Lead Global Demand Planner

Responsibilities

• Forecast Strategy and Ownership
• Standardize planning processes, tools, and best practices across the team
• Provide escalation support for complex forecasting and inventory challenges
• Own the development of monthly, seasonal, and annual demand forecasts across wholesale channels
• Create 18 month Financial forecasts
• Establish forecasting methodologies, assumptions, and planning cadences
• Oversee demand inputs from Sales, Marketing, Product, and retailer partners
• Ensure forecasts align with financial targets, product lifecycle strategy, and inventory goals
• Review forecast accuracy and implement continuous improvement initiatives
• Lead forecast consolidation across channels and planners
• Retailer Collaboration and Commercial Planning
• Serve as senior planning partner for key wholesale retailers and strategic accounts
• Provide weekly updates to the Executive team on top retailer sales and inventory positions
• Support major account planning, including inventory targets and growth initiatives
• Provide leadership-level insights on retailer demand trends and opportunities
• Demand Analysis and Business Strategy
• Analyze historical sales, market trends, and demand signals to identify risks and opportunities
• Provide strategic recommendations for assortment, launches, and lifecycle management
• Evaluate constrained inventory scenarios and guide prioritization decisions
• Translate demand insights into actionable business decisions
• Inventory Planning and Risk Mitigation
• Oversee inventory health across wholesale channels and product categories
• Partner with Supply Chain and Fulfillment to balance supply and demand
• Recommend allocation strategies during constrained inventory scenarios
• Proactively identify stockout and excess inventory risks
• Guide team on inventory prioritization decisions
• Reporting and Forecast Governance
• Oversee weekly and monthly demand planning reporting
• Monitor forecast accuracy, bias, and planning KPIs
• Establish reporting standards and planning dashboards
• Present demand insights to leadership and cross-functional teams
• Ensure data integrity and planning governance across systems
• Continuous Improvement and Planning Operations
• Lead demand planning process improvements and standardization
• Evaluate and implement planning tools and forecasting enhancements
• Develop scalable planning frameworks to support business growth
• Establish best practices for forecasting, reporting, and inventory planning

Qualifications, Skills And Attributes

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, Economics, Analytics, or related field preferred
• Experience: 5+ years of experience in demand planning, retail planning, sales planning, or supply chain analytics
• Experience: Working with wholesale retail partners preferred
• Experience: In consumer goods, sporting goods, or manufacturing environments preferred
• Technical Skills: Advanced Excel proficiency (XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, pivot tables, forecasting models)
• Experience: With ERP systems (NetSuite preferred) and planning tools
• Experience: Strong analytical and forecasting model development capabilities
• Experience: Building dashboards and forecast accuracy reporting
• Desired Attributes: Ability to lead through influence across cross-functional teams, Strategic thinker with strong business acumen, High level of ownership and accountability, Excellent communication and executive presentation skills, Ability to balance strategic planning with hands-on execution, Proactive, solutions-oriented leadership style, Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment