Retail Demand & Manufacturing Planner

Role Summary

Retail Demand & Manufacturing Planner role is accountable for converting retail demand into a stable, executable manufacturing plan while protecting customer service, plant stability, and total network This role manages the end-to-end planning process for key retail customers by reviewing customer-provided forecasts, actual POS demand, open orders, inventory availability, manufacturing capacity, and delivery requirements.

This position serves as the critical link between retail customer demand signals and plant execution.

The Planner will work closely with manufacturing teams, materials, customer service, logistics, and supply chain leadership to ensure orders are planned, produced, and delivered on time and in full to high-value customers.

The role requires a network mindset - evaluating not only individual plant capacity, but also broader network capability to determine the optimal location to run customer orders.

This position will support SIOP discipline, Lean planning principles, schedule adherence, constraint visibility, and proactive issue escalation.

In addition, the role will have bandwidth to support smaller ad hoc projects as a program/project manager, ensuring timely execution, clear ownership, and early communication of risks or delays.

Qualifications


* Bachelor's degree in supply chain, Operations Management, Business, Industrial Engineering, or related field preferred


* 5+ years of experience in production planning, manufacturing scheduling, supply chain planning, materials management, customer planning, or related manufacturing role


* Experience supporting retail, high-volume, customer-facing, or make-to-order / make-to-stock manufacturing environments preferred


* Strong understanding of SIOP, demand planning, production scheduling, capacity planning, and inventory flow


* Experience working with customer forecasts, POs data, open orders, inventory availability, and manufacturing schedules


* Ability to evaluate capacity across multiple manufacturing locations and recommend practical execution plans


* Strong ERP/MRP knowledge and ability to work with planning parameters, work orders, demand signals, and production schedules


* Strong analytical skills with proficiency in Excel and planning/reporting tools.


* Demonstrated ability to manage priorities, communicate risks, and coordinate cross-functional action


* Lean manufacturing or continuous improvement experience preferred


* Strong communication skills with the ability to work with plant teams, customer service, logistics, sales, and leadership


* Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, high-visibility customer service environment

Position Impact

This role is critical to ensuring the company delivers a high level of customer service to its most important retail customers.

Success will be measured by how effectively the Scheduler/Planner converts customer forecast and POs demand into execut...