Senior Manager, Demand Planning

Job description

At Saputo, we bring good to the table by making high-quality products, investing in our people, and supporting communities around the world . As a top 10 global dairy processor, we value contributions that matter and strive to foster an inclusive, growth-driven work environment. Ready to bring your best? Overview of the Role The Senior Manager, Demand Planning, will lead the demand planning function for the Canadian Division, ensuring the organization can anticipate and respond to changing market dynamics. This role shapes an accurate and responsive demand plan that balances customer needs, commercial opportunities, operational constraints, and financial commitments. Through close partnership with Sales, Operations, Finance, and Supply Planning, the successful candidate will drive cross-functional alignment, enhance forecast accuracy, and support informed business decisions that maximize service levels while minimizing inventory risk and obsolescence. The ideal candidate is a proactive and influential leader who thrives in complex environments, demonstrates resilience in the face of challenges, and continuously seeks opportunities to strengthen processes, capabilities, and business outcomes. Their ability to translate insights into action and lead through change will be instrumental to the success of both the team and the broader organization. The role offers direct exposure to senior leaders, ownership of a critical planning function, and the opportunity to modernize forecasting, IBP governance, and digital planning capabilities in a complex, fast-moving business. How you will make contributions that matter: Develop a high-performing team through coaching, talent management, succession planning, and capability building. Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement. Lead the end-to-end demand planning process, ensuring robust forecasting governance, disciplined operating rhythms, and a single, aligned view of demand. Drive continuous improvements in forecast accuracy, bias reduction, and decision-making effectiveness. Strengthen reporting and root-cause analysis capabilities, and leverage advanced analytics to improve forecasting insights, identify trends, and support proactive business decisions. Partner closely with Sales, Marketing, Finance and Supply Planning to integrate market insights into demand plans, annual operating plans and longer-term demand outlooks. Facilitate alignment on risks, opportunities, assumptions, and gap mitigation strategies to support business objectives. Integrate promotional activities, customer initiatives, innovation launches, market intelligence, and external demand signals into planning processes. Develop scenarios and mitigation plans to manage uncertainty and support profitable growth. Lead the monthly Demand Review process within the IBP framework, facilitating executive discussions, driving decision-making, and ensuring alignment on volume, assumptions, risks, and opportunities to ensure organization wide alignment Ensure demand plans are aligned with financial commitments and strategic priorities. Partner with Finance and Commercial teams to evaluate the impact of demand decisions on revenue, inventory, logistics, and operational costs. Lead the adoption of best practices and digital planning capabilities such as advanced analytics and AI-enabled forecasting. You are best suited for the role if you have the following qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, supply chain management, economics, or a related field, or equivalent work experience required. Master’s degree is considered an asset. 5+ years of experience in demand planning, S&OP, IBP or operations planning, preferably within CPG, food manufacturing or dairy, with demonstrated career progression through increasing scope, accountability, or leadership responsibility. Proven experience leading teams and influencing cross-functional stakeholders in a complex manufacturing or multi-site environment. Demonstrated ability to work effectively with senior leaders, Sales, Finance, and Integrated Business Planning. Strong business acumen, with the ability to connect planning decisions to operational performance, customer impact, cost, inventory, and service outcomes. Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information and recommend clear actions. Experience with advanced planning systems (SAP APO, Kinaxis, etc) is an asset. Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and Power BI. Bilingualism in French and English is considered an asset. We support and take care of our employees and their families by offering: Vacation upon hire Generous and complete benefit coverage with group insurance Group retirement plan with employer contribution Telemedicine and assistance program for employees and their families Employee Share Ownership Plan with an employer match Paid Parental Leave program Paid time off: Sick days, floater days and volunteer day off Opportunity to contribute to a collective RRSP & TFSA Training and development programs Saputo Flex Program, flexible work environment (schedule/location/time off) according to department needs Organized activities for employees and their families Advantageous discounts on Saputo products Schedule: Monday to Friday, with flexibility to work remotely one day per week based on operational needs. Occasional work outside regular business hours may be required. Salary: $106,870 to $140,270 *Salary offers will vary commensurate with experience, education, skills, and training. All applications are carefully considered by our Talent Acquisition team. Artificial Intelligence tools may be used in screening applications. Artificial Intelligence is not used to assess or select applications. In Canada, Saputo is a leading cheese manufacturer and fluid milk and cream processor, with a portfolio of well-loved brands such as Dairyland, Armstrong, Neilson, Alexis de Portneuf, and many more. Whether your expertise lies in manufacturing, operations, supply chain management, sales, quality assurance, or in any other function, your role is integral to our success. You will make contributions that matter, all while working alongside colleagues who genuinely care about your success and who will roll up their sleeves to help. The material contained herein is provided for informational purposes only. All open jobs offered by Saputo Inc. and all companies, corporations, partnerships, limited partnerships and other entities controlled by Saputo Inc. (collectively, “Saputo”) on Saputo's web site are subject to specific job skill requirements. The job skill requirements, qualifications, and preferred experience are determined by a Saputo subsidiary, office or department, and all positions are subject to local prevailing employment laws and restrictions. This would include immigration laws pertaining to work authorization requirements and any other applicable government permissions or compliance. The materials on this site are provided without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to warranties regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information contained on this site or in any referenced links. While Saputo attempts to update this site on a timely basis, the information is effective only as of the time and date of posting. 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