IND_Sr Demand Planner

About Lowe’s

Lowe’s is a FORTUNE® 100 home improvement company serving approximately 16 million customer transactions a week in the United States. With total fiscal year 2024 sales of more than $83 billion, Lowe’s operates over 1,700 home improvement stores and employs approximately 300,000 associates. Based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe’s supports the communities it serves through programs focused on creating safe, affordable housing, improving community spaces, helping to develop the next generation of skilled trade experts and providing disaster relief to communities in need. For more information, visit Lowes.com.

Lowe’s India, the Global Capability Center of Lowe’s Companies Inc., is a hub for driving our technology, business, analytics, and shared services strategy. Based in Bengaluru with over 4,500 associates, it powers innovations across omnichannel retail, AI/ML, enterprise architecture, supply chain, and customer experience. From supporting and launching homegrown solutions to fostering innovation through its Catalyze platform, Lowe’s India plays a pivotal role in transforming home improvement retail while upholding strong commitment to social impact and sustainability. For more information, visit Lowes India

About the Team

Demand planning, also known as inventory or merchandise planning and forecasting, is the process of calculating customer interest in order to understand the right quantity and types of goods to purchase, at the right time for the right place. Accurate planning can improve profitability and scale your business.

Job Summary:

Sr. Demand Planner is responsible for managing item national and store level forecasts for a group of product categories, promotional planning, seasonal profiling, and cross-functional collaboration to optimize inventory and sales performance. Incorporating business intelligence, historical performance, and insights gathered from merchants, suppliers, marketing, planning & replenishment, and other sources into the demand forecast. Sr. Demand Planner is responsible for achieving desired KPIs – forecast accuracy and bias metrics, supporting sales and profit goals while achieving inventory productivity and in-stock goals. Additionally identify areas of opportunity and drive projects within the scope.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Core Responsibilities:

• Responsible for maintaining the highest degree of forecast at item and stores level based on industry trends and demand patterns for the Sub division owned
• Conduct forecast review and analysis to assess demand trends, measure forecast accuracy, and recommend data-driven adjustments.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support product lifecycle milestones, ensuring accurate demand planning for new items.
• Propose and implement changes to improve demand forecast accuracy
• Develop and execute promotional forecasting strategies, analyze promo lift impacts, and conduct post-mortem assessments to improve future promotional effectiveness.
• Lead meetings to share insights covering KPIs, root cause analysis and action plan, gather market insights, and translating market insights into actionable forecast adjustments
• Maintain seasonal demand profiles to anticipate shifts in customer purchasing behavior, ensuring appropriate inventory levels throughout the year.
• Maintains recognition as a thought leader, serving as the primary resource for knowledge of Demand Planning and the technical capabilities of tools
• Track and report on significant changes in sales forecasts, budgets, and business strategies to drive informed decision-making.
• Lead Monthly forecast review meetings to align forecasts with business objectives and market trends
• Address demand-related issues promptly and effectively to minimize disruptions.
• Build strong partnerships with SSCM Demand Planners and Inventory Replenishment teams (SSCM & SSCB) to drive seamless operations
• Identify opportunities for process enhancement, leveraging new tools and technologies to improve efficiency.

Years of Experience:

Overall 4+ years of Experience

• 4 years of experience in Supply chain Management or Inventory Management
• 3+ years’ experience demand planning
• 2+ years’ experience reporting and data analytics

Education Qualification & Certifications (optional)

Required Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Supply Chain Management, Operations Research or Related Field
• MBA or master's degree in supply chain or operations management

Skill Set Required

Primary Skills (must have)

• Experience in demand planning, forecasting, or supply chain management.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and drive insights, strategic decision-making
• High level of expertise in forecasting tools and inventory management systems
• Ability to collaborate cross-functionally with merchandising, supply chain, and operations teams.
• Experienced in any of the planning tools such as SAP APO, o9, JDA, Oracle Demantra etc.
• Experience in or knowledge of Demand Planning, Financial Forecasting with use of modeling and simulation tools
• Excellent writing and communication skills, including the ability to develop analytical documents for presentation to management
• Ability to manage and manipulate large data sets for use in analytical tools
• Excellent problem-solving and time management skills
• Experience in Data mining and visualization tool such as Power BI, SQL, MS Access and Excel
• Understands the Inventory replenishment process

Secondary Skills (desired)

• Experienced in Python and R
• Experience with JDA Fulfillment and Allocation
• Experience of retail industry

Lowe's is an equal opportunity employer and administers all personnel practices without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, gender, age, ancestry, national origin, mental or physical disability or medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other category protected under federal, state, or local law.