Senior Workforce Management Planning Analyst

About the role:

We are seeking a detail-oriented and analytical Planning Analyst to join the Workforce Management (WFM) team under Global Support Operations & Strategy. In this role, you will be responsible for advanced forecasting, capacity planning, and long-term strategic analysis for our 24x7, multi-channel, global contact center, to meet business needs while maintaining service level objectives. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in data analysis, workforce management, and resource optimization.

You should be a natural problem-solver and will work with support leaders to tackle a variety of issues with the goal of improving service levels, proactively identifying risks in performance, and driving alignment across verticals, ultimately translating into a better customer and employee experience.

This is a remote position open to candidates based in the US except Alaska, Austin Metro, Boulder Metro, California, Chicago Metro, Connecticut, Dallas Metro, Denver Metro, Houston Metro, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Seattle Metro, and Washington, D.C.

You should apply if:

• You want to impact the industries that run our world: Your efforts will result in real-world impact-helping to keep the lights on, get food into grocery stores, reduce emissions, and most importantly, ensure workers return home safely.
• You are the architect of your own career: If you put in the work, this role won't be your last at Samsara. We set up our employees for success and have built a culture that encourages rapid career development, countless opportunities to experiment and master your craft in a hyper-growth environment.
• You're energized by our opportunity: The vision we have to digitize large sectors of the global economy requires your full focus and best efforts to bring forth creative, ambitious ideas for our customers.
• You want to be with the best: At Samsara, we win together, celebrate together and support each other. You will be surrounded by a high-caliber team that will encourage you to do your best.

In this role, you will:

• Key Responsibilities:
• Long-Term Forecasting: Develop and maintain accurate long-term forecasts (12-18 months out) for staffing requirements, incorporating business growth trends, marketing campaigns, and seasonality.
• Capacity Planning: Create detailed capacity plans that match staffing supply with demand, considering hiring, training, attrition, and absenteeism, and deliver high-impact monthly business reviews to senior management.
• What-If Analysis: Run complex simulations to model the impact of different scenarios, such as new product launches, changes in business hours, changes in workload distribution, or unexpected volume spikes.
• Strategic Analysis: Identify and analyze trends in historical data to provide insights that improve operational efficiency and agent productivity.
• Budgeting and Financial Planning: Provide foundational forecast data for contact center's labor budget, aligning with the company's financial goals.
• Cross-Functional Engagement: Collaborate with key stakeholders (L&D, Recruiting, Finance, Delivery Team, etc.) to align workforce plans with business goals.
• Culture: Champion, role model, and embed Samsara's cultural principles (Focus on Customer Success, Build for the Long Term, Adopt a Growth Mindset, Be Inclusive, Win as a Team) as we scale globally and across new offices
  
  
• Additional Responsibilities:
• Strategic Initiative Analysis: Act as a consultant for strategic initiatives by working with cross-functional teams to embed WFM insights into the planning stages of new projects. This proactive engagement helps prevent understaffing issues before they start.
• Predictive Analytics & Machine Learning: Explore and implement more advanced predictive models, incorporating machine learning.
• Technology & Process Ownership: Act as a subject matter expert for the WFM planning software and processes. Identify opportunities for automation, AI incorporation, and improvements in accurate and efficient capacity plans.

Minimum requirements for the role:

• 8-12 years of experience in Workforce Management within a non-BPO contact center.
• 7 years of experience in Capacity Planning with a strong understanding of forecasting, resource allocation, and operational efficiency to effectively manage capacity needs.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret complex data sets.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills to work cross-functionally across different teams.
• Strong business, operational, and procedural knowledge of a multi-channel & global contact center.
• Proficiency in workforce management software (e.g. NICE/IEX, Aspect, Verint, Genesys, Calabrio, Assembled)
• Advanced level experience in Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets

An ideal candidate also has:

• Certifications in workforce management (e.g., CWPP, SWPP) are a plus.
• Strong understanding of Erlang-based models and manual WFM functions
• Experience leveraging AI to drive efficiencies through automation of repetitive tasks