Demand Planning Manager

Description

Job Title: Demand Planning Manager

Department: Demand Planning

Summary

The Demand Planning Manager leads Ferno Washington’s demand planning function and is responsible for developing accurate, data-driven demand forecasts that support customer service, inventory, production, procurement, and financial objectives. This role partners closely with Sales, Marketing, Procurement, Customer Service, Manufacturing, Finance, Quality Engineering, and New Product Development to translate market intelligence, historical trends, customer input, promotional activity, and product lifecycle events into an aligned demand plan. The position owns the monthly demand planning cadence, plays a leadership role in the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process, identifies risks and opportunities that may affect supply, inventory, or service levels, and drives continuous improvement in forecast accuracy, forecast bias, planning processes, and cross-functional decision-making.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following: 

• Lead the demand planning function, including supervision, coaching, and development of demand planning team members.
• Develop, maintain, and communicate monthly demand forecasts using historical sales, customer projections, market trends, sales plans, promotional activity, and new product launch or phase-out assumptions.
• Own the total demand plan for assigned product families and ensure forecast assumptions are clearly documented and aligned with business objectives.
• Facilitate the monthly demand review and support the S&OP process by driving cross-functional alignment across Sales, Marketing, Finance, Manufacturing, Procurement, Customer Service, Quality Engineering, and New Product Development.
• Partner with supply planning, procurement, and manufacturing teams to translate the demand plan into effective production, capacity, component, raw material, and inventory strategies.
• Monitor forecast accuracy, forecast bias, inventory performance, service levels, and other key planning metrics; identify root causes of variances and lead corrective actions.
• Analyze demand and supply signals to identify risks, constraints, shortages, excess inventory, slow-moving inventory, and customer service impacts; communicate recommendations to appropriate stakeholders.
• Support inventory optimization by balancing customer service requirements, working capital objectives, lead times, product availability, and operational constraints.
• Maintain and improve demand planning tools, reports, master data inputs, and forecasting processes to increase visibility, consistency, and decision quality.
• Coordinate timely resolution of day-to-day supply and demand discrepancies and escalate significant risks with recommended actions.
• Perform special projects and other duties as assigned.

Key Performance Indicators

• Forecast accuracy performance by product family, customer segment, and planning horizon.
• Forecast bias and corrective action progress to reduce consistent over-forecasting or under-forecasting.
• On-time completion and quality of monthly demand reviews, forecast submissions, and S&OP inputs.
• Customer service level, order fill rate, and backorder trends related to demand plan performance.
• Inventory performance, including inventory turns, excess and obsolete inventory exposure, and slow-moving inventory trends.
• Timely identification, communication, and resolution of demand and supply risks, constraints, and exceptions.
• Planning data quality, including forecast inputs, item master data, lead times, product lifecycle assumptions, and system parameters.
• Continuous improvement results related to planning processes, reporting, forecast methodology, and cross-functional alignment.

Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Operations Management, Statistics, Engineering, or a related field is preferred.
• Five to ten years of related demand planning, supply chain, operations planning, or materials management experience is preferred, ideally within a medical device, EMS, manufacturing, or regulated environment.
• Equivalent combination of education, training, and experience may be considered. APICS/ASCM, IBF, CPIM, CSCP, or related supply chain certification is preferred but not required.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. 

• Strong analytical, statistical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex data and convert findings into actionable recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional planning discussions, build consensus, and communicate forecast assumptions, risks, and recommendations clearly.
• Strong leadership, coaching, technical, organizational, and communication skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, and working knowledge of ERP, MRP, and demand planning or forecasting systems.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and changing business requirements in a fast-paced environment.
• Knowledge of forecasting methods, inventory management principles, product lifecycle planning, and S&OP best practices.
• Ability to solve practical problems, evaluate alternatives, and interpret instructions provided in written, oral, diagram, data, or schedule form.

Ferno is an equal opportunity employer and that all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran or disability status.