Supply Chain Planner & Analyst

Crayola has inspired children to express their creativity since 1903. Crayolians take pride in fulfilling our mission of helping parents and educators raise creatively alive children around the world. Join our team and be part of an iconic brand that develops quality art products and experiences that are loved by families and preferred by teachers. Our company culture is mission focused, and encourages fun, collaboration, transparency, and helping others. Crayola believes our workforce benefits from a broad spectrum of diverse ideas and perspectives which enables us to understand our consumers better.

Supply Chain Planner & Analyst, Hybrid, Easton, PA

GENERAL SUMMARY:

Manages the planning aspects of finished, semi, and raw material product planning with internal manufacturing and/or external suppliers including long term capacity planning. Manages planning exceptions daily and interacts with manufacturing and/or external suppliers to ensure execution of customer requirements, inventory and total cost goals for Global Supply and customer base. Ensures the data accuracy of supply chain system (SAP) and other PSI tools.

The role will proactively work with cross functional teams to execute commercialization inclusive of inventory planning, tracking, reporting and driving timely execution of product and program priorities as required to delivery annual sales plan. This includes all analytic activities related to account coordination, standard reporting, product life cycles, capacity planning, and end-to-end ad hoc projects per the direction of the Supply Chain leadership team.

Is responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of the Supply Chain process in achieving overall customer service, inventory, and cost objectives. Individual will work with U.S. and International team members in Demand Planning, Platform Marketing, Logistics, Customer Service, Manufacturing, Sales, E-Commerce, and Ops-Finance on product development and short/long term planning outlooks.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Manages the global capacity planning function to maximize asset utilization and develops contingency plans as needed, both internal and external.
• Develops and executes purchasing and production plans, including purchase orders, production orders, supplier forecasts, and pre-build strategies, to achieve targeted global customer service levels while optimizing inventory, lead times, and total cost objectives for domestic and outsourced products.
• Controls movement of materials, semi-finished and finished goods for internal and external manufacturing throughout the Crayola Global distribution network.
• Leads end-to-end product lifecycle management by partnering with cross-functional teams to execute successful new product introductions, ensuring on-time launches through effective supply chain planning, while managing component phase-ins, obsolescence, and engineering changes to optimize inventory and minimize OSMI risk.
• Collaborate with cross-functional departments and outside suppliers to improve minimum order quantities, lead times and flexibility to benefit the Global Crayola supply and customer base. Support continuous improvement and Six Sigma/Lean projects
• Leads weekly or periodic meetings with internal and external stakeholders to ensure production requirements are communicated and understood.
• Collaborate with Demand Planning and Demand Control to understand forecasted needs. Maintain constant coordination with Customer service to highlight issues with supply and order configurations.
• Reconciles receipt quantity and invoice discrepancies with Crayola & Hallmark's Account Payable System.
• Manages the end-to-end product lifecycle by ensuring inventory synchronization across SAP and third-party systems, coordinating new products, discontinuations, and product changes, leading OSMI and excess inventory reduction initiatives with Finance, and partnering with Marketing and Sales to ensure product availability for launches and promotions while minimizing inventory risk and obsolescence.
• Develops and drives inventory optimization strategies by creating year-end inventory plans, monitoring slow-moving and excess inventory, managing subcontractor material flows and cycle counts, and implementing actions that improve cash flow, maximize warehouse utilization, and enhance inventory accuracy.
• Provides support for capacity and labor planning initiatives, partnering with cross-functional teams to identify and resolve capacity constraints as business needs require.
• Develops and maintains standard and ad hoc reporting, dashboards, and analytical tools within IBP, Power BI, and other platforms to support annual sales plans, customer demand requirements, inventory performance, and operational excellence initiatives.

JOB SPECIFICATIONS:

• BA/BS degree preferably in Business, Industrial Management, Logistics or Supply Chain discipline preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in production planning, inventory management, and external manufacturing, with international purchasing experience preferred.
• Thorough knowledge of Master Production Scheduling (MPS), Material Requirements Planning (MRP), and Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP), with a strong understanding of inventory planning, replenishment, and stocking strategies.
• Familiarity with Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation tools, or advanced analytics and an interest in applying these technologies to improve supply chain planning, inventory management, forecasting, and business processes desired.
• SAP experience desired
• Excellent analytical, organizational, interpersonal and problem-solving skills
• Proficient in Microsoft office Suite
• APICS certification desirable

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, talk and hear. The employee is occasionally required to walk; use hands and fingers to operate, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

DISCLAIMER: The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

We recognize that candidates may use AI tools to assist with formatting, proofreading, and organizing application materials. However, all materials submitted must accurately reflect your qualifications and experience. Candidates are expected to generate their own substantive responses to application questions/prompts, interview questions, and other assessments without the use of generative AI tools or other external assistance unless they have received permission from the company.

WHY CRAYOLA?

• Kid Inspired Culture
• Free Admission to Crayola Experience for Employees
• Community Volunteerism Opportunities
• Annual Bonus Potential for all Full-Time Employees
• Company Matched 401k & Employee Value Sharing Plan
• Comprehensive Healthcare Benefits for Eligible Employees
• Education Assistance Program
• Wellness Programs
• Employee Resource Groups
• Generous Product Discounts Onsite & Online
• Company Sponsored Employee Events
• Discounts on a wide variety of products and services - automotive, electronics, fitness, travel and entertainment

Green is our favorite color! Crayola cares about the environment and responsibly makes the products you love. Learn more about Crayola's creative solutions for greener tomorrows: https://www.crayola.com/about-us/sustainability

Crayola is committed to providing competitive market compensation. Our pay ranges are established using reliable market data and consider factors such as job responsibilities, industry benchmarks, and geographic location.

Individual starting pay is determined by a candidate's skills, experience and qualifications. This role is eligible to participate in an annual incentive plan as per plan guidelines. For a full list of Crayola benefits, please visit https://www.crayola.com/company/employee-benefits.

No phone calls please.

Search Firm Representatives - Please Read Carefully:
Crayola LLC is not seeking assistance or accepting unsolicited resumes from search firms for this employment opportunity. Regardless of past practice, all resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at Crayola LLC via e-mail, the Internet, or directly to hiring managers at Crayola LLC in any form without valid written search agreement in place for that position will be deemed the sole property of Crayola LLC, and no fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by Crayola LLC as a result of the referral or through other means.

Search firms are essential to the recruitment and staffing efforts at Crayola LLC, and we value the partnerships we have built with our vendors. For this reason, Crayola LLC has established and regularly maintains a preferred vendor list. Please note that even preferred vendors need to have a written search agreement signed by Human Resources at Crayola LLC in place for the specific position in order for a fee to be paid for any candidate referrals.