Integrated Business Planning & Demand Management Leader (Finance)

What you'll Do

Position Summary

Manages the monthly demand management process for Americold's Americas business, including the development of a rolling, minimum 24-month forecast at customer program levels, leveraging advanced predictive analytics. Assists in improving forecast accuracy and eliminating bias from demand forecasts. Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Finance, Customer Service, and Operations to determine assumptions, latest market trends, customer-specific plans and needs, and promotional activities. Responsible for developing and implementing Class A Planning and Control demand management and forecasting processes, including design, procedures, responsibilities, and metrics. Participate in sales planning and pricing activities to achieve the sales plans that were forecasted. Leads the consensus demand planning process to ensure a singular demand plan considering multiple inputs to include sales history, sales team inputs, marketing inputs, operations inputs, etc. Communicates requirements to operations and financial organization.

Essential Functions

The essential functions of the position include, but are not limited to:

• Effectively leading a forecast analyst(s) in the recognition of all demand for storage, handling, and value-added services to support customers.
• Developing 24-month rolling demand forecasts in $ and units, which become the basis for Latest Estimates, Operating Plans, and financial projections.
• Developing various advanced statistical models, data analytics, AI, and machine learning models to support and enhance the accuracy of the demand forecast, as well as identifying business growth opportunities or business risks.
• Documenting assumptions underlying the forecast and highlighting key changes; monitoring the market environment vs. assumptions.
• Coordinating the monthly Demand Review meeting to gain agreement on the latest 24-month forecasts using input from Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Customer Service. If the organization cannot reach consensus, recommends a final decision to the Chief Financial Officer.
• Creating and implementing a weekly forecasting process at the program and location level. The weekly process includes comparing shipments and orders with forecast, making decisions on adjusting upcoming weeks and identifying abnormal demand patterns, and creating and reviewing forecasting exception reports.
• Assisting in the development of forecast error metrics at all levels of the process and achieving continuous improvement goals on forecast bias and forecast error. Ensuring that root-cause analysis and corrective actions are completed.
• Achieving and maintaining the forecasting process at Class A Planning and Control levels as determined by external consultants.
• Leading the installation of supporting software for statistical forecasting and forecast reporting. Ensuring that the system is used where appropriate for the base business. Owns, maintains, and updates the forecasting tool.
• Serving as the process owner for the demand planning process; evaluating changes that could improve results, monitoring performance of the process, surfacing and helping to resolve issues.

Other Responsibilities/Detailed Duties

• Uses statistical techniques to analyze and improve forecast accuracy, selects forecast model types, and incorporates customer-level forecast information, where appropriate.
• Uses historical data, sales pipeline information, geographic and site-specific constraints, etc., to predict the expected lift from future sales.
• Helps design, document, and implement an effective forecasting process for Americold, including metrics, procedures, timing, and responsibilities.
• Performs "What-If?" scenarios based on price, market share, and competitive data.
• Assists in achieving business goals on Forecast Bias and Error.
• Ensures that all forecasts are in the formal forecasting system.
• Maintains regular communications with Sales, Operations, and Finance personnel.
• Communicates the demand forecast and assumptions to operations and financial organizations.
• Orchestrates the overall Demand Review process.
• Schedules the Demand Review
• Coordinates the monthly Demand Planning process through gathering, organizing, and analyzing the demand data. Key inputs include:
• New construction and expansion plans
• Competitive situations
• Statistical forecast corrected for abnormal demand signals
• Business plan
• Pricing plans
• Customer plans and insights
• Maintain a log of key demand plan assumptions
• Compile a family-based aggregate, unconstrained demand plan represented in volume units and dollars.
• Facilitates the Demand Review (DR) consensus meeting, including agenda preparation, consolidation and distribution of the Demand Review deck, and the issuing of meeting minutes and action items
• Leads the Development of "what if" scenarios that test the Demand Plan's sensitivity and identify potential gap-closing solutions.
• Ensures that issues and imbalances, which occur during the monthly Demand cycle, are cross-functionally reviewed, resolved, or escalated with recommendations and alternatives for closure.
• Identifies, develops, and implements process improvement plans to optimize the Demand Management process to meet company objectives for quality, cost, responsiveness and growth.
• Monitors actual performance to plan and communicates or intervenes as appropriate
• Manages abnormal demands as they arise
• Daily liaison with Sales, Customer Service, and Operations Planning to keep the plans 'current'
• Custodian of Valid Demand Plan
• Maintains functional process step performance measures
• Leverage results from optimization outputs to develop clear and concise presentations for IBP routines for 3-12-month capacity outlook
• Work cross-functionally (category teams, demand planning, finance, co-manufacturing, supply planning etc.) to develop regional supply vs. demand gaps to develop a yearly capital investment roadmap

What Experience and Education You Need

• BA/BS degree - Business or Technical, preferably in a quantitative field
• Minimum 6 years' experience in Sales or Logistics with an emphasis on supply and demand alignment, 3 years with an MBA.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to influence.
• Salesforce experience.
• Oracle Cloud Experience.

What Could Set You Apart

• Experience with forecasting software is highly desirable.
• Experience mapping and redesigning business processes is desirable.

Physical Requirements

• Requires the ability to sit for long periods, with frequent interruptions.
• Requires several hours per day of sitting, getting up and down from chairs, and reaching, or bending.
• Requires manual dexterity with normal hand and finger movements for typical office work.
• Talking, hearing, and seeing are important elements of completing assigned tasks.
• May require travel by automobile and airplane for business.
• May require visits to warehouse operations in temperatures at or below freezing.
• May require carrying loads related to travel and the occasional lifting, carrying, positioning, and/or moving of objects weighing up to 20 pounds.
• Requires the use of various electronic tools.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The Company makes reasonable accommodations in accordance with applicable law.

What We Offer:

Our associates know the answer to the question What's in it for me? We offer best-in-class benefit programs and continuously work with our associates to ensure that our offerings meet the needs of their health and financial well-being. When you join Americold, you join a values-oriented company with a clear mission. We help our customers feed the world.

Americold is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and local laws.

EOE/AA M/F/D/V.

ABOUT US

Americold is a global provider of temperature-controlled infrastructure. We partner with farmers and food producers to ensure their perishable and frozen product reaches foods suppliers, restaurants, and your local grocery store without spoilage. Our customers, which include some of the most respected brands in the food industry, rely on our expertise and commitment to safety in order to deliver on their commitments.