Job description
Description:
Our company is privately owned with products marketed across a broad portfolio of brands including Bali, Graber, SunSetter and Mecho. Our tagline is “the Best Experience Company.” And it’s more than just a set of words—it represents the essence of who we are. As North America’s premier window covering company, we’re committed to creating the Best Experience for our associates and team members, our consumers and end users, and our channel and business partners.
Job Description
Job Duties
Company Overview
Springs Window Fashions has been part of the window treatments industry since 1939. Headquartered in Middleton WI, we have over 8,000 associates and 18 locations worldwide. Our custom window treatments are available in nearly every major retailer, in thousands of designer showrooms and showcased in large commercial buildings.
Our company is privately owned with products marketed across a broad portfolio of brands including Bali, Graber, SunSetter and Mecho. Our tagline is “the Best Experience Company.” And it’s more than just a set of words—it represents the essence of who we are. As North America’s premier window covering company, we’re committed to creating the Best Experience for our associates and team members, our consumers and end users, and our channel and business partners.
We are bringing new innovations to the market and have a lot to offer consumers who want to improve their home décor. Despite COVID, our company is experiencing high growth as consumers spend more time at home and want to redecorate.
Job Description
The Forecast Analyst position works on a team responsible for all forecasting activities of the business and is assigned to support specific customer and product groups. The Forecast Analyst creates and maintains statistical forecast models and collaborates with sales, product, marketing, purchasing, production planning, and other sources (i.e. retailer counterparts) to incorporate intelligence, assumptions, and forecast information from these areas into the demand plan used by the business to make decisions, develop organizational strategy and alignment, and project business performance over the next 24 months. The Forecast Analyst is the integration point for all activities and strategic initiatives of the business, playing a central role in the monthly S&OP cycle to produce a demand plan that drives product availability in the right place, at the right time, in the right amount. This position develops, maintains, communicates, and distributes all forecast related information used in the S&OP process and leads monthly S&OP meetings with key counterparts in sales, product, and purchasing for assigned customer and product groups. Additionally, the Forecast Analyst plays an integral part in strategic initiatives to improve forecast accuracy and bias, to drive cost savings, to provide a best experience to customers, and to prevent lost sales / profits through ongoing analysis and evaluation of actual performance to plan.
Job Duties
Forecasting & Demand Planning (40%)
- Develop and maintain an accurate statistical forecast at multiple levels of aggregation over a rolling 24 month time horizon for both custom made-to-order and stock products by analyzing historical trends, secondary data (i.e. POS), and input from business partners
- Identify and correct statistical modeling issues driven by system parameter and variable settings within the forecasting software related to history, trending, seasonality, etc.
- Perform ongoing analysis and monitoring of actual performance to forecasted plan, identify significant variances, take corrective actions, and document key assumptions
- Achieve a consensus demand plan by facilitating a collaborative planning process with sales, product, marketing, purchasing, production planning, and other sources to: - Adjust for significant new or lost account distribution - Incorporate known and assumed promotional activity with the proper sales lift and timing - Properly reflect and maintain product life cycles for new product rollouts, refreshes, and phase-outs while considering store counts, planograms, and cannibalization - Analyze, interpret, and incorporate key demand drivers and market intelligence - As requested, provide input to purchasing and production planning to develop inventory strategies on existing, new, and phase-out items
- Support strategic forecast initiatives designed to improve the quality of the forecast and close the identified gaps
- Seek out, develop, share, and implement Demand Planning best practices
System & Data Management (20%)
- Use and maintain the Demand Planning software (Anaplan) as the primary forecasting system / tool
- Manage history used for forecasting and ensure it is identified with the proper attributes, correctly dated, and adjusted for known events with outliers removed
- Maintain accurate average selling prices and adjust for expected future changes
- Update data tables in Access and SharePoint to establish relationships and hierarchies in the data structure for customer, product, and brand
S&OP Process (Monthly) (20%)
- Support the S&OP cycle by completing critical forecasting duties (detailed above) and distributing relevant forecast information (i.e. reporting, charts, etc.) to sales, product, and purchasing for review and discussion in consensus meetings
- Organize and lead consensus meetings for assigned account and product groups to identify required changes in the demand plan to achieve consensus driven by discussion of key initiatives, significant business events, changes in product / marketing plans, and forecasting performance
- Properly reflect discussed changes in the demand plan, follow up on action items, and confirm consensus of sales and product with the new plan
- Publish the consensus demand plan along with a clear and concise explanation of forecast changes between cycles, key business event drivers, action plans, and assumptions (or change in assumptions) to be used in the main S&OP meeting (Demand Review)
- Report out monthly on MAPE and bias performance
- Attend the Demand Review meeting and if requested, provide commentary on current information and identified gaps reflected in the plan to Senior Leadership in attendance
Analysis & Reporting (20%)
- Provide timely and accurate response to demand and forecast related inquiries from all areas of the organization, including day-to-day resolution of critical issues affecting the Supply Chain
- Identify the impact of promotional activity, marketing, and industry dynamics to provide recommendations or make revisions to the demand plan
- Develop critical planning tools, key reports, and provide analytical support to Senior Leadership to make decisions, develop and execute key initiatives, and project short term and long term performance
- Understand, evaluate, and comment on projected revenue driven by the demand plan
- May assist in offering insight and analysis into demand volume and mix changes
- May assist in annual development of the sales budget and related documentation
- May perform other administrative and reporting functions related to the demand planning process
- Complete special projects and ad-hoc requests as assigned
Education and Experience
- Bachelors Degree in Business, Accounting, Finance, or Economics
- 2+ years related experience in Planning / Forecasting
- Preference given to candidates with: an undergraduate degree in business, accounting, finance or economics with a concentration in supply chain management, sales, or statistics
- 2-3 years of experience in any analytical role within a large retailer and / or manufacturing environment (forecasting, supply chain, retail planning, accounting, finance, or other relevant analytical role)
- A Masters of Business Administration degree is a plus
- CPF, ACPF, CPF-C, APICS, or other forecasting / supply chain / analytical Certification is a plus
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Working knowledge of Anaplan software (APO / SCM module) or other forecasting software
- High Proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially Excel (Pivot tables, Vlook ups, etc.)
- Excel skills related to Microsoft BI (i.e. PowerPivot, PowerQuery, PowerView, etc.) and macro writing Certification
- Any experience in the window coverings industry is a plus
Behavioral Competencies
- Ensures Accountability – Holding self and others accountable to meet commitments
- Drive Engagement – Creating a climate where people are motivated to do their best to help the organization achieve its objectives
- Instill Trust – Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity
- Drive Results – Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances
- Consumer/Customer Focus – Building strong customer relationships and delivering on customer-centric solutions
- Critical Thinking – Making Sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems
- Being Resilient – Rebounding from setbacks and adversity when facing difficult situations
- Optimize Work Processes – Knowing the most effective and efficient processes to get things done, with a focus on continuous improvement
jjbodyshop.com is the go-to platform for job seekers looking for the best job postings from around the web. With a focus on quality, the platform guarantees that all job postings are from reliable sources and are up-to-date. It also offers a variety of tools to help users find the perfect job for them, such as searching by location and filtering by industry. Furthermore, jjbodyshop.com provides helpful resources like resume tips and career advice to give job seekers an edge in their search. With its commitment to quality and user-friendliness, jjbodyshop.com is the ideal place to find your next job.