Manager - Demand Planning

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.

About the Team

The Demand planning team is responsible for the development and execution of strategic inventory objectives required to meet in-stock goals to support various promotional and merchandising programs and allocates resources to ensure timely and accurate execution of all inventory plans for assigned product categories.

Job Summary:

The Manager Demand planning maintains overall responsibility for the development and execution of strategic inventory objectives required to meet in-stock goals to support various promotional and merchandising programs.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Core Responsibilities:

• Participate in the development, planning, and execution of marketing strategies for the categories under your responsibility
• Lead the Supply Chain team in order to attain the strategic goals within the company and area
• Manage and develop the direct report (Analyst, Supply Chain); ensure that they not only understand their job, but also become an effective member of the team
• Create an annual inventory budget by product group and location (comp sales, stores, distribution centres) that accurately reflects the store growth, distribution growth, and sales and sourcing initiatives planned for the upcoming year, in addition to meeting corporate turn objectives.
• Manage inventory flow, builds, and exits to ensure that inventory turn budgets are met or exceeded while consistently supporting stores and customers (in-stock, sales, and space availability requirements)
• Accurately reforecast inventory levels monthly based on sales and margin trends, current or upcoming promotional activity, new store opening date changes, significant channel changes, and reset/wedge activities; proactively identify budget variances, predict and communicate risks/impacts, and recommend actions that will minimize markdown activity
• Drive improvement in inventory leverage year over year, while appropriately supporting sales by executing strategic down-stocking initiatives and/or coordinating logistics flow improvements that result in decreased inventory carrying requirements
• Create, document, pilot, and coordinate with stores the execution of all inventory flow plans associated with merchandising, store operations, and off-shelf initiatives; initiatives can include, but are not limited to: store resets, SKU wedge changes, major seasonal entries and exits, distribution centre openings and expansions, new stores openings, end-cap change overs, flyer activity, and other major promotion or sales events
• Lead, support, coordinate, and prioritize the activities of all Supply Chain team members associated with a merchandising division (Planner, Demand; Analyst, Inventory Fulfillment; Analyst, Supply Chain) to ensure successful product flow, inventory leverage, and in-stock expectations for ongoing or major sales initiatives
• Develop and mentor the extended Supply Chain team when necessary
• Identify and lead cross-functional process improvements within the Supply Chain function
• Advise stores and business areas of inventory interruptions and substitutions to best minimize customer impact
• Maintain professional and productive relationships with suppliers to ensure awareness of inventory flow changes, inventory opportunities, and improved collaboration within the Supply Chain function
• Report on the state of the category as directed to the Director, Supply Chain and Vice-President, Supply Chain using financial analysis and any necessary documentation

Years of Experience:

• Overall 8+ years of Experience
• 6+ years of experience in Supply chain Management, Demand Planning & Inventory Management
• 4+ years’ experience of project management
• 3+ years of prior leadership experience

Education Qualification & Certifications (optional)

Required Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Operations Research or Related Field
• MBA or Masters Degree in Supply Chain

Primary Skills (must have)

• Experience in or knowledge of Supply Chain Planning and Optimization
• Familiar with Inventory Management, Planning, Forecasting, and Transportation processes and systems
• Working knowledge of Merchandising decision-making tools for Suppliers, Items and Sourcing to include Financial determinations
• Experience in Data mining and visualization tool such as PowerBI, SQL, MS Access, and Excel
• Excellent writing and communication skills, including the ability to develop analytical documents for presentation to management
• Experience in leading teams with global operating model to effectively deliver on strategies
• Problem Solving – ability to leverage data, information, and visuals to solve business and execution strategic, critical, and thought leader to develop roadmap for assigned business and deliver results

Secondary Skills (desired)

• Experience with JDA Fulfillment, Demand and Allocation.
• Spoken and written knowledge of French

Lowe’s is an equal opportunity employer and administers all personnel practices without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, gender, age, 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 state or local law. Lowe’s wishes to maintain appropriate standards and integrity in meeting the requirements of the Information Technology Act’s privacy provisions.