Inventory Planner

What the role involves

• Maintain demand forecasts and translate them into replenishment plans
• Set and review safety stock, reorder points and order quantities
• Monitor availability, inventory turns and working capital against target
• Balance availability against excess and obsolescence risk
• Run the monthly planning cycle with sales, production and supply

Core skills

• Demand Forecasting (level 4/5)
• Inventory Management (Safety Stock, Reorder Point) (level 4/5)
• ERP Systems (SAP, NetSuite) (level 4/5)
• Spreadsheet & Modelling (level 4/5)
• Data Analysis & Reporting (level 3/5)
• Cross-Functional Coordination (level 3/5)

Preferred skills

• Supply Chain Planning (S&OP)
• Statistics & Forecasting
• SQL & Database Design

Tools

Experience expected

1-4 years in demand or supply planning

Projects that prove the role

• Forecast improvement reducing expediting costs on a key line
• Working capital reduction through better safety stock parameters
• Planning cycle that improved forecast accuracy team-wide

Evidence to collect

• A forecast accuracy improvement with the method explained
• An inventory report showing turns before and after
• A planning process document you wrote

What the interview covers

• Choosing a reorder point under uncertain demand
• A forecast that kept being wrong and what you changed
• The trade-off between service level and working capital
• Working with sales to change a forecast you believe is right

How the role progresses

• Inventory Coordinator
• Inventory Planner
• Senior Planner
• Planning Manager
• Head of Planning

Certifications that carry weight

• APICS Certified in Production and Inventory Management (CPIM)
• APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP)

Related roles

• supply-chain-manager
• procurement-specialist
• logistics-coordinator

Turn this into a plan

Inside CareerDev4AI, choosing this role generates a roadmap of the skills, projects and milestones that move you towards it.