Sr. Director, Global Demand Planning & ForecastingBusiness: Global Data Center Solutions (GDCS)
Location: Milwaukee, WI (Hybrid)
Reports to: VP, Revenue Operations - Data Centers
What you will doAs the Sr. Director, Global Demand Planning & Forecasting, you will build and lead a first-of-its-kind global demand planning organization for Johnson Controls' Data Center business, spanning the Americas, EMEA, and APAC.
You will own the end-to-end demand signal - in both units and dollars - across our applied equipment and thermal management portfolio, consolidating regional and product-line forecasts into a single, consensus global demand plan. Partnering closely with Sales, Finance, Product Management, and the manufacturing plants, you will translate top-down growth targets into an actionable forecast that drives capacity, capital, and supply decisions across 8 manufacturing plants.
This is a highly visible, build-from-the-ground-up leadership role that directly shapes how we plan, produce, and deliver to the world's largest data center customers.
How you will do it- Build the capability. Design and stand up the global demand planning process - including product hierarchy, planning levels, scope (conventional vs. data center demand), decision rights, and accountable handoffs - beginning with a bounded pilot before scaling to a recurring global demand review.
- Lead the team. Recruit, develop, and lead a global team of regional Demand Planning Managers (Americas, EMEA, APAC) and global product demand planners, each supported by dedicated analysts.
- Own the forecast. Own the monthly consensus demand plan, consolidating qualitative and quantitative inputs, reconciling conflicts between statistical and commercial forecasts, and producing a single global plan in units and dollars.
- Drive accuracy. Establish forecast accuracy targets, statistical forecasting models, and bias/variability tracking; use recent results to continuously improve model accuracy and planning behaviors.
- Integrate S&OP. Provide the demand-side handshake to Supply Chain and the plants, translating the plan into product mix, factory capacity, capital needs, and supplier requirements ahead of demand realization.
- Plan for growth & NPI. Accommodate different data center business models and the uncertainty of new products - including customer-specific programs, NPI, and products without historical demand patterns - through robust lifecycle and phase-in / phase-out planning.
- Partner cross-functionally. Chair the monthly demand review, align the demand plan with Finance's outlooking and revenue/backlog planning, and ensure the process drives operational results - not meetings for their own sake.
- Connect the signal. Integrate major-customer QBR and account-planning insights into the demand signal, ensuring the voice of the customer shapes the forward plan.
What we look forRequired- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, Engineering, Finance, or a related field.
- 10+ years of progressive experience in demand planning, forecasting, and S&OP, including 5+ years leading and building teams.
- Demonstrated success establishing or transforming a demand planning / S&OP process at a product-region level in a global, multi-plant manufacturing environment.
- Deep expertise in statistical forecasting, consensus demand planning, forecast accuracy measurement, and demand/supply reconciliation.
- Strong financial acumen - able to plan and translate demand in both units and dollars and align to revenue, backlog, and financial outlooking.
- Proven ability to influence and align senior Sales, Finance, Product, and Operations leaders without direct authority.
- Excellent communication skills and executive presence, with the ability to drive decisions in cross-functional review meetings.
Preferred- Master's degree (MBA or Supply Chain) and/or APICS/CPIM or IBF (CPF) certification.
- Experience in HVAC, applied equipment, thermal management, or the data center / mission-critical industry.
- Hands-on experience with advanced demand planning systems (e.g., ketteQ, Kinaxis, SAP IBP, or similar) and modern analytics/AI-assisted forecasting.
- Experience integrating acquisitions and new business models into a common planning process.
HIRING SALARY RANGE: $160,000.00 - 240,000.00 USD Annual. Salary to be determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data. This position includes a competitive benefits package.
