Senior IT Product Manager (Demand Planning)

Job Title: Senior IT Product Manager Demand Planning

Location: Chicago, IL or Battle Creek, MI

Duration: Long term contract

Job Description:

• Define demand planning technology strategy Partner with global business leaders and cross-functional stakeholders to assess current-state capabilities, identify gaps, and develop the business case, roadmap, and investment plan for the global demand planning platform strategy.
• Own the product roadmap and backlog Maintain a prioritized, outcome-driven roadmap and backlog for the demand planning platform(s). Write clear requirements and acceptance criteria, lead agile ceremonies, and make trade-off decisions that balance business value, technical debt, and delivery capacity.
• Deliver demand planning technology projects Execute the North American demand planning platform roadmap by leading project teams through design, configuration, integration, testing, and deployment driving successful, on-time delivery of new capabilities.
• Manage the platform lifecycle Own the demand planning platform(s) from an IT product perspective, including release and upgrade planning, environment and data governance, support models, and active management and optimization of total cost of ownership as the platform evolves.
• Enable forecasting excellence Work with demand planning and analytics teams to operationalize statistical and machine learning forecasting models, hierarchical forecast reconciliation, demand sensing, and exception-based planning workflows that measurably improve forecast accuracy and reduce planner effort.
• Ensure data quality and integration Oversee the data foundation for demand planning master data hierarchies, shipment and consumption history, syndicated and point-of-sale data, promotional and event data and the integrations that connect planning platforms to ERP, data warehouse, and downstream supply systems.
• Manage vendors and support partners Own or influence relationships with key software vendors, represent Mars Snacking on customer advisory boards, and shape vendor product roadmaps. Partner with the Mars Snacking support organization to transition new products and services, define SLAs, and drive continuous improvement.
• Build and share expertise Develop deep expertise in demand planning systems and processes both inside and outside Mars Snacking, and serve as a trusted advisor who can articulate a compelling point of view to senior business leadership.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Experience and Education

• High school diploma or GED, plus extensive directly related professional experience.
• Demonstrated experience delivering and supporting enterprise demand planning and forecasting technology, including at least one full implementation or major upgrade taken from design through go-live and hypercare.
• Prior ownership of a demand planning or forecasting capability, product line, or business process.

Demand Planning Platforms and Technology

• Hands-on experience with enterprise demand planning platforms. SAS Viya is strongly preferred, as it is our core platform; substantive experience with comparable solutions such as SAS Visual Forecasting, SAS Intelligent Planning, SAP IBP, Kinaxis, o9 Solutions, Blue Yonder (JDA), Logility, or OMP will also be considered.
• Working knowledge of the SAS ecosystem for example SAS Viya administration concepts, forecasting pipelines and model repositories, SAS Visual Analytics reporting, and the SAS 9 to Viya modernization path.
• Practical understanding of forecasting methods and how they are configured in a planning system, including time series models, causal and machine learning approaches, demand sensing, hierarchical forecasting and reconciliation, and model selection and champion/challenger evaluation.
• Fluency with forecast performance measurement and its drivers, including MAPE, WMAPE, bias, and forecast value add, and the ability to tie platform capabilities to measurable accuracy improvement.
• Solid grounding in the data that feeds demand planning: master data and product, customer, and location hierarchies; shipment, order, and consumption history; syndicated and point-of-sale data; and promotional, pricing, and new product introduction inputs.
• Experience with enterprise integration between planning platforms and ERP, data warehouse, and cloud data environments, including batch and API-based interfaces and job scheduling.

Planning Process and Business Acumen

• Working knowledge of the monthly IBP and S&OP cycle and how demand review, consensus forecasting, new product introduction, and promotional planning translate into system requirements.
• Ability to engage senior business leaders, build credibility quickly, and deliver a clear and compelling point of view.
• Experience managing a product line and clearly articulating total cost of ownership, benefits realization, and investment trade-offs to leadership.

Delivery and Leadership

• Strong background across the systems and software development lifecycle, including agile and hybrid delivery models.
• Strong analytical, project management, and team leadership skills, with a track record of leading matrixed teams and third-party partners.
• Ability to identify, prioritize, and effectively resolve complex issues under time pressure.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate technical concepts for business audiences and business needs for technical teams.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor s or Master s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Supply Chain Management, Analytics, Statistics, Engineering, or a related field.
• SAS Certified Specialist: Forecasting and Optimization Using SAS Viya (exam A00-407), or an equivalent SAS Viya credential.
• Professional forecasting or supply chain certification, such as IBF Certified Professional Forecaster (CPF/ACPF) or ASCM/APICS CPIM or CSCP.
• Certified Scrum Product Owner, SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager, or PMP certification.
• Experience in consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, or another global manufacturing environment with complex multi-tier distribution.
• Experience with cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud Platform), containerized deployments, and modern data platforms supporting analytics workloads.
• Working knowledge of demand planning adjacent capabilities such as supply planning, inventory optimization, trade promotion management, and scenario and what-if modeling.

Foundational knowledge of data classification and data privacy, including regulatory bodies and compliance requirements across global markets.

Thanks & Regards

Saravanan

DMinds Solutions Inc.