Business Insights Specialist

As part of DFA's Insights & Optimization (I&O) team, collect, analyze, and translate business, operational, financial, market, and analytical information into actionable insights, scenarios, and planning outputs that support decision-making, connected planning, and business performance. Serve as a resource within assigned business insights and planning domains, with an initial emphasis on integrating planning across targeted business units, developing decision frameworks and planning methods, supporting competitive-pricing analysis, and measuring performance. Partner with stakeholders across the Cooperative and with Data, AI, and technology teams to strengthen the data foundation and translate business needs into practical methods, implementable logic, and tools. Own workstreams from question framing through analysis, recommendation, communication, and follow-through while leveraging technology to improve speed, quality, and impact.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

Insights

• Collect, integrate, and analyze business, operational, financial, market, and supply-chain information to identify trends, risks, opportunities, and performance drivers; translate findings into decision-ready insights, recommendations, business cases, and scenarios.
• Build and maintain models, scorecards, reports, and analytical tools that measure performance, compare scenarios, support pricing analysis, and clarify risks and business implications.
• Translate findings into effective communications, including but not limited to presentations, reports, dashboards, models, and executive-ready materials, measure decision follow-through and business outcomes, and uphold the team's quality promise of relevant, accurate, timely, consistent, and impactful work.

Planning

• Develop and manage the integration of planning across milk marketing, bulk liquids, dairy powders, selected Dairy Brands businesses, and other areas by mapping planning inputs, aligning assumptions, and translating product and manufacturing requirements into milk and component needs.
• Apply and maintain decision-readiness frameworks, scenario-evaluation methods, planning checkpoints, KPIs, and standard templates that help stakeholders assess plan readiness, evaluate trade-offs, document decisions, and drive action.
• Provide targeted support to established planning processes by applying decision-readiness frameworks, scenario-evaluation methods, performance measures, and other planning best practices that improve consistency, transparency, and follow-through.
• Support the development and maintenance of planning methods, assumptions, and business logic, including product-to-milk conversions, component requirements, yields, losses, and other methodologies needed for planning and analysis; coordinate validation with business and operational subject-matter experts.
• Translate defined business and planning needs into implementable business rules, decision logic, data and functional requirements, workflows, and acceptance criteria for optimization, planning, reporting, and other business tools; support testing and business validation and use technology, such as AI, automation, and other analytical tools, to accelerate requirements development and documentation.
• Identify data, process, reporting, and system-workflow inconsistencies that affect planning or analysis; partner with the appropriate Data Lead and cross-functional stakeholders to document issues and support process, data, or system solutions.
• Partner across functions to frame business questions, evaluate trade-offs, communicate recommendations, and connect insights to planning activities and business actions.
• Manage assigned workstreams using established frameworks and precedents; coordinate contributors, meet deadlines, track decisions and outcomes, and escalate higher-risk issues or decisions appropriately.

General

• Actively participate in professional development opportunities and share knowledge across the Cooperative.
• The requirements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by the employee but are not a complete list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required. Other duties may be assigned as required.

Qualifications:

Education and Experience

• Undergraduate degree in supply chain, operations, business, economics, finance, analytics, agriculture, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and practical experience.
• Two to five years of experience in supply chain planning, sales and operations planning, integrated business planning, business analysis, operations, analytics, optimization, or a related field.
• Experience working with multiple business, operational, and data sources to develop insights, scenarios, recommendations, or planning outputs.
• Experience supporting cross-functional planning processes, business requirements, process improvement, or system implementation initiatives preferred.
• Experience in dairy, agriculture, food and beverage, manufacturing, consumer products, or another supply-chain-oriented industry preferred.
• Working knowledge of supply chain planning, manufacturing requirements, performance measurement, scenario evaluation, or decision-support processes preferred.
• Working knowledge of the dairy supply chain, milk pricing, milk components, product-to-milk relationships, manufacturing yields, or dairy trade flows preferred.
• Experience with analytical models, data visualization, planning tools, business intelligence tools, or optimization solutions preferred.
• Certification and/or license may be required during the course of employment.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong analytical and critical-thinking skills, with the ability to frame business questions, identify relevant information, analyze results, and develop practical recommendations.
• Working knowledge of supply-chain planning, sales and operations planning, integrated business planning, manufacturing, business performance, or related processes; ability to connect operational and financial information to planning decisions.
• Ability to apply established frameworks to develop scenarios, evaluate trade-offs, document assumptions, and communicate risks, opportunities, and business implications.
• Ability to build and maintain analytical models, KPIs, scorecards, reports, and scenario comparisons and identify material data, process, reporting, and system-workflow inconsistencies.
• Ability to translate defined business and planning needs into business rules, decision logic, data requirements, workflows, acceptance criteria, and testing needs for planning, optimization, reporting, and other business tools.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate analytical, operational, and technical subjects into understandable business implications and actions and collaborate effectively with business, Data, AI, technology, and other appropriate stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to independently manage moderately complex workstreams using established frameworks or precedents, balance multiple priorities, coordinate contributors, meet deadlines, and escalate risks or decisions appropriately.
• Curiosity, learning agility, attention to detail, and willingness to develop deeper knowledge of DFA's businesses, operating network, dairy supply chain, milk pricing, milk components, and product-to-milk relationships.
• Comfort using technology, such as AI, automation, Microsoft Office, and relevant planning, business-intelligence, visualization, or optimization toolsto accelerate analysis, requirements documentation, and reporting, with appropriate validation of outputs.
• Must be able to read, write, and speak English.

An Equal Opportunity Employer including Disabled/Veterans