Demand and Supply Balancing Specialist

Job Description

HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT

Leads and oversees the Americas CST Supply Chain Management organization, ensuring seamless information flow between stakeholders and alignment with business objectives. Manages demand planning, supply allocation, inventory management, and logistics across regional distribution centers and markets.

Ensures seamless alignment between global plants, regions, and stakeholders while balancing strategic planning with day-to-day operational execution. Develops and executes long-term network and capacity strategies, including RDC sizing, transportation efficiency, and product launch readiness. Acts as the central coordination point for supply chain activities in the Americas, driving service excellence, cost efficiency, and proactive risk management to support both current business needs and long-term growth.

Demand Planning & Market Alignment

•  Lead short- and long-term demand planning for the Americas region, ensuring forecasts align with market needs and supply capabilities.
• Maintain and monitor forecasts in APO, comparing consensus plans against statistical models and adjusting as needed to challenge assumptions and improve forecast quality. 
• Coordinate with plants and stakeholders on product lifecycle management (phase-in/out, transfers).
• Launch Strategy & Operational Readiness: Lead end-to-end product launch planning, managing inventory, logistics, timelines, risks, and cross-departmental alignment.
• Operational readiness post-launch: Track sales demand, delivery times, and support Sales and Marketing for a successful launch.
• Proactively address backorders, supply shortages, and manufacturing constraints.

S&OP & Consensus Alignment

• Actively participate in regional and global S&OP processes to ensure demand and supply plans are balanced and realistic.
• Contribute to a collaborative, consensus-based demand plan integrating Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Supply Chain perspectives.
•  Establish procedures for cross-functional collaboration to enhance efficiency and alignment across departments.
• Ensure alignment outputs are systematically captured in APO and communicated to stakeholders.

Inventory Management & Replenishment

• Set, maintain, and regularly review target stock levels to ensure inventory aligns with business needs, market demand, and supply chain constraints.
•  Maintain & review confirmation reports, ensuring MPOP / MADA settings and priority frameworks are accurate and consistently applied.
• Monitor and control replenishment of products for all plants and imports into DCs, maximizing fill rates while minimizing backorders.
•  Manage inbound deliveries within RDC capacity limits and balance flows to optimize service.
• Oversee direct customer orders and shipments, ensuring on-time, in-full delivery.
• Collaborate with plants on mold/container requirements, market data setup, and other levers to optimize efficiency.
•  Utilize ERP, JDA, SCORE, WMS and other tools to manage stock, replenishment, and allocations across RDCs.
•  Identify supply chain risks (supplier, transport, geopolitical) and develop mitigation plans. Escalate supply shortages or manufacturing issues, providing alternative solutions when feasible.
• Track and coordinate excess or obsolete inventory, implementing strategies to reduce costs due to scrapping and optimize stock levels.

Logistics & Transportation Management

• Coordinate transportation planning across ocean, FTL, LTL, and small parcel flows, ensuring cost-efficient and reliable delivery.
• Maximize container and truck utilization by aligning with all stakeholders about customer order sizes with FTL/container load efficiencies.
• Monitor supplier performance to ensure adherence to quality and delivery standards. Identify and support qualification of new suppliers in collaboration with procurement, logistics and other teams.
• Develop strategies to reduce transportation costs while maintaining service levels. coordinate transportation using TMS (Transportation Management Systems) and shipment tracking tools to optimize cost and service levels.

RDC Operations & Network Optimization

•  Support operations of Americas RDCs, ensuring stock availability and operational efficiency.
•  Develop contingency and business continuity plans for RDCs and transportation disruptions.
• Align replenishment priorities across markets and coordinate shared RDC capacity with CST and other business units.
•  Develop long-term volume allocation and RDC sizing strategies in line with growth and network needs (next year / 5-year planning).

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Team Leadership

• Partner with Sales, Production, Finance, Procurement and other stakeholders to align supply chain activities with business priorities.
• Communicate priorities clearly in case of shortages or constraints.
• Lead, mentor, and develop team members, ensuring skill growth, accountability, and high performance in a small-team environment.
• Serve as the escalation point for operational or cross-functional issues.
• Use ERP and reporting tools (SAP, Excel, BI dashboards) to communicate performance metrics, KPIs, and alignment outputs to stakeholders.

Strategic Planning, Special Projects & Continuous Improvement

• Contribute to annual budget and 5-year strategic planning by modeling production, storage, and logistics capacities.
• Lead or support special projects and regional supply chain initiatives that enhance efficiency, service, or cost competitiveness.
• Provide input to corporate network design and long-term supply chain strategy.
• Define and track supply chain KPIs, including fill rates, coverage, FC accuracy, costs, inventory turns, UERs, order handling, and service levels, to drive continuous improvement.

Qualifications

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE ROLE

• Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain, Business Administration, or related field.
• 5+ years of related supply chain experience
• Advanced skills in evaluating complex numerical data, forecasting demand, and making sound, data-driven decisions.
• Deep knowledge of demand planning, inventory management, replenishment, and end-to-end supply planning execution.
• Skilled in SAP, Excel, and Power BI
• Ability to generate clear insights and executive-level presentations.
• Ability to anticipate future trends, manage competing priorities under pressure, and develop proactive strategies.
• Experienced in partnering across functions to address operational challenges, improve efficiency, and support strategic initiatives.
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. is required. Continental is only able to offer visa support for internals individuals who currently hold an existing valid employment visa.
• Can offer relocation if needed

ADDITIONAL WAYS TO STAND OUT

• Foreign language skills 
• 7+ years of supply chain experience
• Proven ability to lead, mentor, and develop teams while influencing stakeholders and driving cross-functional alignment.

Additional Information

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

EEO-Statement:

EEO / Disabled / Protected Veteran Employer. Continental offers equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals, without regard to unlawful consideration to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law. In addition, as a federal contractor, Continental complies with government regulations, including affirmative action responsibilities for qualified individuals with a disability and protected veterans, where they apply. To be considered, you must apply for a specific position for which Continental has a current posted job opening. Qualifying applications will be considered only for the specific opening(s) to which you apply. If you would like to be considered for additional or future job openings, we encourage you to reapply for other opportunities as they become available. Further, Continental provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with a disability. If you need assistance in the application process, please reply to [email protected] or contact US Recruiting at 800-821-2727. This telephone line and email address are reserved solely for job seekers with disabilities requesting accessibility assistance or an accommodation in the job application process. Please do not call about the status of your job application, if you do not require accessibility assistance or an accommodation. Messages left for other purposes, such as following up on an application or non-disability related technical issues, will not receive a call back.

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