Sr. Director, Global Demand Planning & Forecasting

Business: Global Data Center Solutions (GDCS)   

Location: Milwaukee, WI (Hybrid)

Reports to: VP, Revenue Operations – Data Centers    

Are you a demand planning and forecasting leader who thrives on building something new?

Johnson Controls is standing up a global demand planning capability for its fast-growing Data Center business – and we are looking for the leader to design it, scale it, and make it deliver results. This role may be for you!

What you will do

As the Sr. Director, Global Demand Planning & Forecasting, you will build and lead a first-of-its-kind global demand planning organization for Johnson Controls’ Data Center business, spanning the Americas, EMEA, and APAC.

You will own the end-to-end demand signal – in both units and dollars – across our applied equipment and thermal management portfolio, consolidating regional and product-line forecasts into a single, consensus global demand plan. Partnering closely with Sales, Finance, Product Management, and the manufacturing plants, you will translate top-down growth targets into an actionable forecast that drives capacity, capital, and supply decisions across 8 manufacturing plants.

This is a highly visible, build-from-the-ground-up leadership role that directly shapes how we plan, produce, and deliver to the world’s largest data center customers.

How you will do it

• Build the capability. Design and stand up the global demand planning process – including product hierarchy, planning levels, scope (conventional vs. data center demand), decision rights, and accountable handoffs – beginning with a bounded pilot before scaling to a recurring global demand review.
• Lead the team. Recruit, develop, and lead a global team of regional Demand Planning Managers (Americas, EMEA, APAC) and global product demand planners, each supported by dedicated analysts.
• Own the forecast. Own the monthly consensus demand plan, consolidating qualitative and quantitative inputs, reconciling conflicts between statistical and commercial forecasts, and producing a single global plan in units and dollars.
• Drive accuracy. Establish forecast accuracy targets, statistical forecasting models, and bias/variability tracking; use recent results to continuously improve model accuracy and planning behaviors.
• Integrate S&OP. Provide the demand-side handshake to Supply Chain and the plants, translating the plan into product mix, factory capacity, capital needs, and supplier requirements ahead of demand realization.
• Plan for growth & NPI. Accommodate different data center business models and the uncertainty of new products – including customer-specific programs, NPI, and products without historical demand patterns – through robust lifecycle and phase-in / phase-out planning.
• Partner cross-functionally. Chair the monthly demand review, align the demand plan with Finance’s outlooking and revenue/backlog planning, and ensure the process drives operational results – not meetings for their own sake.
• Connect the signal. Integrate major-customer QBR and account-planning insights into the demand signal, ensuring the voice of the customer shapes the forward plan.

What we look for

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, Engineering, Finance, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in demand planning, forecasting, and S&OP, including 5+ years leading and building teams.
• Demonstrated success establishing or transforming a demand planning / S&OP process at a product-region level in a global, multi-plant manufacturing environment.
• Deep expertise in statistical forecasting, consensus demand planning, forecast accuracy measurement, and demand/supply reconciliation.
• Strong financial acumen – able to plan and translate demand in both units and dollars and align to revenue, backlog, and financial outlooking.
• Proven ability to influence and align senior Sales, Finance, Product, and Operations leaders without direct authority.
• Excellent communication skills and executive presence, with the ability to drive decisions in cross-functional review meetings.

Preferred

• Master’s degree (MBA or Supply Chain) and/or APICS/CPIM or IBF (CPF) certification.
• Experience in HVAC, applied equipment, thermal management, or the data center / mission-critical industry.
• Hands-on experience with advanced demand planning systems (e.g., ketteQ, Kinaxis, SAP IBP, or similar) and modern analytics/AI-assisted forecasting.
• Experience integrating acquisitions and new business models into a common planning process.

HIRING SALARY RANGE: $160,000.00 – 240,000.00 USD Annual. Salary to be determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data. This position includes a competitive benefits package.

For details, please visit the About Us tab on the Johnson Controls Careers site. 

https://jobs.johnsoncontrols.com/about-us

Johnson Controls International plc. is an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, protected veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a qualified individual with a disability or any other characteristic protected by law. To view more information about your equal opportunity and non-discrimination rights as a candidate, visit EEO is the Law. If you are an individual with a disability and you require an accommodation during the application process, please visit here.