Senior Planning & Operations Specialist

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in District of Columbia.

📋 Description

• Take charge of the comprehensive operational planning and execution for physical instructional manipulatives.

• Anticipate the demand for manipulatives throughout adoption cycles, pilot programs, sample distributions, and restocking efforts.

• Create and uphold long-term capacity and inventory models.

• Communicate and oversee forecasts with vendors to guarantee product availability.

• Collaborate with Sales and Marketing to evaluate the risk associated with component availability and devise mitigation strategies.

• Keep an eye on safety stock, reserved inventory, obsolescence, and overall inventory health.

• Manage relationships with manufacturers and vendors, focusing on lead times, minimum order quantities (MOQs), cost controls, and quality standards.

• Partner with Order Management and Customer Success teams to address fulfillment challenges, shortages, and escalations.

• Act as the primary operational contact for inquiries related to manipulatives.

• Develop dashboards and reports detailing inventory levels, forecast accuracy, fulfillment performance, and risk indicators.

• Identify opportunities for process enhancements to lower costs, boost reliability, and enhance cross-team visibility.

• Document and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs) for planning, inventory management, and fulfillment processes.

• Coordinate requests for proposals (RFPs) and quotes (RFQs) with both internal and external stakeholders.

• Report to the Senior Director of Strategic Operations and collaborate with Product, Marketing, Sales, ePMO, and external vendors.

⛳️ Requirements

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in the education sector with substantial expertise in operations, supply chain, planning, or production management.

• Experience in managing physical products such as print materials, kits, manipulatives, or other educational resources.

• Strong skills in forecasting, analytics, and inventory planning.

• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively across Sales, Marketing, Product, and Operations teams.

• Experience with ERP and CRM systems (e.g., NetSuite, Salesforce).

• Exceptional communication skills, capable of converting complex operational data into understandable insights.

• Knowledge of adoption-driven demand cycles and back-to-school fulfillment processes.

• Experience managing third-party logistics (3PL) relationships and domestic or overseas manufacturing vendors.

• Advanced Excel and data modeling capabilities; familiarity with business intelligence (BI) tools is a plus.

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field.

• A cover letter and resume are mandatory.

• Successful completion of a background check is required.

• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

🏝️ Benefits

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.

• Generous paid time off and holiday schedule.

• Opportunities for professional development and growth.

• Retirement savings plan with employer matching.