Inside Sales & Planning Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Description:

Inside Sales & Planning Manager

Job Summary

Lead the inside sales function for a mid-sized manufacturing organization, driving revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and operational alignment. This role oversees order management, demand coordination, and customer engagement while partnering closely with supply chain, planning, and production teams to ensure accurate forecasting, efficient order fulfillment, and high service levels from inquiry through delivery.

Key Responsibilities

Sales & Customer Management

• Lead and develop the inside sales team across phone, email, and digital channels to support customers and drive revenue growth.
• Manage the full order lifecycle—from quotation and order entry to fulfillment and post-sale support.
• Establish service standards, SLAs, escalation processes, and response time expectations.
• Build strong relationships with customers, distributors, and internal stakeholders to ensure a seamless experience.
• Manage RMA service level expectations both internally and externally.

Demand Planning & Order Coordination

• Partner with Operations to forecast customer demand with production capacity and material availability to achieve 90% on time delivery.
• Support demand forecasting and backlog management to improve forecast accuracy and service levels.
• Monitor order flow, prioritize customer needs, and resolve constraints impacting delivery timelines.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Supply Chain, Production, Logistics, and Quality teams to ensure efficient order fulfillment and issue resolution.
• Coordinate with Finance on pricing, cost considerations, and margin optimization.
• Act as the primary liaison between customers and internal operations for order status, changes, and escalations.

Performance Management & Continuous Improvement

• Track and analyze KPIs such as order cycle time, OTIF, forecast accuracy, response times, and customer satisfaction metrics.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on lead time reduction, service level enhancement, and process efficiency.
• Identify root causes of recurring issues and implement corrective actions across teams.
• Create and manage supplier scorecards for all vendors we utilize.

Systems & Process Optimization

• Oversee CRM and ERP system utilization to ensure accurate order visibility, reporting, and data integrity.
• Implement and optimize workflows, dashboards, and reporting tools to enhance decision-making and transparency.
• Maintain documentation, audit trails, and compliance with company policies and quality standards.

Team Leadership & Development

• Recruit, train, and mentor inside sales team members.
• Manage staffing, performance evaluations, and professional development plans.
• Foster a high-performance, customer-focused culture aligned with company goals.

Key Account Focus

• Maintain focus on new and submitted quotes for pricing and lead time feedback
• Forecast the impact of incoming purchase orders on production lead times and delivery dates
• Long-range forecasting on increases or decreases in volumes
• Constantly communicate the voice of the customer

Success Metrics

• Revenue growth and order conversion rates
• On-Time-In-Full (OTIF) delivery performance
• Order cycle time and backlog management
• Forecast accuracy and demand alignment
• Customer satisfaction (CSAT/NPS)
• Team productivity and service level attainment

Other Assigned Duties

• To support sales, finance, production, quality, and vendor management as assigned by PRL.

Job Qualifications

Required Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Communications, Supply Chain, Operations, or a related field.
• 5–7+ years of experience in inside sales, customer service leadership, or sales operations within a manufacturing environment.
• Proven experience managing customer orders, forecasting, and cross-functional coordination with supply chain and production teams.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Advanced proficiency in ERP/MRP/CRM systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Salesforce) and Excel; familiarity with data visualization tools is a plus.
• Demonstrated leadership experience managing teams and performance.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with demand planning, forecasting, and inventory coordination.
• Knowledge of key metrics: order cycle time, OTIF (On-Time-In-Full), forecast accuracy, service level attainment, CSAT, and NPS.
• Association for Supply Chain Management APICS (Certified in Planning and Inventory Management) CPIM certification or similar.
• Lean/Six Sigma knowledge.
• Experience in discrete manufacturing environments.