Manager of Distributed Brands & Supply Analytics

At Horizon Hobby, we inspire dreams and help build memories! Our company is the leader in the global Radio Control industry, celebrating 40 years in 2025! We offer tremendous opportunities for growth and development and a full array of benefits including discounts on our products! We are currently hiring for a Manager of Distributed Brands & Supply Analytics!

This is a full-time, on-site position at our Champaign, IL location. Working hours are Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.

Typical pay for this position is $85,000-$95,000 annually. The final offer for this position will be based on the unique experience and qualifications of the candidate selected. This position may also be eligible for a bonus not included in the base pay range.

The Manager, Distributed Brands Purchasing and Supply Analytics leads purchasing and supply planning for the Distributed Brands portfolio and directly oversees the Distributed Brands Supply Planners and the Supply Information Analyst. Reporting to the Manager - Global Inventory Planning & Purchasing, this role is accountable for team engagement and performance, supply planning KPIs, inventory health, vendor onboarding, portfolio analysis, and the preparation of decision-ready S&OP materials. The manager combines a strong understanding of end-to-end business flows with practical analytics leadership, using Power BI, Microsoft Excel, Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, and planning tools to improve visibility, simplify work, propose process changes, and drive transformation in a fast-changing environment.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership and Engagement 

• Lead, coach, and develop the Distributed Brands Supply Planners and Supply Information Analyst, establishing clear priorities, accountability, and development plans.
• Create an engaged, collaborative team environment that encourages ownership, continuous improvement, knowledge sharing, and timely escalation of risks.
• Balance workload and resources across the team while ensuring consistent planning practices, documentation, and business continuity.
• Partner effectively across Purchasing, Demand Planning, Inventory Management, Product Development, Sales, Marketing, Finance, Operations, and leadership.

Supply Planning, Purchasing, and KPI Management

• Own the operating rhythm for core supply planning and purchasing KPIs, including service and availability (Fill rate and In Stock rate), forecast and supply alignment, inventory levels and turns, excess and obsolete inventory, backorders, purchase order performance, lead times, and supplier performance.
• Review item- and portfolio-level exceptions, establish recovery actions, and hold the team accountable for execution and follow-through.
• Guide purchasing decisions using demand, inventory targets, open orders, lead times, minimum order quantities, fixed lots, lifecycle status, and financial objectives. - Ensure planning parameters, business rules, and purchasing practices are accurate, understood, consistently applied, and continuously improved.

S&OP and Executive Decision Support

• Lead the development of supply and inventory content for S&OP, business reviews, and leadership discussions.
• Translate complex supply, purchasing, and inventory information into concise narratives covering performance, risks, opportunities, trade-offs, and recommended decisions.
• Coordinate inputs across functions, validate assumptions, and ensure materials are complete, accurate, and delivered on schedule.
• Connect executive-level outcomes to the underlying portfolio, vendor, category, and item-level drivers.

Vendor Onboarding and Supplier Partnership

• Lead the supply chain and purchasing workstream for onboarding new vendors, including business-flow design, master-data readiness, planning parameters, ordering processes, lead times, logistics, reporting, and handoffs.
• Align internal stakeholders and suppliers on expectations, milestones, ownership, risks, and launch readiness.
• Build productive supplier relationships and lead discussions related to supply performance, constraints, order strategy, inventory exposure, and corrective actions.
• Identify onboarding or supplier-process gaps and implement sustainable solutions before they affect service or inventory.

Portfolio and Inventory Management

• Lead portfolio analysis across brands, categories, and product lifecycles to identify growth opportunities, assortment gaps, inventory risks, and rationalization needs.
• Drive inventory strategies that balance availability, working capital, turns, GMROI, excess exposure, lifecycle transitions, and customer service.
• Partner with product and commercial teams on launches, replenishment strategies, end-of-life plans, discontinuations, and disposition actions.
• Use scenario analysis to recommend inventory, purchasing, and portfolio actions under changing demand, supply, and financial conditions.

Analytics, Planning Tools, and Transformation

• Drive transformation through data analytics by identifying manual work, fragmented reporting, and complex business logic that can be simplified, automated, or moved into governed data models.
• Sponsor and contribute to the design of practical planning tools, dashboards, scorecards, and exception-management workflows in Power BI and Microsoft Excel.
• Understand Power BI reports, semantic models, DAX measures, data relationships, refresh processes, and visualization principles sufficiently to guide requirements, validate outputs, and challenge solutions.
• Partner with the Supply Information Analyst, business users, and technical teams to convert business needs into scalable, trusted, and user-friendly analytical products.
• Propose and lead changes to processes, business rules, operating rhythms, and tools; manage testing, communication, training, adoption, and post-launch improvement.

Business Process Ownership and Adaptability

• Maintain a strong understanding of end-to-end flows connecting product setup, demand planning, supply planning, purchasing, vendor management, inbound logistics, inventory, fulfillment, finance, and reporting.
• Operate effectively in an evolving environment, reassessing priorities as business conditions, systems, vendors, and organizational needs change.
• Identify root causes, make decisions with incomplete information when necessary, and communicate assumptions, risks, and escalation needs clearly.
• Perform other duties as assigned within the scope of the position.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Finance, Data Analytics, Industrial Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field is preferred. Equivalent relevant experience will be considered.
• 5-7 years of progressive experience in supply planning, purchasing, inventory management, supply chain analytics, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience leading, coaching, or coordinating supply planning, purchasing, or analytical professionals; direct people-management experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience managing supply planning and inventory KPIs, developing S&OP or executive-review materials, and converting analysis into business actions.
• Experience onboarding suppliers, managing supplier performance, and working across portfolio launches, replenishment, lifecycle transitions, and inventory-risk reduction.
• Hands-on experience with Power BI, advanced Microsoft Excel, and ERP or planning systems; Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP experience is strongly preferred.
• Strong people leadership, coaching, engagement, prioritization, and change-management skills.
• Deep working knowledge of supply planning, purchasing, inventory management, supplier management, product lifecycle, and S&OP processes.
• Ability to define, manage, and explain KPIs such as service level, fill rate, backorders, inventory turns, GMROI, excess and obsolete inventory, lead time, purchase order performance, and supplier performance.
• Strong analytical and financial acumen, with the ability to evaluate trade-offs among availability, inventory investment, working capital, risk, and profitability.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and a solid understanding of Power BI, including dashboards, DAX measures, semantic models, data relationships, visualization, publishing, and performance considerations.
• Ability to conceptualize and build or guide the development of practical planning tools, reports, and automated workflows.
• Strong written and verbal communication, including the ability to prepare leadership-ready materials and present clear recommendations.
• Ability to work effectively through ambiguity and changing priorities while maintaining ownership, attention to detail, and follow-through.
• Demonstrated ability to challenge current processes constructively, propose improvements, and drive cross-functional adoption.

Physical Requirements  

• Occasional lifting of office supplies and materials, up to 20 pounds.
• Ability to sit or stand for extended periods while working on a computer.
• May require occasional overtime during reporting periods or audits.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job. 

Benefits & Other Perks 

• Medical, Dental, Vision 
• HSA and FSA options 
• Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Insurance 
• Life Insurance and Supplemental Life Insurance 
• 401(k) with a company match 
• Paid Time Off 
• Paid Holidays 
• Internal Rewards 
• Discounts on Products 
• Additional Coverage such as accident, critical, hospital and pet insurance

Horizon Hobby is a progressive, innovative company and, as such, is constantly reevaluating and reinventing the processes and procedures associated with each job. The essential duties and responsibilities of this position may change at any time.  In addition, employees may be asked to work on special projects or to assist with other work necessary or important to the operation of Horizon. Your cooperation and assistance in performing such additional work is expected and appreciated. 

Horizon Hobby, LLC is an equal opportunity and E-Verify employer