Posted: 21-Jan-26
Location: South Holland, Illinois
Type: Full Time
Salary: $140,000 to $160,000
Categories:
Salary Details:
Additional Information:
Internal Number: 2006
Position Description:
The Director of S&OP is a transformational planning leader responsible for elevating the company’s Demand Planning maturity, capacity management, finite scheduling, inventory strategy, and customer fulfillment. This role owns the end-to-end IBP/S&OP process, including the consensus Demand Plan and the Supply & Capacity elements, partnering closely with Operations and Sales to drive alignment on production priorities and service expectations.
The Director leads a team responsible for customer order management and plant-level finite scheduling, and is accountable for key enterprise outcomes including OTIF performance, inventory availability, capacity utilization, and production schedule stability. They will also play a central leadership role in the company’s upcoming ERP transformation and the development of AI-enabled scheduling and capacity optimization tools.
Primary Responsibilities:
Own and Transform the Integrated IBP/S&OP Process (Demand & Supply)
- Own the entire Demand Planning cycle, including statistical forecasting, forecast review, and finalization of the consensus forecast.
- Lead the monthly Demand Review process, partnering directly with Sales, Marketing, and Finance to validate commercial plans and incorporate market intelligence and customer insights.
- Elevate the quality, repeatability, and strategic value of supply planning and capacity review processes.
- Strengthen cross-functional alignment and visibility into supply risks, inventory drivers, and production constraints.
Own Capacity Planning Across Two Shared-Capability Facilities
- Act as the final owner of the capacity model, recommending staffing adjustments, overtime needs, and mix/changeover strategies.
- Ensure feasible, reliable, and efficient production plans that support customer and inventory commitments.
Lead Finite Scheduling & Drive AI-Enabled Optimization
- Oversee plant scheduling execution while redesigning the scheduling process using advanced analytics and AI.
- Reduce changeovers, increase throughput, stabilize production, and integrate new scheduling capabilities into future systems.
Oversee Customer Service & Fulfillment Performance
- Lead Customer Service representatives, strengthen customer order management processes, and serve as the top escalation point.
- Drive continuous improvement with OTIF as the primary KPI.
Redesign Inventory & Safety Stock Strategy
- Own both the logic and execution of safety stock policies.
- Improve OTIF and reduce carrying costs while using inventory strategically to smooth production volatility.
Lead Through Change
- Serve as a key leader in the ERP transition, ensuring planning excellence is embedded in future-state technology and workflows.
- Bring a mindset of curiosity, analytics, and continuous improvement to transform planning systems and culture.
- Perform other duties as assigned
Supervisory Responsibilities:
- Oversee, direct, and support Customer Service and Scheduling teams.
Requirements:
- 10 years’ experience in supply planning, operations planning, or IBP/S&OP leadership.
- Strong experience in capacity modeling, production planning, and finite scheduling.
- Proven ability to lead transformative change, including system implementations and process redesign.
- High analytical capability with advanced Excel/Power BI skills; openness to AI/ML tools.
- Experience in food manufacturing or a similar high-complexity environment preferred.
- Strong leadership presence with the ability to influence cross-functionally and develop high-performing teams.
Competencies:
- Communication: The ability to give and gather information and actively manage the communication process by asking questions, conveying complex information in plain language, listening and considering others’ views, state own views clearly and concisely, and address conflict in a professional and productive manner.
- Detail Oriented: Thoroughness in accomplishing a task through concern for all the areas involved no matter how small; monitors and checks work or information; and plans and organizes time and resources efficiently.
- Time Management: Able to make the most effective use of one’s own time and that of others; gets the job done without procrastinating or delaying; is constantly aware of what is the best use of time.
- Results Orientation: The ability to focus on the desired result of one’s own or one’s unit’s work, setting challenging goals, focusing effort on the goals, and meeting or exceeding them.
- Project Management: Able to initiate, plan, execute, control, and close the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria.