Inventory Planning Manager, Perishables

Inventory Management And Planning Lead

Join us in transforming Meat & Seafood inventory operations as we build new capabilities for sustainable growth and operational excellence. This role owns daily inventory planning and replenishment execution for the Meat and Seafood categories, with primary accountability for one or both depending on team structure. You will manage inventory across our multi-tiered distribution network, spanning 3PL partnerships, distribution centers, retail locations, and omnichannel operations. You will balance fresh product availability against spoilage risk through precise demand forecasting, supply planning, and cross-functional coordination. This is a build-from-the-ground-up position: you will develop new processes and capabilities while maintaining and ensuring daily operational excellence as we transform our perishables supply chain.

Location: Store Support Office, Austin, TX (5-10% travel required)

Key Job Responsibilities

Inventory Management & Planning

Execute inventory replenishment decisions for the Meat & Seafood category, managing demand forecast, reorder points, safety stock levels, and allocation across distribution nodes

Monitor, control, and optimize inventory levels to meet In-Stock service levels, store order fill-rate, inventory turnover, shrink rates, and days-of-coverage targets

Manage inventory planning for promotional events, seasonal peaks, new product launches, exclusive brands, and store openings, coordinating quantities, timing, and distribution

Build and maintain demand forecasting models; refine accuracy over time as data quality and historical baselines improve

Perform regular and ad-hoc root-cause analyses when KPIs miss targets (In-Stock percentage, order fill-rate, on-time delivery, inventory turnover, days of coverage)

Track and report on inventory performance metrics; own the accuracy and timeliness of reporting outputs

Stakeholder & Partner Management

Work with category merchants, procurement, distribution/supply chain, field operations, e-commerce, In-Stock, to resolve supply/demand mismatches and align on priorities

Manage day-to-day communication with Procurement and Distribution and Store partners: flag performance gaps, escalate issues, and follow-through on resolution

Provide data analysis and inventory insights to leadership; translate findings into clear recommendations

Process Improvement & Transformation

Identify and fix gaps in service quality, efficiency, and order management systems

Lead continuous improvement initiatives to optimize supply and demand planning processes

Document and standardize inventory planning processes where SOPs do not yet exist

Improve existing planning workflows for efficiency and accuracy; propose and implement automation where manual processes create risk

Support implementation of tracking and reporting systems; define requirements based on operational needs