Director Sales Operations Planning 5627

Our client is seeking a Director of Sales & Operations Planning to lead enterprise planning processes that align customer demand, manufacturing capacity, inventory, supply, and financial objectives. This individual will play a pivotal role in driving cross-functional decision-making, balancing supply and demand, managing operational risks, and ensuring alignment between business strategy and execution.

Working within a regulated manufacturing environment, the Director will partner closely with leaders across Commercial, Finance, Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, Procurement, and Supply Chain to provide visibility into business performance, facilitate executive planning discussions, and support informed decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee the organization’s Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) and Sales & Operations Execution (S&OE) processes.
• Facilitate recurring demand, supply, reconciliation, and executive planning reviews to ensure alignment across functions.
• Consolidate and analyze business inputs to identify supply constraints, demand changes, inventory risks, and operational opportunities.
• Drive consensus among stakeholders on key planning decisions, priorities, and trade-offs.
• Develop scenario analyses and contingency plans to support decision-making in constrained or rapidly changing environments.
• Align operational plans with financial objectives and communicate the business impact of planning decisions.
• Partner with senior leadership to escalate risks, remove roadblocks, and ensure execution against agreed-upon plans.
• Prepare and present planning recommendations, performance metrics, and risk assessments to executive stakeholders.
• Establish and monitor key planning metrics and lead continuous improvement initiatives that enhance planning effectiveness, decision quality, and business outcomes.
• Foster collaboration across commercial, operational, and support functions to ensure organizational alignment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Operations, Engineering, Life Sciences, or a related field required;
  MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in supply chain, demand planning, production planning, inventory management, operations planning, or integrated business planning.
• 5+ years leading or heavily influencing S&OP, S&OE, Integrated Business Planning (IBP), or similar cross-functional planning processes.
• Strong understanding of demand planning, supply planning, inventory management, capacity planning, forecasting, and financial alignment.
• Experience operating within a regulated manufacturing environment such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, or other highly regulated industries preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to partner with executive leadership and influence decision-making across multiple business functions.
• Experience using ERP, planning, analytics, and business intelligence tools to support forecasting, scenario planning, performance measurement, and executive reporting.
• Familiarity with Lean, Six Sigma, continuous improvement methodologies, or related operational excellence practices.
• APICS/ASCM certifications (CPIM, CSCP) and/or PMP certification are a plus.
• Strong communication, facilitation, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex business challenges into actionable recommendations.

Tagged as: Forecasting, Project Management