Sr. Planner, Customer Forecasting

Company Background

Markwins Beauty Brands is a global leader in beauty and cosmetics. A pioneering AAPI-owned company, Eric Chen founded Markwins in 1984, and led as CEO until his passing in 2021. His wife, and then-CAO, Lina Chen, then assumed the role of CEO, and leads in the position today.  Markwins has distinguished itself with groundbreaking product innovation, reimagined go-to-market strategies, and leading supply-chain dynamics. From humble and disruptive origins, the company was famous in its early years as the pioneer of compact palettes and gift sets and stands today as the largest privately held beauty company in North America. With a brand portfolio that includes Black Radiance®, Lip Smacker®, LORAC®, Physicians Formula®, and wet n wild®, Markwins Beauty Brands’ products are sold in retail outlets including department, specialty, mass, drug, and food stores, in over 80,000 doors in 80 countries worldwide.

Position Summary

The Sr. Planner, Customer Forecasting will report directly to the Director, Supply Chain Forecasting and will be the primary owner of all external forecasts and customer-facing supply chain data for Markwins’ retail partners. This role ensures customer forecasts, replenishment signals, and inventory positions are translated into clear, accurate, and actionable inputs for the Demand Planning team. The Sr. Planner will support high SKU count cosmetics assortments of 2,500+ SKUs, requiring strong forecasting capabilities and the ability to navigate the complexities associated with large product portfolios.

This is a highly analytical, customer-facing role that serves as the voice of the customer internally. The Sr. Planner will build and maintain collaborative relationships with retailer replenishment teams, Sales, and Demand Planning to proactively manage in-stock performance, mitigate risk, and unlock growth opportunities.

This position works closely and in tandem with the Demand Planning team to ensure external forecasts and internal demand plans stay in sync, especially for replenishment, prepacks, promotions, new product launches, and allocation events.

Essential Tasks, Duties, & Responsibilities

• Own Customer Forecasting: Collect, validate, and manage customer team forecasts, replenishment data, and inventory positions across Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Amazon, and other key account

• Collaborate with Demand Planning: Provide accurate, timely customer inputs (POS trends, promotional lifts, event calendars) to feed the internal demand plan and S&OP process

• Retailer Interface: Lead regular meetings with customer replenishment teams to review forecasts, in-stock performance, promotional readiness, and service risks

• Prepack & Promo Planning: Partner with Demand Planning and Commercial teams to align customer specific prepack and promotional forecasts with production capacity and allocation strategy

• Inventory & Service Monitoring: Track key metrics (in-stocks, OTIF, customer fill rates) and escalate risks to Demand Planning and Supply Planning with recommended actions

• Scenario Planning: Build and present what if analyses for promotions, seasonality, or new item launches to help stakeholders make fast, informed decisions

• Reporting & Analytics: Maintain clear dashboards and scorecards on customer forecast accuracy, bias, and event performance; share insights with Commercial leadership and cross-functional teams

• Continuous Improvement: Drive process standardization for customer data integration, forecast collaboration, and KPI tracking; identify opportunities to reduce latency and increase forecast precision

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Act as the key liaison between Sales, Customer Service, Demand Planning, and Operations to ensure timely communication of changes impacting supply

• Special Projects: Support initiatives related to allocation strategy, CPFR (Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment), and retailer specific supply chain improvements

• Perform other duties as needed and directed by management

Minimum Qualifications:

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, Business, Economics, Data Analytics, or a related field required

• 3–5 years in customer supply chain, forecasting, replenishment, or planning (CPG or beauty experience preferred)

• Experience working directly with major retailer supply chain teams (Walmart Retail Link, Target Partners Online, Amazon Vendor Central) strongly preferred

• Experience forecasting and supporting large SKU assortments, with 500+ SKU experience required

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Analytical thinker with strong attention to detail

• Excellent communicator able to simplify complex data and drive consensus

• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUPs, data modeling) and ERP/forecasting systems

• Experience with POS data platforms (Circana, NielsenIQ, Retail Link) and customer forecasting portals

• Familiarity with collaborative forecasting processes (CPFR/IBP)

• Strong communicator with the ability to simplify data and present actionable insights to internal and external partners

• Detail oriented, organized, and able to manage multiple customer inputs simultaneously

• Problem solver with a proactive approach to risk identification and resolution

• Collaborative, organized, and able to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment

Note: The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees, but are not a complete list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. Furthermore, they do not establish a contract for employment and are subject to change at the discretion of the employer.

Markwins Beauty Brands is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Markwins Beauty Brands does not discriminate in practices or employment opportunities based on an individual's race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other proscribed category set forth in federal or state regulations.

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