Associate Demand Planner

About us:
Target is an iconic brand, a Fortune 50 company and one of America’s leading retailers.

Target Merchandising is evolving at an incredible pace. We are constantly reimagining how this $106 billion retailer offers the innovative, guest-inspiring items that Target is known and loved for. Our goal is to deliver exceptional value, quality and style to elevate Target as the premier retailer in a competitive global marketplace. Through intelligent and progressive business strategies that make the most of Target’s resources and partnerships worldwide, merchandising works across product categories to create a localized shopping experience online and in our 1900 stores. Are you a creative problem solver who loves to see your work translate into real results? Can you collaborate effectively, execute a plan efficiently and positively influence how Target chooses and presents the right product in the right place at the right price? If so, you will have success on one of our dynamic teams.

A role in DemandPlanning means being in charge of unit forecasting for one of Target’s businesses. Here, you will conduct demand planning, forecasting and management of assigned business units to maximize sales and drive forecast accuracy. Acting as the hub between Planning and Inventory, you will create a financial link between these two essential groups and have a voice in some of the most important decisions from a financial strategy standpoint.

As an Associate Demand Planner, you will be responsible for forecasting guest demand by analyzing historical sales data, market trends and other relevant factors to create accurate demand forecasts.

Core responsibilities are described below. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.

Demand Forecasting: Leverage our in-house machine learning tool and market intelligence to evaluate and approve short term and long-term demand forecasts.

Consensus Forecasting: Collaborate with Merch Planning to gather insights and incorporate relevant information into the forecasting process.

Integrated Business Planning: Participate in IBP meetings to present demand forecasts and discuss supply chain issues and align with Inventory teams on inventory planning and positioning.

Demand Sensing: Utilize advanced analytics and real-time data to sense changes in guest demand; Tune ML hyperparameters to reflect changes that will positively impact positioning of inventory to maximize sales.

Performance monitoring: Track and analyze forecast accuracy to identify areas of improvements and implement corrective actions.

About you:

• Bachelors/ Masters in Operations/ Statistics/ Mathematics/ Economics and/or APICS – CSCP or IBF Certified Professional in Demand Planning
• 2-5 years of relevant experience in Demand Planning or related fields with a proven track record of success
• Good communication skills to collaborate across cross functional teams to develop accurate demand plans
• Strong analytical skills to develop insights into market trends, guest behavior and product performance
• Ability to translate industry/ market trends & competition into demand plans
• Problem solving abilities to identify and address opportunities in demand planning & forecasting
• Attention to details ensuring accurate demand forecasts
• Proficiency in using demand planning software & other tools to manage forecasting & planning process efficiently.