Sales & Operations Demand Planning Manager

Description

The S&OP Manager is responsible for leading the monthly Sales & Operations Planning process to align demand, supply, inventory, and financial plans across the plastics manufacturing organization. This role partners closely with Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, and Manufacturing to drive forecast accuracy, optimize capacity utilization, manage inventory, and support profitable growth 

Requirements

Duties and Responsibilities

S&OP Process Leadership

• Own and lead the end-to-end monthly S&OP cycle (Demand Review, Supply Review, Pre-S&OP, Executive S&OP).
• Ensure alignment between sales forecasts, production plans, inventory targets, and financial objectives.
• Prepare executive-level S&OP materials, scenarios, and trade-off recommendations.

Demand Planning

• Partner with Sales and Marketing to develop and validate rolling demand forecasts by product family, customer, and market segment.
• Analyze historical sales, customer trends, promotions, and market conditions impacting plastic strapping, cord, equipment and spare parts demand.
• Drive continuous improvement in forecast accuracy and bias reduction.

Supply & Capacity Planning

• Translate demand plans into feasible production and capacity plans across extrusion, cord, equipment and spare parts operations.
• Balance labor, machine capacity, tooling constraints, and resin availability.
• Identify risks and mitigation plans related to uptime, lead times, and service levels.

Inventory & Working Capital Management

• Establish and manage inventory targets for raw materials (resins, additives), WIP, and finished goods.
• Optimize inventory turns while maintaining customer service and production efficiency.
• Support resin strategy decisions in collaboration with procurement.

Financial Alignment

• Align volume plans with financial forecasts (revenue, margin, absorption, and working capital).
• Partner with Finance to assess cost, margin, and profitability impacts of volume and mix changes.
• Support annual operating plan (AOP) and long-range planning processes.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Act as the primary integrator between Sales, Operations, Supply Chain, and Finance.
• Facilitate decision-making and resolve conflicts between demand and supply priorities.
• Promote accountability and data-driven decision making.

Metrics & Continuous Improvement

• Track and report S&OP KPIs (forecast accuracy, service level, capacity utilization, inventory turns).
• Drive process standardization and continuous improvement across plants or business units.
• Leverage ERP, APS, and planning tools to enhance visibility and decision support.

Key Competencies

• Cross-functional leadership and influence
• Executive presentation and storytelling
• Scenario planning and trade-off analysis
• Data-driven decision making
• Change management

Qualifications and Experience

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Engineering, Business, or related field.
• 5–10+ years of experience in S&OP, demand planning, supply planning, or      operations within plastics or process manufacturing.
• Strong understanding of plastics manufacturing processes and constraints.
• Experience working with ERP systems (JDE, SAP, Oracle, Dynamics, etc.) and planning tools.
• Strong analytical, facilitation, and executive communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA or APICS/ASCM certification (CPIM, CSCP).
• Multi-plant or global manufacturing experience.
• Experience managing raw material volatility, allocation, or supply disruptions.