Supply Chain Planning & Analytics Specialist

POSITION:
SUPPLY CHAIN PLANNING & ANALYTICS SPECIALIST

DEPARTMENT:
Operations / Supply Chain

REPORTS TO:
Director of Operations

LOCATION:
Bolingbrook, Illinois
EMPLOYMENT STATUS:
Full-Time, Non-Union

DIRECT REPORTS:
None

WORK SCHEDULE:
Hybrid; Regular On-Site Presence Required

FLSA CLASSIFICATION:
Salary Exempt

SALARY:
$80,000-$85,000 Annually

TRAVEL:
Limited; As Needed

POSITION TYPE:
Individual Contributor

POSITION SUMMARY:
The Supply Chain Planning & Analytics Specialist owns the analytical and planning work required to improve demand visibility, replenishment decisions, inventory investment, and operating performance. The role converts sales history, forecasts, supplier lead times, inventory positions, service requirements, and business priorities into practical recommendations for what should be stocked, when it should be replenished, and where inventory risk should be addressed.
This is an individual-contributor role that works closely with Operations, Purchasing, Inventory Control, Sales, Customer Service, Finance, and system resources. The Specialist also strengthens business continuity by automating recurring reporting, documenting critical workflows, cross-training with ERP and reporting resources, and ensuring key planning knowledge is not dependent on one individual.
The position offers direct exposure to the Director of Operations and an opportunity to influence inventory strategy, forecasting, ERP reporting, automation initiatives, and operational improvement projects while developing broader supply chain capability.
PRIMARY OUTCOME:
Create a disciplined, data-driven planning and reporting function that improves inventory availability and working capital while reducing excess inventory, manual reporting, and dependence on individual knowledge.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1.Demand Forecasting and Inventory Planning

Own and maintain the demand-planning process using sales history, customer information, seasonality, promotions, new products, product transitions, and known business changes.
Use Recurrency and available ERP data to develop, review, and refine forecasts and replenishment recommendations.
Establish and maintain planning parameters, including safety stock, reorder points, min/max levels, order quantities, review frequencies, and appropriate service-level assumptions.
Identify forecast exceptions, stockout risks, excess inventory, demand changes, and unusual consumption; coordinate timely action with Purchasing, Sales, Operations, and Inventory Control.
Support inventory investment decisions by analyzing customer service, lead time, order economics, tariffs, working capital, and business risk and providing clear recommendations.

2.Inventory Optimization and Working Capital

Monitor inventory turns, days of supply, service levels, stockouts, backorders, excess inventory, dead stock, and inventory concentration by item, supplier, product line, and location.
Develop reduction plans for overstock and dead stock, including transfer, consumption, return, rework, substitution, promotion, or other approved disposition strategies.
Review supplier lead times, purchase patterns, order multiples, minimums, transit assumptions, and variability to improve replenishment settings and reduce avoidable inventory.
Partner with Purchasing and leadership on tariff-driven planning, localization opportunities, alternate sourcing analysis, and inventory timing decisions.
Provide clear recommendations on inventory additions, reductions, parameter changes, and exceptions requiring management decisions.

3.Reporting, Analytics and Decision Support

Own recurring supply chain and inventory reporting, including data validation, distribution, follow-up, and continuous improvement of the reporting package.
Develop practical KPIs, dashboards, and exception reports that explain performance, risks, root causes, and required actions rather than only presenting raw data.
Use advanced Excel and available business-intelligence tools to analyze trends, model scenarios, and support operational and leadership decisions.
Partner with ERP and reporting resources to understand existing reports, queries, data definitions, and business logic; SQL knowledge is preferred but not required at hire.
Maintain clear definitions and reconciliation controls so reports use consistent sources, calculations, time periods, and ownership.

4.Automation, Documentation and Business Continuity

Identify manual reports and repetitive data tasks that can be eliminated, standardized, scheduled, or automated.
Document critical reports, queries, data sources, planning rules, system settings, file locations, schedules, distribution lists, and troubleshooting steps using approved SOP and screen-capture tools.
Create and maintain a primary-owner and backup-owner matrix for critical planning, reporting, and system-supported processes.
Cross-train with ERP, reporting, Purchasing, and Operations resources so essential work can continue during vacations, absences, turnover, or role changes.
Periodically test documented procedures by having a trained backup perform the process and correcting gaps discovered during the test.
Maintain revision-controlled SOPs and ensure documentation is updated whenever a report, workflow, system setting, or planning method changes.

5.Cross-Functional Planning and Process Improvement

Participate in and support a practical sales-and-operations planning rhythm that aligns demand, supply, inventory, service priorities, and financial objectives.
Prepare concise planning reviews that highlight forecast changes, inventory exposure, supplier constraints, decisions required, owners, and due dates.
Partner with Inventory Control to separate planning issues from transaction-accuracy issues and prevent inaccurate data from driving replenishment decisions.
Partner with Purchasing on execution priorities while maintaining a clear distinction between planning what should be purchased and placing or expediting purchase orders.
Lead root-cause analysis and improvement efforts related to stockouts, excess inventory, parameter errors, reporting failures, and planning-process gaps.
Support system implementations, master-data cleanup, reporting improvements, process automation, and other supply chain projects as assigned.

DECISION RIGHTS AND ROLE BOUNDARIES:
AUTHORIZED TO
REQUIRES DIRECTOR / FUNCTIONAL APPROVAL
Recommend and maintain approved planning parameters and exception thresholds.
Material changes to inventory investment strategy, service targets, or financial policy.
Develop reports, dashboards, documentation, and standard planning routines.
System configuration changes, production database changes, or access beyond assigned authority.
Request data validation, root-cause review, and corrective action for planning or reporting exceptions.
Final approval of inventory write-offs, customer credits, supplier settlements, or material disposition.
Coordinate cross-functional planning reviews and track agreed actions.
Supplier contracts, price commitments, sourcing awards, or commercial negotiations outside delegated authority.
Recommend inventory reductions, transfers, parameter changes, and automation priorities.
Capital expenditures, headcount additions, or permanent organizational changes.
Escalate stockout, excess inventory, supplier, data, reporting, and continuity risks.
Final tariff classification, legal, accounting, HR, engineering, or quality decisions requiring functional approval.

Role boundary: This position owns planning analysis, replenishment logic, inventory recommendations, reporting improvement, and process continuity. It does not replace Purchasing execution, Inventory Control transaction ownership, ERP administration, Finance approval, or functional authority held by other departments.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS:
MEASURE
EXPECTED FOCUS
Forecast accuracy and bias
Improved forecast quality at the appropriate item, product-line, and planning levels.
Service level / stock availability
Reliable availability for priority items without excessive inventory.
Inventory turns and days of supply
Balanced inventory investment relative to demand, lead time, and service needs.
Overstock and dead stock
Documented reduction plans, ownership, and measurable progress.
Stockout and backorder risk
Early identification, root-cause analysis, escalation, and prevention.
Planning-parameter health
Timely review and disciplined governance of safety stock, min/max, reorder, and lead-time settings.
Reporting automation
Reduction in manual preparation, duplicate reports, errors, and avoidable recurring work.
Report reliability
Consistent definitions, reconciled data, on-time delivery, and clear action ownership.
Documentation and backup coverage
Critical processes have current SOPs and a trained secondary resource.
Action closure
Planning and inventory actions are completed by the agreed owner and due date.

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