Demand Planner

Our Client

Our client is a leading food manufacturer specializing in high-quality nut products, snack mixes, and confections. With a strong commitment to quality and innovation, the company serves diverse markets including retail, foodservice, and industrial customers across North America. Operating from state-of-the-art facilities in Illinois, our client combines traditional craftsmanship with modern manufacturing excellence.

Summary

The Demand Planner is a newly created role, designed to strengthen demand forecasting, planning, and supply chain analytics capabilities. Based in Skokie Illinois, this position will serve as a critical bridge between Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Supply Chain teams. The role requires developing and managing comprehensive demand forecasts that account for the unique challenges of food manufacturing, including shelf life, perishability, and production constraints.

This individual will build Excel-based planning tools and dashboards, support the ongoing Dynamics 365 implementation, and translate customer demand into actionable production and material plans. As a foundational role, the Demand Planner will have the opportunity to establish best practices and shape how demand planning is executed.

Responsibilities

• Develop and Manage Demand Forecasts: Create short- and long-term demand forecasts across product lines with varying shelf lives and perishability requirements, using historical data, market trends, statistical models, and business inputs to ensure accuracy and alignment with business objectives.
• Build Advanced Excel Planning Tools: Design, develop, and maintain sophisticated Excel-based tools, dashboards, and analytical models that support demand planning, supply planning, and cross-functional decision-making with capabilities exceeding current organizational standards.
• Collaborate with Sales and Marketing: Partner closely with Sales and Marketing teams to incorporate promotional activities, new product launches, customer insights, and market intelligence into demand forecasts to ensure comprehensive planning accuracy.
• Align with Production and Supply Chain: Work directly with Production Planning, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams to align demand forecasts with production capacity, manufacturing constraints, and inventory strategies while accounting for perishability considerations.
• Forecast Raw Material Requirements: Translate finished goods demand into raw material forecasts and validate material readiness for scheduled production runs, ensuring supply availability and minimizing waste due to shelf-life constraints.
• Support Dynamics 365 Implementation: Actively participate in and support the ongoing Microsoft Dynamics 365 go-live and adoption as a key planning and communication tool, providing user feedback and helping optimize system configuration for demand planning workflows.
• Monitor and Analyze Forecast Accuracy: Continuously review forecast accuracy, analyze demand variances, identify root causes of deviations, and provide actionable insights and recommendations to improve planning processes and reduce forecast error.
• Lead S&OP Activities: Actively participate in and support Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes, preparing demand reviews, facilitating cross-functional alignment meetings, and ensuring consensus-based planning across the organization.
• Maintain Data Integrity and Reporting: Ensure data integrity across all demand planning systems, tools, and reports; create visibility dashboards for stakeholders; and establish reliable metrics to track planning performance and business impact.
• Establish Best Practices and Continuous Improvement: Identify opportunities to improve forecasting methods, planning tools, and cross-functional communication; establish demand planning best practices; and put a professional "stamp" on how demand planning is executed at Georgia Nut Company as this newly created function evolves.

Ideal Candidate

• Food Manufacturing Supply Chain Experience: Candidate must have hands-on experience within food manufacturing supply chain environments (not packaging-only operations), with direct exposure to the unique challenges of perishable products, shelf-life management, and production scheduling constraints.
• Perishability and Shelf-Life Planning: Has experience forecasting and planning for products with limited shelf life and perishability considerations, understanding the balance between meeting customer demand and minimizing waste in food manufacturing contexts.
• Advanced Excel Expertise: Demonstrates exceptional Excel proficiency with proven ability to build complex planning models, dashboards, and analytical tools that exceed standard capabilities.
• Demand Planning Foundation: Possesses 1-2 years of practical experience in demand planning, forecasting, or supply chain analytics roles, with demonstrated ability to develop accurate forecasts and translate demand signals into operational plans.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration Skills: Demonstrates strong ability to work effectively across multiple functions including Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Supply Chain; can communicate complex analytical insights to diverse stakeholders and build consensus across organizational boundaries.
• ERP and Planning Systems Knowledge: Has experience with ERP systems (Microsoft Dynamics 365 experience is a plus) and demand planning software; comfortable learning new systems and contributing to implementation and optimization efforts.
• Process Builder and Innovator: Shows passion for establishing best practices, creating scalable processes, and leaving a lasting impact on organizational capabilities; seeks opportunities to innovate and improve rather than simply maintaining status quo.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Finance, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Statistics, or a related analytical field required
• 1-2 years of demonstrated experience in demand planning, forecasting, supply chain analytics, or related planning roles within manufacturing environments
• Food manufacturing supply chain experience required; experience with perishable products and shelf-life-driven forecasting strongly preferred
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel required, including complex formulas, pivot tables, macros, data modeling, and dashboard creation
• Experience with ERP systems required; Microsoft Dynamics 365 experience highly preferred
• Familiarity with demand planning software, forecasting tools, or advanced analytics platforms is a plus
• APICS CPIM, CSCP, or similar supply chain certification is a plus but not required

This job has been posted by IGNYTE AI, a Kingsley Gate company. IGNYTE AI is committed to the fundamental principle of equal opportunity and equal treatment for every prospective and current employee. It is the policy of Kingsley Gate not to discriminate based on race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, religion, creed, disability, sex and gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local law.