Sr. Planning Analyst - Demand & Forecast Management
Grainger is a broad line, business-to-business distributor of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) supplies and other related products and services. More than 3.2 million businesses and institutions worldwide rely on Grainger for products such as safety gloves, ladders, motors and janitorial supplies, along with services like inventory management and technical support. These customers represent a broad collection of industries including commercial, government, healthcare and manufacturing. They place orders online, on mobile devices, through sales representatives, over the phone and at local branches. Approximately 5,000 suppliers provide Grainger with more than 1.6 million products stocked in Grainger’s distribution centers and branches worldwide.
Position Description
Sr. Planning Analyst, Demand & Forecast Management, will be responsible for ongoing evaluation and adjustment of existing forecasting strategies through quantitative data analysis and developing new forecasting models and prototypes to provide the best experience to our customers at the lowest cost to the business. Key responsibilities include:
- Assess existing forecast strategies’ key parameters, and utilize both qualitative and quantitative data to continually improve current strategies and develop robust consensus demand plans across a diverse SKU base
- Identify and incorporate product attributes, customer profiles, demand seasonality, and cyclicality while considering regional conditions (including warehouse space capacity) to refine forecasts that reflect changes in the market
- Formulate hypothesis and design experiments to test new forecasting methods; interpret results to draw relevant and actionable conclusions with statistical assessment of relative risk and impact
- Ensure the ongoing accuracy of item-level forecasts and establish best-in-class KPIs to measure performance, track recent changes and guide decision making
- Create, enhance, and maintain technical documentation clearly defining existing forecasting methods and present to stakeholders/senior leadership
- Drive best practices on the team; mentor, guide, and educate business partners and stakeholders by effectively translating complex technical concepts to a general business audience
Position Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree (Master’s preferred) in Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Operations Research, Engineering or other concentrations with heavy quantitative focus
- Demonstrated use of statistical modeling and mathematical optimization techniques tailored to meet real life problems through a record of achievements in industrial and/or academic environments
- 2+ years of industry or academic experience with Linear Regression/Time Series Forecasting, Predictive Modeling and other forecasting techniques
- Expertise with processing large data sets (1M+ records) including data extraction, cleaning, filtering and manipulation
- Proficiency with statistical/programming software such as R, Python, SPSS, SQL, VBA for large data analyses
- Ability to develop experimental and analytic plans for data modeling processes, use of strong baselines, ability to accurately determine correlation vs. cause and effect relations
- Ability to work collaboratively and effectively with engineering and business partners to test hypothesis, build algorithms and prototype models for demand forecasting
- Experience with creation of data driven visualizations and process flows to describe an end-to-end system
- Working knowledge of SAP Supply Chain Suite, particularly Advance Planning & Optimization or Service Parts Planning is a plus
Grainger is an Equal Opportunity Workplace and an Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.