Demand Planner

We deliver a collaborative experience by working directly with the surgical community to ensure you get the exact surgical tools you need at the right time and the right price.

• Remarkable service A seamless, personal process designed around you and your needs.
• Trusted performance Our product family is the result of years of experience championing surgeons and listening to their expertise.
• Outstanding value No matter the surgical specialty, we deliver quality products for all markets.

Our people promise Excellence is our Specialty and what makes us successful is our people. We are committed to fostering a positive, empowering and growth-oriented environment where all team members are encouraged to share their opinions and ideas. That means you will work alongside an accomplished and highly collaborative team that inspires commitment to our goal in attaining excellence in everything they do.

Job Purpose Summary We are seeking a Demand Planner with an entrepreneurial spirit who excels in a dynamic, growth-oriented environment to join our Ophthalmology team. As a crucial member of our Supply Chain Management department, you will play a pivotal role in forecasting, analyzing, and optimizing our supply chain processes through data analysis and collaborative decision making to ensure the seamless flow of products through our supply chain. The ideal candidate will bring a wealth of expertise in demand forecasting methodologies, data analysis, and market trends to drive accurate predictions and enhance overall supply chain efficiency. In this role, you will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including Sales, Marketing, and Operations to gather relevant data and insights for demand forecasting purposes. Your responsibilities will encompass applying best-in-class forecast policies for high importance products, aligning with business priorities and inputs, selecting and developing statistical models, and implementing strategies to improve through data insights. The successful candidate will possess excellent communication skills, strategic thinking, and a proven track record of successfully managing demand planning functions and report building in a fast-paced and ever-changing business environment.

What you will do

• Demand Forecasting with Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Develop and maintain accurate demand forecasts based on historical data, market trends, and input from key stakeholders.
• Prioritize review of key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure and improve forecast accuracy, providing regular performance reports and insights to management.
• Define regional action plans to improve forecast accuracy and mitigate demand variations.
• Utilize advanced analytics and statistical models to analyze large datasets, identify patterns, and generate insights that strengthen forecasting accuracy.
• Enhance configuration and performance of statistical models to maximize the planning system (e.g., trend dampening, smoothing factors, outlier detection).
• Partner closely with Sales, Marketing, and Operations to gather market intelligence, demand planning strategies, and understand business dynamics.
• Support the design of templates and systematic tools to drive efficiency and standardization within demand planning processes.
• Communicate demand plans, changes, and insights clearly to stakeholders, fostering transparency and alignment.
• Bring high energy, openness, and consideration to foster collaborative partnerships across commercial, supply, finance, marketing, and other teams – fostering deep, trusting relationships that accelerate alignment and progress.

• S&OP Process Implementation:

• Collect and analyze data on sales, demand entry, performance, production, inventory levels, and other relevant metrics to develop effective strategies to bring to the Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process.
• Uphold the implementation and continuous improvement of the S&OP process for Katena portfolios, ensuring high quality demand plans and alignment with all factors.
• Organize and facilitate regular S&OP meetings where cross-functional teams review forecasts, production plans, and inventory strategies, ensuring that decisions are documented and communicated to relevant parties.
• Bring forward meaningful insights to S&OP reviews by leveraging a variety of analyses – from portfolio to performance to scenario planning – to spark productive conversations and enable stronger, data-driven decisions.
• Identify areas for improvement within the S&OP process and pursue enhancements that increase both effectiveness and efficiency.

• Data Analytics:

• Develop Excel, Atlas, and Power BI reports as needed by the team to reduce time waste, enhance insights for demand planning decision making, and enable improved communication.
• Analyze the quantitative results of existing processes, ranging from statistical model configuration to forecast methodology to application of Commercial input to inform shifts in strategy.

• Risk Management:

• Identify potential risks to the supply chain, such as changes in market conditions or disruptions in the supply chain and develop strategies to mitigate these risks.

• What you will need (job requirements)

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent and 4 years’ experience in a relevant supply chain, industrial engineering, or operations role. Prior exposure to a manufacturing environment, business applications, or data science is preferred.
• Fluent in English. Strong written and verbal communication skills, presentation skills, and ability to interact with associates at all levels of the organization. Ability to communicate business capabilities and technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Structured problem solver – has an analytical or scientific approach to finding optimal and timely solutions to day-to-day and strategic challenges including previous experience with lean or six-sigma frameworks.
• Data savvy – demonstrated expert-level of experience and capability with MS Excel, Power BI, statistical model configuration.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills to collaborate with stakeholders at all levels, as well as Executive presence and leadership skills.
• Able to work effectively with people from different cultures and backgrounds.
• High level of integrity and ethical conduct.
• Experience with extracting data from ERP applications as well as developing visualization tools for summarizing extracted data.
• Excellent Project Management skills are required.
• Proven ability to lead, influence, and work well at all levels and in a cross-functional team environment.
• Demonstrated change management expertise and ability to influence and gain commitment at all organizational levels and positively transform the organizational culture to adapt to improved processes and performance metrics.
• Application knowledge in Atlas, Dynamics 365, and Infor CSI preferred are a plus.
• Candidate to share a portfolio of work that demonstrates experience in process improvement in supply chain and virtual value streams.
• Proficient in SQL.
• Licenses/certifications (all considered to be a plus for the role):
  • Professional certificates in data science or analytics.
  • Six Sigma and Lean manufacturing; and
  • CPSM, CPIM, and/or PMP.

Ability to manage multiple objectives and priorities concurrently