Analytical Demand Planning Analyst

Company Overview

Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM), headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and Bridgestone Europe, Middle East and Africa (BSEMEA), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, operate collectively as a “Bridgestone West” strategic region. This region services the strategic business needs of teams across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa. BSAM and BSEMEA are subsidiaries of Bridgestone Corporation, globally headquartered in Japan. Bridgestone and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand products and solutions to address the needs of a broad range of customers and industries.

At Bridgestone, you are Free to Be

We believe people can only provide superior service and quality to others when they bring their whole self to work. We believe in championing all perspectives, individuals and teams because we understand the importance of seeing the world and our business through many different lenses. We are building a team as diverse as the world we serve. So, show us what you are made of, because who you are is what we need.

Supply Chain & Procurement

This role will lead the statistical demand forecasting process for a key subset of the North America tire business. This resource will use advanced statistical forecasting methods to deliver an accurate and unbiased forecast, independent of influence from business targets or other potential biases. Curiosity to identify and eliminate sources of error, and a passion to continually improve forecast performance are key to success in this role. This resource will report to the Senior Manager, Planning Analytics, in the Logistics and Supply Chain Planning Center.

• Lead statistical forecast development for a subset of the North America new tire business using Bridgestone’s Demand Planning system, Blue Yonder. 
• Leverage best practice demand planning analysis techniques (ABC / XYZ, forecastability, seasonality analysis, etc.) to assess the best approach to forecasting various parts of the portfolio. 
• Continuously analyze forecast accuracy and bias, seeking to eliminate causes of error, and driving accuracy & bias improvement across product, customer, and location dimensions.
• Collaborate closely with the demand enrichment planners on full demand plan development.  
• Regularly communicate the statistical forecast, performance metrics, and various analyses to explain the “why” behind the numbers.  This is required to build stakeholder trust in the forecast.
• Build superuser level understanding of the demand planning system and its capabilities, such as hierarchies, aggregation and reconciliation, demand classification, managing statistical models, forecast types, and underlying data structures and flows – including forecast netting. 
• Assist the larger demand planner community with advanced forecast management activities, such as creating forecast locks and targets, deactivating unnecessary product/customer/location combinations, etc.  
• Manage key demand planning master data (new products, new customers, effective dates, product attributes, etc.) to keep the planning system healthy.  
• Lead and/or participate in various projects to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the forecasting process.   Potential projects span from basic process improvements to applying breakthrough capabilities, such as using machine learning or AI for demand forecasting.
• Champion an unbiased mindset – the forecast should reflect the most likely business outcome regardless of targets.

Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a bachelor’s degree; or 6 years and a master’s degree; or a PhD with 3 years of experience; or equivalent work experience.

What we offer

At Bridgestone, what really matters is to foster co-creation opportunities and empowering you to be creative and curious to make mobility safer, more efficient, and more sustainable for future generations. Whatever role you fill, when you represent Bridgestone, you are a valued teammate, and part of our larger mission to “Serve Society with Superior Quality”, for that, we offer you more than just a competitive compensation; we will provide you:

• A supportive and engaging onboarding experience to ensure a smooth transition into our team.
• The opportunity to develop and grow, through training and regular mentorship.
• Corporate Social Responsibility activities.
• A truly global, dynamic and challenging work environment.
• Agility and work/life effectiveness and your long-term well-being.
• A diverse and inclusive team.

Bridgestone is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. It is our policy to consider for employment all individuals regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.

Employment Eligibility

If hired, a Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification must be completed at the start of employment. Temporary work authorization or the need for sponsorship may disqualify you from employment.