Who You Are:
You are a strategic, hands-on planning leader with deep experience in demand, supply, and materials planning within a fast-growth CPG environment. You have built or scaled a planning organization before and are equally comfortable developing long-term planning strategies and rolling up your sleeves to solve daily operational challenges. You bring strong analytical capability, financial acumen, and process excellence, paired with the agility and resourcefulness required in a small, rapidly evolving business. Above all, you are a builder—of systems, processes, talent, and the future-state planning capability of the organization.
The Task At Hand:
The Director of Planning leads all demand, supply, and materials planning for a fast-growing company, building the processes, systems, and team capabilities required to support scale and operational excellence. This role owns the end-to-end planning cycle, integrating forecasts, production plans, material readiness, contracts, and supplier-managed inventory programs to ensure service, cost, and inventory targets are met. The Director drives cross-functional alignments across Sales, Marketing, Operations, Procurement, R&D, and Finance while overseeing a dynamic co-manufacturing and supplier network. In addition to managing daily execution, this leader builds scalable tools and processes, develops talent, leads risk and scenario planning, and shapes the long-range capacity and network strategy needed to support innovation and sustained growth.
In this role you will:
Leadership & Organizational Development
Build, develop, and inspire a high-performing, end-to-end planning organization across Demand, Supply, and Materials Planning, setting clear expectations, cultivating accountability, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Provide strategic direction, coaching, and structured career development to planners and planning leaders, ensuring the team has the skills, tools, and support needed to scale with the business.
Create a culture of analytical excellence, proactive problem-solving, and cross-functional partnership, enabling the team to influence decisions across Commercial, Operations, Finance, Procurement, and Executive Leadership.
Drive talent capability building in forecasting, scenario planning, analytics, communication, and integrated planning processes to support both short-term performance and long-term organizational growth.
Integrated Planning and Systems (S&OP/IBP)
Support an S&OP/IBP process that improves cross-functional alignment and drives clearer decision-making in a rapidly changing environment.
Connect demand and supply plans to provide predictable, reliable signals for operations and commercial teams.
Lead the rollout and evolution of planning tools and systems, balancing the need for better analytics with the realities of a small, fast-moving team.
Demand Planning
Build scalable forecasting capabilities—including statistical tools, AI/ML, and structured cross-functional inputs—to enhance demand signal reliability across channels and customers.
Drive continuous improvement in forecast accuracy through disciplined review cycles, root-cause analysis, and effective collaboration with Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Commercial partners.
Own the demand planning pillar of the S&OP/IBP process, ensuring transparency, actionable scenarios, and clear recommendations for executive decision-making.
Supply Planning
Execute a scalable supply plan that balances service, cost, inventory, and capacity across a fast-growing, multi-node co-manufacturing network.
Implement robust capacity planning, scenario modeling, and constraint-based planning tools to guide short-, mid-, and long-range decisions.
Partner with Operations, Procurement, and Commercialization to anticipate constraints, mitigate supply risks, and ensure production plans are fully aligned with demand priorities, innovation timelines, and network capabilities.
Communicate supply risks, trade-offs, and service implications clearly and proactively to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
Lead continuous improvement efforts to enhance responsiveness, reduce lead times, and improve throughput across the supply network.
Collaborate with external network partners, including co-mans, logistics providers, and suppliers, to support reliability improvements, capacity expansion, and long-range network planning.
Materials Planning
Oversee material contracts and coverage, ensuring adequate supply levels and strong alignment with Procurement on new contracts, and supplier performance.
Manage VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) suppliers, ensuring replenishment of reliability, inventory accuracy, and adherence to service and quality standards.
Establish scalable processes that provide end-to-end visibility across raw materials, packaging, components, and all supplier-managed inventory programs.
Lead material risk management by proactively identifying shortages, supplier constraints, lead-time shifts, and cost exposures, while developing mitigation plans and communication protocols.
Partner closely with Procurement and R&D to support commercialization timelines, supplier readiness, and material availability for new product launches and innovation projects.
Ensure material availability and readiness to support ongoing production plans and service-level commitments across the network.
Own safety stock strategy, inventory optimization, and slow-moving/obsolescence management in a cost-conscious environment.
In This Role, You’ll Bring with You:
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Operations, Supply Chain Management, or a related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
7+ years of progressive experience in supply chain planning, including 5+ years in leadership roles and direct oversight of demand planning.
Proven ability to operate in a small or mid-sized, fast-growth environment, ideally within a company transitioning to or operating under public-company standards.
Strong expertise in S&OP/IBP, forecasting methodologies, capacity planning, and inventory optimization.
Experience managing co-manufacturers, third-party suppliers, and multi-node supply networks.
Demonstrated success building or scaling planning organizations, including establishing standards, structure, and integrated planning processes.
Track record of owning end-to-end planning processes with measurable outcomes such as improved forecast accuracy, inventory health, service levels, or cost optimization.
Up to 10% of travel required for team-on-sites, supplier visits, and company-wide gatherings.
Passion for purpose-driven work, especially improving childhood nutrition and contributing to a healthier planet.
Must reside in the United States; visa sponsorship not available.
Must be 18 years or older at the time of application.
Compensation:
Full-Time, Salaried, Exempt
The anticipated salary range for this position is $150,000.00 to $200,000.00. The actual salary offer will carefully consider a few factors, including skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Certain positions are eligible for additional forms of compensation, such as bonuses, stipends, equity, and role-specific perks.
Additional:
Remote-first work environment
Annual Bonus
401(k) program + 4% company match after three months
New Hire Remote Life Stipend + annual Nourish and Nurture Allowance
Monthly Cell and Internet Stipend
Quarterly Farm-to-Fridge home deliveries and Employee Discounts
New Parents: Up to 18 weeks of paid Parental Leave, Baby Steps Back To Work, 3 months’ supply of Once Upon a Farm products, and breast milk shipping service
Unlimited Paid Time Off
Medical Insurance for the employee is covered at 100% on select plans, with additional plan options at a reduced cost to the employee
Vision and Dental Insurance are covered at 100% for the employee and dependents
Flexible spending account and Health Savings Accounts for applicable plans
Employee assistance program (EAP)
