Position SummaryMGA Entertainment is hiring a Director of Demand Planning to own the Target account - MGA's largest revenue account in the Americas at $221M in FY2026, and its fastest-growing, spanning roughly 2,900 active SKUs across 2,000 stores.
This is not a back-office forecasting role. Target operates on a collaborative forecast, which means MGA does not set the demand plan unilaterally - it negotiates it. The person in this seat owns MGA's side of that negotiation: the demand plan, the inventory position behind it, the safety-stock commitments MGA makes above collaborative forecast, and MGA's operational credibility with Target's merchandising, replenishment and supply chain teams. They represent MGA in Operations Top-to-Top meetings and are accountable for what MGA commits in the room.
The role is based in Minneapolis and works in person alongside MGA's Target sales organization and in close proximity to Target's teams. The problems this role is hired to solve - aligning in-stock expectations, landing event codes on initial-set and OOA purchase orders, integrating MGA available-to-sell inventory into Target's Walk-In Purchasability data, and establishing a formal domestic safety-stock policy - are cross-functional and resolved face to face.
Why This Role ExistsTarget became MGA's largest Americas account this year. FY2026 revenue forecast is $221M, ahead of the next-largest account at $196M - a position that has swung by more than $118M in two years. Target is growing +45% year over year on revenue and more than +30% on recent four-week point-of-sale, roughly double the rate of the next-largest account, while MGA's third-largest account is declining.
Roughly 80% of that revenue is already committed as open orders and shipments, which makes this as much a delivery-assurance role as a forecasting one. At the same time, on-shelf availability sits in the low 80s against MGA's 90% standard, and monthly forecast variance that nets close to zero at account level masks several million dollars of offsetting error at brand level - which is where MGA actually commits factory capacity and inventory.
Closing the availability gap alone is worth an estimated $5M-$7M in annual retail sales. Protecting the committed revenue is worth considerably more. Both require senior, dedicated, in-market ownership.
Key ResponsibilitiesDemand Plan Ownership
- Own the end-to-end demand plan for US-Target and Target.com across the full MGA brand portfolio - preseason, in-season, and chase.
- Own delivery of the Target revenue plan - approximately $221M in FY2026 - against the annual number and against each monthly lock, including conversion of the uncovered balance during the peak shipping window.
- Deliver forecast accuracy at brand and item grain, not just account total. Reduce gross brand-level variance to the 90-day lock and eliminate the offsetting errors that make account-level accuracy misleading.
- Own the monthly forecast call and the shipment plan that supports it, including the seasonal peak in which September and October shipments carry November-December holiday sell-through.
- Partner with Supply Planning and Hong Kong operations to convert the demand plan into production and inventory commitments, and to manage exposure when the plan moves.
Collaborative Forecasting and Customer Partnership
- Own MGA's side of the collaborative forecast with Target - building, defending, and reconciling the joint plan with Target's replenishment and merchandising teams.
- Negotiate and align the in-stock success measure between MGA and Target, closing the gap between Target's 78-82% goal and MGA's 90% standard.
- Represent MGA Demand Planning in Operations Top-to-Top meetings and in day-to-day joint business planning.
- Hold a sub-24-hour response standard on Target requests and drive purchase-order and cancellation accuracy to eliminate rework on the customer's side.
Inventory and Availability
- Drive Target in-stock from the low 80s to a sustained 88-90%.
- Own MGA's domestic safety-stock position for Target, including commitments made above collaborative forecast on key items, and lead development of a formal, supply-supported safety-stock policy to replace item-by-item negotiation.
- Manage weeks of supply, chase and cancel decisions, and the trade-off between availability and end-of-season excess.
- Adapt planning to Target's later replenishment ordering cycle, which compresses the window between order receipt and required production lead time.
Process, Systems and Analytics
- Land the implementation of event codes identifying initial-set and out-of-assortment purchase orders so MGA can separate and track order types accurately.
- Drive integration of MGA available-to-sell inventory into Target's Walk-In Purchasability dataset, enabling daily purchase-order writing against real availability.
- Use MGA's POS, demand and forecasting tooling - including Power BI semantic models, the ATS tool, and the preseason comp forecast engine - to move from reactive reporting to forward-looking decisions.
- Codify Target planning into documented, repeatable process rather than individual knowledge.
Leadership
- Lead and develop dedicated analyst support for the Target account; set standards for accuracy, responsiveness and customer-facing professionalism.
- Act as the single accountable point of contact for Target demand planning across MGA Sales, Supply Chain, Finance and Brand.
- Escalate clearly and early. Bring options and a recommendation, not just the problem.
Success Measures - First 12 Months- First 90 days: full account handoff complete; in-stock measurement definition aligned with Target; event-code test in flight.
- First 180 days: gross brand-level forecast variance materially reduced; ATS integration live in Walk-In Purchasability; written domestic safety-stock policy approved.
- First 12 months: Target revenue plan delivered; in-stock sustained at 88% or better; a forecast the customer consistently orders against; Target's position as MGA's largest Americas account consolidated with a demand plan that holds.
Required Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Analytics, Economics or a related field.
- 8+ years in demand planning, supply chain, merchandise planning or replenishment, including 3+ years leading a major national retail account.
- Direct experience owning a collaborative or joint forecast with a major US mass retailer - Target, Walmart, Amazon or equivalent. Target experience strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated ownership of an account at $150M+ in annual revenue, with accountability for revenue delivery, in-stock, forecast accuracy and inventory position.
- Strong command of retailer POS data and replenishment mechanics: sell-through, weeks of supply, in-stock, store counts, initial sets versus replenishment, and import versus domestic order flow.
- Advanced Excel; working fluency in Power BI or an equivalent BI platform.
- Proven ability to hold a position with a customer and with internal executives - this role is negotiated as much as it is calculated.
- Based in, or willing to relocate to, the Minneapolis, MN metro area. This position works on-site.
Preferred Qualifications- Toy, consumer products, seasonal or entertainment-driven categories, where demand is short-lifecycle, hit-driven and hard to forecast from history.
- Experience standing up planning process where none existed, rather than only operating an established one.
- Familiarity with Logility, SAP, or comparable demand planning systems.
- Experience with domestic safety-stock strategy and vendor-managed or collaboratively-planned inventory.
Competencies- Commercial judgment - understands that a forecast is a commitment of capital, not a statistical exercise.
- Customer credibility - can sit across from a retail partner, disagree, and keep the relationship stronger for it.
- Bias to resolution - closes open items rather than tracking them.
- Analytical depth with executive communication - can work at item grain and brief at portfolio level.
- Comfort with ambiguity and pace - seasonal peaks compress decisions and the plan moves.
Work ArrangementThis position is based on-site in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Regular in-person presence with MGA's Target sales organization and with Target counterparts is a core requirement of the role and reflects the cross-functional, negotiated nature of the account. This position is not remote-eligible and is not available on an out-of-market basis. Requests for reasonable accommodation will be handled in accordance with MGA policy and applicable law.
