Senior Demand Planner

Spyglass Talent Solutions, a retained recruitment firm based in Raleigh, NC, has been engaged by a fast-growing national distributor to conduct a confidential search for a Senior Demand Planner.

Our client is one of the fastest-growing companies in its segment of the home and building products industry. With substantial warehouse and assembly operations and nationwide distribution capabilities, the company has ambitious plans to become the leading provider in its market. It carries a broad product line and continues to expand into new locations.

The company is seeking a Senior Demand Planner to take ownership of its demand planning function as the business grows. Based in the Raleigh, NC area and reporting to the Director of Supply Chain, the Senior Demand Planner will own the forecast across a large and growing mix of SKUs and locations, serve as the organization’s subject-matter expert for demand planning, and play a key role in building the company’s Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process. This is a hands-on role on a small, close-knit supply chain team, with broad exposure to supply planning, transfers, sourcing, and procurement, and significant opportunity for career growth as the company expands.

Responsibilities

· Own and govern the 18-24-month demand forecast across SKU, customer, channel, and location levels, ensuring it supports inventory, capacity, procurement, and financial planning decisions

· Build and lead the monthly demand review, driving cross-functional agreement on the consensus forecast, key assumptions, risks, and opportunities, and escalating material gaps to senior leadership with clear recommendations

· Play a key role in developing and rolling out the company’s S&OP process

· Evaluate and constructively challenge market intelligence from Sales, including promotions, pricing changes, new customers, and lost business; review project submissions for inventory availability and demand impact

· Lead demand planning for new product introductions, transitions, and phase-outs, partnering with Sales, Product, Finance, Supply Planning, and Procurement on launch assumptions and scenario-based forecasts

· Establish and monitor forecast performance metrics, including accuracy, bias, and forecast value added; lead root-cause analysis of variances and implement corrective actions

· Partner with supply planning and inventory teams to translate demand into safety stock, capacity, and replenishment decisions

· Reconcile the unit forecast with the financial plan and flag gaps to Finance early

· Set standards for demand-history cleansing, segmentation, exception handling, and planning master-data integrity; resolve data issues such as stockouts, one-time orders, outliers, and structural shifts

· Continuously improve tools and processes, including demand sensing, ABC/XYZ segmentation, automation of recurring reports, and practical use of AI

· Serve as backup for buying activities with overseas suppliers and for daily supply chain activities, including deployments, in-network transfers, billing, import container management, and domestic purchasing

Qualifications

· Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, business, statistics, engineering, or a related field

· 4+ years of progressive experience in demand planning, forecasting, or integrated business planning, including ownership of a complex, multi-level forecast and leading cross-functional demand reviews

· Hands-on experience with demand planning/forecasting software (e.g., Arkieva, SAP APO, Oracle Demantra, JDA/Blue Yonder); Arkieva a plus

· ERP experience; NetSuite preferred

· Advanced Excel and statistical analysis skills; Power BI a plus

· Experience managing high SKU counts and large, complex datasets; background in distribution, manufacturing, or CPG preferred

· Broad exposure to the end-to-end supply chain and the curiosity to learn supply, sourcing, transfers, and procurement

· Self-starter with an entrepreneurial mindset who brings new ideas, challenges assumptions constructively, and thrives in a fast-growing environment where processes are still being built

· Ability to lead through influence and clearly communicate planning recommendations to cross-functional teams and business leaders

· Open to learning and applying AI tools to improve planning work

· Strong organizational and prioritization skills in a constantly changing environment