Senior Demand Planning Analyst

Most weeks tend to involve advanced model work, scenario analysis, planner support, and the steady cadence of analytical-development work — building or refining statistical and ML demand models, running what-if scenarios for product launches or promotions, supporting senior planners on complex forecasts, prepping analytical components of S&OP. You're often the analytical depth behind senior planner decisions. Model accuracy, scenario fidelity, and analytical reuse are the visible measures.

What surprises newer senior analysts is how often the statistical signal disagrees with the business narrative — promotional cannibalization, channel shifts, and macro effects hide in the data, and surfacing them requires the analyst to push back. Variance across employers is real: at large CPG firms the analytical infrastructure is mature; at smaller firms you may be building the analytical foundation yourself.

It fits people who are analytically rigorous, statistically grounded, and intellectually honest about model limits. APICS CPIM, IBF CPF, and senior analytics credentials anchor advancement. The trade-off is operating downstream of planner decisions — your analyses inform choices the planners execute and own the accountability for.