Sales & Operations Planning Lead

Career Area:

Supply Chain and Logistics

Job Description:

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

Caterpillar’s Earthmoving division is hiring a Sales & Operations Planning Lead within the Motor Grader product group. This role is accountable for guiding the Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process within the product group and making cycle recommendations to the Vice President of Product Management. You will advocate, enable and drive execution of the S&OP process for the product group, working with key process partners to deliver products profitably to the marketplace, maximize inventory turns and plant efficiency, and stabilize customer delivery performance.

Role Summary: Accountable for the execution of the S&OP process within the product group, including providing oversight for process conformance. This role ensures S&OP process compliance, working collaboratively across multiple regions and functional groups, including Facility Demand Management, Marketing, Business Resources, Supply Chain, Operations and others as needed. This role’s span of control will vary due to business differences including value stream complexity, size, the number of facilities and locations, and sourcing strategies. Overall business complexity is driven by volume, sales, sourcing strategy, the number of products and model mix.

What You’ll Do (Job Duties)

• Participate in the Machine Business Review, where input from dealers, economists and marketing occur. Review and manage that data to ensure it is correct and that demand signals, including both short and long-term forecasts are clear before provided to the next process.

• Organize and lead the supply meeting and the pre-S&OP meeting. May lead / facilitate the Supply Review meeting across multiple facilities, product lines and regions.

• Prepare documentation for the pre-S&OP meeting, highlighting needed changes, and financial impacts and action plans.

• Ensure Product Groups maximize percent of industry sales (PINS), improve availability and maximize profitability.

• Play a key role in sizing and managing the Lane Strategy and PDC Inventory Planning. May manage portions of product availability initiatives and work cross-functionally with other product groups. May also manage portions of the business’ capacity management processes, green books for capital expansion and the order management process.

• Perform highly complex what-if scenarios that are presented to the Product Group’s leadership team and other process partners. Those scenarios are then presented to Supply Chain and Operations to ensure they are executable.

• Provide supporting facts, data and statistics that depend on their understanding of forecasts and all other inputs to the process and to champion an enterprise point of view during S&OP Meetings and other collaborative communications.

• Recommend sourcing decisions to the Product Group to maximize OPACC and Profit, balancing facility capability, inventory flow and utilization, and volumes.

• This role will be called upon as a subject matter expert on sourcing and may be called upon to work with NPI Managers and Worldwide or Regional Product Managers to support sourcing decisions.

• Ensure key meetings are scheduled, held and driven to decision, with action items identified and delivered upon.

• Make recommendations for S&OP Metrics Targets, and monitors process performance.

• Ensure process support teams within all involved functional groups are adequately trained to conduct their role within the S&OP Process. This training will be deployed throughout the organization from Leadership Teams all the way through the organization and may come in the form of direct training for the individual, coordination for training assistance from former or current process participants or from corporate process resources.

What You Have (Core Skills)

• Capacity Planning & Management: This role must understand all indicators/metrics within the S&OP process, including industry, sales, finished goods inventory, production, commercial and factory orders and availability measures. In addition to business metrics, the incumbent must understand S&OP Process Compliance Metrics.

• Products & Services: Advanced experience and knowledge about production scheduling principles, specifically those applied to Sales and Operations planning, demand management, constraint management, and supply chain planning.

• Collaborating Skills: Strong collaborative and interpersonal skills in order to support the common S&OP Process across multiple departments within a business division.

• Analytical Thinking: Excellent decision-making, analytical and problem-solving skills, and the ability to develop and advocate for recommendations on key business decisions with process partners both in and outside their business unit.

• Forecasting: Prepare complex concepts for presentation to business decision makers and supporting team members; Demonstrate leadership to enforce process discipline across monthly business cycle.

Top Candidates Will Also Have

• Bachelor’s degree preferably in business, supply chain, marketing, manufacturing, or industrial engineering

• Experience either within the product group, within the functional discipline, or in process execution in a manufacturing environment

• Experience in Scheduling, Production Scheduling, Master Scheduling, Machine / Components Orders Management, Industrial Engineering, Procurement, Manufacturing Engineering, Marketing/ Sales Operations, Marketing Demand/Velocity Manager

• Advanced expertise in Power Point/Excel, Corporate Demand Systems

• Strong ability to deal with uncertainty, ambiguity and be agile

• Prior experience as a Black Belt or Master Black Belt

Additional Information: Some travel is required (up to 15%).

Summary Pay Range:

$126,000.00 - $189,000.00

Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.

Benefits:

Subject to plan eligibility, terms, and guidelines. This is a summary list of benefits.

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits*

• Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*

• 401(k) savings plans*

• Health Savings Account (HSA)*

• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*

• Health Lifestyle Programs*

• Employee Assistance Program*

• Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*

• Career Development*

• Incentive bonus*

• Disability benefits

• Life Insurance

• Parental leave

• Adoption benefits

• Tuition Reimbursement

* These benefits also apply to part-time employees

This position requires working onsite five days a week.

Relocation is available for this position.

Visa Sponsorship is not available for this position. This employer is not currently hiring foreign national applicants that require or will require sponsorship tied to a specific employer, such as, H, L, TN, F, J, E, O. As a global company, Caterpillar offers many job opportunities outside of the U.S which can be found through our employment website at www.caterpillar.com/careers.

Posting Dates:

September 12, 2025 - September 25, 2025

Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities. Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply.

Not ready to apply? Join our Talent Community.