Demand Planner

LearnTastic is a fast-growing online education platform providing accredited continuing-education and compliance courses for professionals across industries—from healthcare and construction to HR and education. With more than 1,000 courses and over a million learners served, LearnTastic is redefining accessible, self-paced learning. Our mission is to make professional development simple, engaging, and impactful—anytime, anywhere. We're looking for a Demand Planner to join our team. Key Responsibilities: Forecasting & Demand Management Develop, maintain, and improve short-, medium-, and long-term demand forecasts for thermoformed and extruded products using historical data, customer inputs, industry trends, and analytical tools. Monitor forecast accuracy (MAPE, Bias, etc.) and implement corrective actions to improve performance. Identify demand risks, surges, shifts in customer ordering behavior, and communicate impacts to operations and leadership. Support pricing evaluations and new product introductions by estimating volume, capacity requirements, and demand variability. Cross-Functional Collaboration Serve as the primary liaison between Sales, Customer Service, Production Scheduling, and Operations to ensure alignment between demand and supply. Participate in weekly and monthly S&OP meetings by presenting forecast updates, key variances, and recommendations. Work closely with Extrusion and Thermoforming teams to understand production capabilities, resin usage, machine constraints, and lead time requirements. Partner with Purchasing to plan raw material needs—especially resin and packaging materials—based on forecast and production plans. Production & Capacity Alignment Translate demand forecasts into capacity requirements across multiple facilities and production lines. Coordinate with Production Planners and Plant Managers to balance loads, minimize changeovers, and optimize machine utilization. Support decisions on make-to-stock vs. make-to-order strategies, safety stock calculations, and inventory targets. Monitor facility-specific constraints and recommend proactive adjustments during peak seasons, customer onboarding, or production shifts. Data Analysis & Reporting Analyze sales patterns, customer performance, and order history to identify opportunities for improvement. Generate and maintain KPI dashboards for forecast accuracy, inventory health, service levels, and production capacity. Provide data-driven insights to leadership to support strategic and operational decisions. Continuous Improvement & Process Enhancement (Bonus / Preferred Experience) Lead or participate in continuous improvement projects focused on forecasting accuracy, inventory optimization, planning processes, and cross-department communication. Identify inefficiencies in the demand planning workflow and propose standardized procedures or digital tools to enhance planning efficiency. Support implementation of ERP/MRP upgrades, forecasting software, or process automation. Promote best practices in planning, root-cause problem solving, and data integrity. Desired Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Operations, Industrial Engineering, or related field. 5+ years of demand planning, forecasting, production planning, or supply chain experience (manufacturing environment required). Strong analytical skills with proficiency in Excel, ERP/MRP systems, and forecasting tools. Proven ability to work cross-functionally and communicate effectively with multiple departments and facility locations. Understanding of manufacturing principles, preferably in plastics, thermoforming, extrusion, or related processing industries. Experience in thermoforming, extrusion, or plastics manufacturing. Knowledge of resin material planning and machine-based capacity scheduling. Experience leading or contributing to continuous improvement initiatives (Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, etc.). Familiarity with advanced analytics tools (Power BI, Tableau, forecasting software). APICS/ASCM certification (CPIM, CSCP) or similar credentials. Work Environment + Language Requirements Global remote position Requires at least 3 hours of overlap with U.S. Central Time each day Minimal or no travel Fluency in the English language; written and verbal proficiency (B2 level minimum on CEFR scale) Reports to a U.S.-based Operations/Logistics Leadership Cz3gGrzkyj