Buyer Planner

Develop and maintain a reliable demand forecast and translate it into a feasible supply plan by integrating statistical analysis, structured cross-functional collaboration, and coordination of inventory transfers between manufacturing plants, distribution centers, countries, and approved supply sources.

This role transforms customer, market, promotional, and inventory information into a consensus demand plan and an actionable supply plan, ensuring product availability, service level performance, and a single source of truth across Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Operations, and Finance, without engaging in direct commercial negotiations with suppliers.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop short-, medium-, and long-term forecasts by SKU, customer, channel, product family, or category. 
• Analyze historical sales, customer orders, trends, seasonality, promotions, events, and customer purchasing behavior. 
• Apply statistical forecasting models and adjust forecasts based on validated commercial insights. 
• Manage new product introductions, product substitutions, phase-in/phase-out activities, intermittent demand, and low-volume items. 
• Document forecast assumptions, changes, owners, and demand drivers. 

• Coordinate regular demand review meetings with Sales, Key Account Managers, Marketing, and Commercial Leadership. 
• Gather and validate information related to promotions, new business opportunities, customer additions and discontinuations, pricing changes, product launches, and exceptional orders. 
• Challenge forecast increases or reductions that lack supporting data, customer commitment, SKU detail, timing, or defined probability. 
• Translate qualitative commercial inputs into measurable forecast adjustments and track agreed-upon action items. 

• Develop short-, medium-, and long-term supply plans based on the demand forecast, customer orders, available and in-transit inventory, open purchase orders, lead times, and supply constraints. 
• Convert the consensus demand plan into supply requirements by SKU, source, location, quantity, and required delivery date. 
• Analyze inventory coverage, safety stock, backorders, critical materials, excess inventory, slow-moving items, and obsolescence risks. 
• Validate MRP/DRP recommendations and adjust planning parameters or exceptions when operational conditions require. 
• Recommend allocation priorities during supply constraints, considering service level targets, customer criticality, and regional availability. 

• Plan and request inventory transfers between manufacturing plants, distribution centers, countries, or approved supply sources. 
• Evaluate the most appropriate supply source for each requirement based on inventory availability, production capacity, lead times, transit times, constraints, and business priorities. 
• Monitor transfer requests, transfer orders, confirmations, shipments, in-transit inventory, and receipt of materials. 
• Coordinate with Logistics and International Trade regarding shipping schedules, documentation, shipment consolidation, and transportation risks. 
• Escalate cases requiring supplier intervention, commercial changes, negotiations, or external capacity support to the Procurement team. 

• Measure Forecast Accuracy, Forecast Bias, WAPE, MAPE, and Absolute Error across different levels of aggregation. 
• Develop baseline, optimistic, and constrained supply-demand scenarios for changes such as supplier delays, capacity reductions, unexpected demand increases, or shifting business priorities. 
• Quantify the impact of each scenario on Fill Rate, backorders, inventory coverage, inventory levels, logistics costs, and product availability dates. 
• Analyze deviations between forecasts, customer orders, actual sales, and plan execution to identify root causes. 
• Segment products and customers using differentiated planning methodologies such as ABC/XYZ analysis. 
• Present clear recommendations, planning assumptions, identified risks, and required actions to support business decision-making. 

• Deliver a complete, timely, and consensus-based demand and supply plan to all relevant stakeholders. 
• Communicate significant changes in demand or supply, potential stockout risks, and inventory reduction opportunities. 
• Participate in S&OP, IBP, MRP, executive planning reviews, and budg