Demand Planner
19 hours ago
Nashville
Chairmans Foods specializes in producing a wide range of high quality, consistent customer solutions - main courses, side dishes, queso, ready-to-eat protein salads custom solutions for foodservice operators and retail stores. Chairmans has succeeded over the years with open communication, integrity, and with a deep commitment to southern hospitality. Driven by our mission, vision and values, employee and food safety are always our top priority. Job Summary: The Demand Planner is a critical strategic role responsible for designing, building, and continuously improving the demand planning capability across a multi-plant manufacturing network. Reporting directly to the General Manager, this role plans demand for three manufacturing facilities producing a diverse portfolio of make-to-order, short-lead-time products as well as frozen and medium-lead-time items. This is not a maintenance role. The successful candidate will build and mature a scalable demand planning system, establish forecasting discipline, and embed demand planning into the broader S&OP process. The Demand Planner will translate commercial signals into actionable, time-phased demand plans that balance customer service, shelf-life requirements, capacity constraints, and financial performance. Key Responsibilities Demand Planning & Forecasting • Design, build, and own the demand planning framework across multiple product types, including make-to-order and frozen portfolios., • Develop statistically driven forecasts using historical demand, promotions, seasonality, and market insights., • Maintain and adjust forecasts based on customer demand, commercial strategy, and operational constraints., • Communicate demand risks, opportunities, and assumptions to leadership. S&OP & Executive Support • Serve as the demand planning lead within the S&OP process., • Prepare demand insights and scenarios for executive S&OP reviews., • Partner with Sales and Finance to align demand with revenue and financial plans. Multi-Plant Coordination • Translate demand plans into actionable requirements for three manufacturing facilities., • Conduct weekly demand reviews with plant leadership over a rolling four-week horizon., • Support production planning and scheduling with clear demand signals. Inventory Strategy & Optimization • Align inventory targets with demand variability, lead times, and shelf-life constraints., • Reduce excess inventory and mitigate stockout risk., • Balance customer service levels with working capital objectives. Systems, Tools & Continuous Improvement • Build and enhance demand planning tools, processes, and reporting., • Establish forecast accuracy metrics and bias analysis., • Automate and scale planning processes as the business grows. Data Analysis & Reporting • Develop executive dashboards to communicate demand and inventory performance., • Monitor KPIs including forecast accuracy, bias, and service levels. Qualifications & Experience Required • Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Analytics, Economics, or related field., • Minimum of 3 years of experience in demand planning or forecasting in a manufacturing environment., • Demonstrated experience building or improving a demand planning system., • Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills. Preferred • Experience supporting multi-plant manufacturing networks., • Experience in make-to-order and frozen food environments., • Proficiency in Excel, Power BI, SQL, and ERP planning tools., • Experience supporting S&OP processes. Chairmans Foods is an EEO employer and conducts background checks and drug testing as part of the hiring process.