Senior Manager, Demand Planning

About the role

The Senior Manager, Demand Planning plays a pivotal role in our global toy business, driving end-to-end forecasting, inventory optimization, and supply chain strategies for our major retail partners. In this highly collaborative position, you will lead cross-functional initiatives across Sales, Supply Chain, and Finance to improve forecast accuracy, maximize product availability, and optimize inventory investment. As a strategic partner, you will leverage data analytics to influence executive decisions, ensure flawless promotional execution, and drive profitable growth.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end demand planning process across multiple product categories and customer channels by developing accurate statistical and collaborative forecasts using POS, shipment history, syndicated data, and market trends.
• Drive forecast accuracy and continuous improvement by owning bias and variability metrics, performing root cause analysis, and incorporating new product launches, seasonality, and promotional activities into demand plans.
• Develop and execute inventory strategies to optimize levels, maximize in-stock performance, minimize excess inventory, and mitigate supply risks while monitoring health metrics like OTIF, fill rates, and inventory turns.
• Partner directly with retailer teams and Sales leadership to support inventory planning, joint business planning (JBP), annual customer business plans, volume forecasts, and strategic growth opportunities.
• Evaluate promotional effectiveness and support customer line reviews through pre- and post-event analytics, ROI measurement, trade optimization, and the delivery of customer scorecards.
• Analyze complex datasets, including POS, syndicated data, and retailer portals, to translate information into actionable insights, executive-ready recommendations, and scenario planning models.
• Present demand assumptions, supply constraints, and pricing strategies during monthly S&OP and Integrated Business Planning (IBP) meetings to influence senior leadership decisions.
• Identify and lead continuous improvement initiatives to standardize forecasting methodologies, optimize replenishment processes, and enhance planning efficiency using Lean principles, automation, and advanced KPI dashboards.

Supervisor Responsibilities: Yes

Requirements

• 8+ years of progressive experience in Demand Planning, Replenishment, Supply Chain, Sales Planning, Commercial Analytics, or Customer Planning within the CPG, Retail, or Consumer Products industries.
• Demonstrated experience supporting major retail customers such as Walmart, Target, Costco, Amazon, Sam's Club, or Kroger.
• Strong expertise in demand forecasting, inventory optimization, S&OP, Integrated Business Planning (IBP), retailer replenishment processes, and overall supply chain operations.
• Proven ability to utilize syndicated data (such as Nielsen, Circana, or IRI) and retailer portals (such as Retail Link or Scintilla) to analyze market share, shipment trends, and inventory performance.
• Advanced Excel expertise, including Power Query, Power Pivot, Pivot Tables, XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, statistical analysis, and financial modeling.
• Hands-on experience with enterprise forecasting and planning systems such as SAP APO, SAP IBP, JDA, Blue Yonder, Anaplan, Kinaxis, Demantra, Logility, or Oracle.
• Exceptional executive presentation and communication skills with a proven track record of influencing cross-functional teams, leading complex planning initiatives, and driving profitable business growth.

Nice to Have

• A Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Supply Chain, Analytics, or a closely related field is a plus.
• Proficiency with advanced business intelligence and data visualization platforms such as Power BI, Tableau, Alteryx, or SQL.

Benefits

• Basic medical insurance that is 100% company-paid for employees and their children.
• Employee basic life and AD&D insurance.
• 401(K) retirement program with Jazwares matching up to 4% of pretax or post-tax deferrals.
• Short and long-term disability.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Volunteer opportunities for up to 16 hours a year on community service projects through Jazwares Cares.

Schedule

• Flexible work schedule including Monday through Thursday on-site, with an optional WFH on Fridays.
• Up to 20 workdays fully remote each year.
• Time Off for vacation and sick leave.

Pay

The base salary may vary based on experience, role tenure, performance, industry, and location. Eligibility for the annual performance incentive may apply.

About Us

Jazwares, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a leading global toy manufacturer with a robust portfolio of owned and licensed brands. Founded in 1997, Jazwares celebrates imaginative play with a progressive focus on identifying new and relevant trends to transform into high-quality products for consumers of all ages. Jazwares engages consumers through innovative play experiences with popular brands such as Squishmallows™, Pokémon™, Hello Kitty™, Star Wars™, Five Nights at Freddy’s™, Disney™, BumBumz™, and BLDR™. In addition to toys, offerings include costumes, games, and pillows. Headquartered in Plantation, Florida, Jazwares has offices worldwide and sells its products in over 100 countries.