About The Role

Kinder’s is growing rapidly, and we are looking for a strategic, analytical, and forward-thinking Senior Manager, Demand Planning to help shape the future of our demand planning capabilities. This role will play a critical part in translating commercial strategies, consumer insights, and market dynamics into accurate, actionable demand plans that support continued growth, operational excellence, and exceptional customer service. 

The Senior Manager, Demand Planning will provide strategic leadership across assigned channels and categories, driving forecast accuracy, strengthening cross-functional alignment, and advancing demand planning processes and capabilities. This individual will serve as a trusted partner to Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Supply Chain leadership, connecting short-term operational execution with long-term business objectives through the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) and Integrated Business Planning (IBP) processes. 

Success in this role requires a balance of analytical rigor, commercial acumen, and influential leadership. The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced, high-growth environment, challenges assumptions, anticipates risks and opportunities, and brings a continuous improvement mindset to building scalable planning solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Demand Planning & Forecasting 

• Lead the development and execution of comprehensive, data-driven demand plans across assigned channels, categories, and product portfolios, aligning forecasts with business growth objectives. 

• Integrate historical shipments, Point of Sale (POS) data, customer insights, promotional activity, market trends, and commercial strategies to develop accurate short- and long-term forecasts. 

• Apply advanced forecasting methodologies, scenario modeling, and statistical analysis to anticipate demand variability, identify emerging trends, and improve forecast reliability. 

• Challenge assumptions and translate complex data into actionable recommendations that support informed commercial and operational decision-making. 

Cross-Functional Leadership & Business Partnership 

• Serve as a strategic planning partner to Sales, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain, and other key stakeholders, ensuring alignment between commercial ambitions and operational capabilities. 

• Lead collaborative demand reviews, facilitating productive discussions around forecast assumptions, business risks, growth opportunities, and planning trade-offs. 

• Influence cross-functional leaders through data-driven insights, sound business judgment, and the ability to constructively challenge perspectives. 

• Build strong, trusted partnerships that promote transparency, shared accountability, and proactive decision-making across the organization. 

 Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) and Integrated Business Planning (IBP) 

• Provide leadership within the S&OP and IBP processes, ensuring demand plans are aligned with financial objectives, supply capabilities, and evolving business priorities. 

• Translate commercial strategies into actionable demand scenarios, identifying implications for inventory, capacity, service levels, and operational performance. 

• Partner with Supply Planning, Finance, and Commercial leadership to identify and resolve demand and supply imbalances while driving consensus around key planning decisions. 

• Strengthen the connection between Sales & Operations Execution (S&OE) and longer-term planning, ensuring responsiveness to near-term changes without compromising strategic objectives. 

 Innovation & New Product Introductions 

• Lead demand planning activities for new product introductions, product expansions, and other strategic growth initiatives. 

• Partner with Innovation, Product Development, Marketing, and Sales to develop launch forecasts, evaluate assumptions, and assess potential demand scenarios. 

• Monitor new product performance against initial forecasts, identifying trends, risks, and opportunities to improve launch execution and future forecasting methodologies. 

• Support portfolio optimization by providing insights into product performance, demand shifts, and evolving consumer preferences. 

 Forecast Performance & Business Insights 

• Establish and drive accountability for key demand planning performance metrics, including forecast accuracy, forecast bias, and other indicators of planning effectiveness. 

• Conduct root-cause analysis of forecast variances, identifying systemic issues and implementing sustainable corrective actions. 

• Evaluate demand trends and business performance to identify opportunities to improve inventory productivity, service levels, and working capital efficiency. 

• Develop and present clear, actionable insights and recommendations to senior leadership, connecting demand planning performance to broader business outcomes. 

 Process Optimization & Planning Capabilities 

• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to enhance forecasting methodologies, planning processes, data integrity, and cross-functional ways of working. 

• Identify opportunities to leverage planning technologies, advanced analytics, automation, and improved data integration to increase forecast accuracy and operational efficiency. 

• Establish scalable planning processes, governance, and best practices that support Kinder’s expanding product portfolio, customer base, and operational complexity. 

• Champion change management initiatives, helping stakeholders adopt new tools, processes, and planning disciplines that strengthen organizational capabilities. 

Leadership & Organizational Impact 

• Provide thought leadership and subject matter expertise across the demand planning function, elevating analytical capabilities and planning discipline. 

• Mentor and develop planning talent, fostering critical thinking, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement. 

• Lead complex, cross-functional initiatives that require balancing competing priorities, navigating ambiguity, and influencing outcomes without direct authority. 

• Demonstrate strong ownership, sound judgment, and a growth mindset while helping build a high-performing, future-ready planning organization. 

What You Bring to the Table

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Economics, Finance, or a related field. 

• 7+ years of progressive experience in demand planning, forecasting, or integrated business planning, preferably within food and beverage, consumer packaged goods (CPG), or a similarly complex manufacturing environment. 

• Demonstrated experience leading complex demand planning processes across multiple product categories, channels, or customer segments. 

• Strong understanding of S&OP, IBP, and S&OE processes, with proven ability to connect commercial demand with operational and financial planning. 

• Advanced analytical capabilities, including statistical forecasting, scenario modeling, demand variability analysis, and interpretation of POS and syndicated market data. 

• Experience with enterprise demand planning systems such as Anaplan, SAP IBP, or comparable platforms, along with strong proficiency in Excel and analytical reporting tools. 

• Proven track record of improving forecast accuracy, reducing forecast bias, optimizing planning processes, and delivering measurable business results. 

• Strong commercial and financial acumen, with the ability to evaluate the implications of demand decisions on inventory, service levels, revenue, and working capital. 

• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders, challenge assumptions, and drive alignment across cross-functional teams. 

• Experience leading process improvement initiatives, implementing planning enhancements, and supporting organizational change in a dynamic environment. 

• Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to translate complex data into clear insights and actionable recommendations for senior leadership. 

• Experience mentoring, coaching, or developing planning professionals, with the ability to elevate team capabilities and performance. 

Required Skills 

• Strategic & Analytical Thinking: Ability to connect complex demand trends, commercial strategies, and operational constraints to drive forward-looking business decisions. 

• Cross-Functional Influence: Strong relationship-building and communication skills, with the ability to challenge assumptions, facilitate alignment, and influence stakeholders at multiple organizational levels. 

• Advanced Forecasting & Planning: Deep understanding of statistical forecasting, demand modeling, planning technologies, and integrated business planning principles. 

• Business Acumen & Decision-Making: Ability to evaluate trade-offs, anticipate risks, and translate analytical insights into practical business recommendations. 

• Continuous Improvement & Change Leadership: Proven ability to identify opportunities, challenge existing processes, and implement scalable improvements in a high-growth environment. 

• Leadership & Accountability: Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, develop others, manage competing priorities, and drive measurable results with a strong sense of ownership. 

Location and Travel

The position will be based onsite in Walnut Creek, CA. We strongly believe in the power of culture and community and have a hybrid work structure with 4 days in the office on a weekly basis to encourage collaboration and personal connections that will allow us to better serve our customers and consumer and to have more fun. Fridays are flex days with employees having the opportunity to choose to be either in the office or to work from home based on what makes most sense for them. 

Pay Transparency

The expected starting salary range for this role is $160,000- $180,000 per year. The salary range posted for this role reflects the good-faith base pay range Kinder’s reasonably expects to offer at the time of posting and may vary based on the location of the role. Individual compensation within the posted range will be determined based on factors such as relevant education, experience, qualifications, skills, and business needs.