.
• Must have comfort in influence without authority.

Analytical & Forecasting Expertise (Must Have):

• Experience in having owned customer-level shipment forecasts in Client, Foodservice or Omni Channel environment.
• Strong understanding of demand drivers.
• Proven ability to analyze forecast accuracy, bias, and error trends.
• Ability to identify gaps between plan vs actuals and quantify Root causing.
• Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, variance analysis).
• Preferred experience with APO planning system and Sales Force.

Root Cause & Insight Integration:

• Ability to diagnose forecast variance across multiple dimensions.
• Customer behavior change, promotional execution gaps, supply / deployment constraints, timing, etc.
• Experience partnering with Sales to.
• Gather field intelligence.
• Translate qualitative inputs into fact based forecast adjustments.
• Continuously refine assumptions.
• Comfortable documenting and communicating clear “what changed, why, so what” narratives.

Story Telling & Executive Presence:

• Lead customer and cross functional demand discussions.
• Influence without authority.
• Connect insights to business outcomes (Service, revenue, inventory).
• Demonstrated ability to challenge inputs constructively.

Sales Partnership & Relationship Management:

• Proven track record of building trust with sales team – thought partner.
• Comfortable navigating tension.

Operating Style:

• Highly organized, fast paced environment, strong ownership mindset, balances urgency in a high pressure, short term Client.