SAP IBP Architect with 50% travel

We are seeking an experienced SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) Consultant/Architect with strong expertise across Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Order-Based Planning (OBP), and Network Optimization.

The role requires approximately 50% travel, and all approved travel expenses will be covered. The locations are Minneapolis and Los Angeles. 

Travel will depend on the project phase. Sometimes the resource may need to travel once a month; sometimes there may be no travel in a particular month, and at other times they may need to travel twice in a month. Overall, the resource should be open and flexible to travel as needed.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, configuration, implementation, and support of SAP IBP solutions.
• Work with business stakeholders to understand current planning processes, identify gaps, and design scalable IBP solutions.
• Configure and support SAP IBP for Demand, including:
• Statistical forecasting
• Demand sensing
• Consensus demand planning
• Forecast models
• Forecast accuracy and bias analysis
• Product and customer segmentation
• Demand review processes
• Configure and support SAP IBP for Supply, including:
• Supply planning
• Capacity planning
• Constraint-based planning
• Production and distribution planning
• Supply allocation
• Deployment
• Supply balancing
• Design and support Order-Based Planning (OBP) processes, including:
• Response and supply planning
• Order-level pegging
• Prioritization
• Confirmation strategies
• Allocation
• Supply protection
• Deployment and replenishment
• Design and implement Network Optimization solutions across plants, warehouses, distribution centers, and customer locations.
• Model sourcing, production, transportation, capacity, and inventory constraints across the supply network.
• Optimize product flow across manufacturing plants, distribution centers, and customer locations.
• Support scenario planning and what-if analysis to evaluate supply, demand, capacity, and network alternatives.
• Work with business teams to define planning horizons, time profiles, planning levels, key figures, attributes, and planning operators.
• Configure and maintain:
• Planning areas
• Master data types
• Key figures
• Planning levels
• Time profiles
• Copy operators
• Forecasting algorithms
• Supply planning operators
• Alerts and exception management
• Support integration between SAP IBP and SAP S/4HANA, including master and transactional data.
• Work with SAP Cloud Integration for Data Services (CI-DS) and other integration technologies.
• Collaborate with teams supporting SAP PP, MM, SD, APO, EWM, TM, and S/4HANA.
• Lead workshops, solution design sessions, fit-gap analysis, and process harmonization activities.
• Support data migration, testing, cutover, go-live, hypercare, and post-production support.
• Prepare functional specifications, solution design documents, configuration documents, test scripts, and training materials.
• Troubleshoot complex planning, integration, master data, and performance-related issues.
• Mentor junior team members and provide functional leadership across IBP workstreams.

Required Qualifications

• 8 years of SAP Supply Chain Planning experience.
• 5 years of hands-on SAP IBP experience.
• Strong implementation experience with:
• SAP IBP for Demand
• SAP IBP for Supply
• Order-Based Planning (OBP)
• Network Optimization
• Strong understanding of end-to-end supply chain planning processes.
• Experience with statistical forecasting and demand planning.
• Strong knowledge of constrained and unconstrained supply planning.
• Experience with supply network modeling and optimization.
• Strong knowledge of production, capacity, sourcing, distribution, and inventory planning.
• Experience configuring SAP IBP planning areas, key figures, master data, planning levels, and operators.
• Strong experience integrating SAP IBP with SAP S/4HANA.
• Experience with CI-DS or other SAP integration technologies.
• At least one full lifecycle SAP IBP implementation.
• Strong analytical, communication, presentation, and stakeholder-management skills.

Demand Planning Experience

The candidate should have strong experience in:

• Statistical forecasting
• Demand sensing
• Consensus forecasting
• Forecast model selection
• Forecast accuracy
• Forecast bias
• New product introduction
• Product segmentation
• Customer demand planning
• Demand review cycles
• Sales and Operations Planning / Integrated Business Planning processes

Supply Planning Experience

Strong expertise should include:

• Unconstrained and constrained supply planning
• Production planning
• Capacity planning
• Supply allocation
• Deployment
• Distribution requirements planning
• Inventory balancing
• Supply-demand matching
• Bottleneck analysis
• What-if scenario planning
• Production and transportation constraints

Order-Based Planning Experience

Hands-on experience with SAP IBP OBP should include:

• Response and Supply
• Order-level planning
• Supply confirmation
• Pegging
• Prioritization
• Allocations
• Supply protection
• Deployment
• Stock transfer planning
• Real-time or near-real-time order visibility
• Integration with S/4HANA transactional data

Network Optimization Experience

The candidate should have experience designing and optimizing multi-level supply networks involving:

• Manufacturing plants
• Contract manufacturers
• Distribution centers
• Warehouses
• Suppliers
• Customers
• Transportation lanes
• Production capacities
• Sourcing alternatives
• Inventory positioning

Experience with cost-based optimization, sourcing optimization, capacity optimization, and network scenario modeling is highly desirable.