Sales Planning Analyst

Role & Responsibilities

• Own the retail demand forecast models and key assumptions that drive the S&OP process, ensuring inputs reflect the latest distribution plans, promotional events, and velocity trends.
• Build velocity assumptions at the SKU and retailer level, accounting for distribution timing, promotional lift, and new item ramp profiles.
• Absorb the retail opportunity pipeline to determine which customer commitments and new launches should be incorporated into the demand plan, and begin sizing the corresponding production requirements accordingly.
• Provide Finance with key planning inputs including launch timing and customer commitments by S&OP deadlines, and flag mismatches between commercial ambition and realistic supply capacity.
• Build and maintain a real time inventory visibility model that tracks stock at every node of the supply chain: David’s DCs, retailer DCs, and retailer in-store inventory.
• Monitor and model inventory positions by SKU and by customer to identify which channels or accounts are driving depletion ahead of plan.
• Develop a PO management framework that enables the Fulfillment team to make informed, data-driven decisions when rationing available inventory across customers during constraint periods.
• Recommend how to prioritize and allocate incoming retailer POs to maximize on shelf availability across all channels simultaneously, integrating strategic priorities.
• Flag emerging inventory risks early and develop mitigation options before constraints become out of stock failures.
• Prepare and maintain the weekly S&OE meeting deck, synthesizing the latest inventory positions, constraint forecasts, and demand priorities in a clear, action-oriented format.
• Lead the identification and evaluation of short-term demand drivers, including new retailer launches, promotional features, and display events, that compete for constrained inventory.
• Develop and maintain a rolling calendar of planned promotions, features, and displays across all retail customers, providing end-to-end visibility into the timing and magnitude of demand events.
• Stress test the promotional calendar against supply constraints and recommend adjustments to the timing or sequencing of events to prevent simultaneous inventory draws.
• Communicate inventory prioritization decisions clearly to Retail and Fulfillment teams so they can manage expectations proactively.
• Serve as the primary analytical link between the Retail team and the Supply Chain Team, translating commercial plans into actionable supply requirements.
• Work with Manufacturing and Procurement to identify opportunities to increase production of SKUs facing demand driven scarcity.
• Partner with the Commercialization team on new product launches, translating the Retail team’s distribution expansion plans into long range monthly production capacity requirements, enabling SCT to begin capacity setting well in advance of demand.
• Develop and maintain a 12-month capacity outlook that integrates new customer onboarding, promotional plans, and organic velocity growth into a single view of required supply.
• Design, build, and maintain the planning tools, dashboards, and trackers that the Sales Planning function needs to operate at scale.
• Identify process improvement opportunities as the business scales and proactively build or improve the infrastructure needed to support them.
• Support the broader Retail team with ad hoc analytical requests related to supply planning, forecasting, and inventory management.

Requirements

• 1 to 3 years of experience in Investment Banking, Management Consulting, Supply Chain Planning, Demand Planning, Sales, or a related CPG or FMCG function.
• Strong analytical skills and advanced proficiency in Excel; experience with planning tools or BI platforms is a plus.
• Clear communicator who can translate supply chain complexity into actionable commercial recommendations.
• Highly organized, detail oriented, and comfortable managing multiple workstreams simultaneously.
• Experience working within an S&OP or S&OE process is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with retail inventory management, DC replenishment, or PO management is a plus.