Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for International Planner

🎯 Role Definition

The International Planner is responsible for planning and coordinating inbound and outbound global inventory flows to ensure product availability, reduce working capital, and minimize logistics cost while maintaining compliance with international trade regulations. This role owns global supply allocation, lead-time and safety stock calculations, PO management, and cross-functional collaboration with vendors, customs brokers, freight forwarders, commercial teams, and manufacturing sites. The ideal candidate combines strong analytical planning skills (forecasting, demand/supply matching), deep knowledge of import/export processes and Incoterms, and hands-on experience with planning and TMS/ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, Anaplan, Kinaxis, Blue Yonder).

This role is highly cross-functional and requires a bias for action, commercial awareness, and the ability to scale planning processes across regions and channels (direct-to-consumer, distribution, retail).

Keywords: International Planner, global supply chain planning, import/export logistics, demand forecasting, inventory optimization, customs compliance, SAP planning, Anaplan, Incoterms, freight consolidation.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Supply Chain Coordinator or Logistics Coordinator with international exposure
Demand Planner or Inventory Analyst supporting cross-border flows
Junior Logistics Analyst at a freight forwarder or 3PL

Advancement To:

Senior International Planner / Regional Planner
Global Supply Planner / Supply Chain Manager
Global Logistics Manager / Head of International Planning

Lateral Moves:

Demand Planning / S&OP Lead
Import/Export Compliance Specialist
Carrier & Freight Procurement Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Own end-to-end international inventory planning for assigned product categories and regions, including demand-supply matching, allocation, and replenishment plans to meet service targets while minimizing inventory and freight costs.
Develop, maintain and continuously refine demand forecasts and safety stock calculations for international SKUs using historical sales, seasonality, promotional plans, and market intelligence; reconcile forecast with commercial and regional teams.
Manage purchase order cadence and shipment orchestration with suppliers, ensuring PO creation, acknowledgement, tracking, ETA updates, and expedited order management where required to mitigate stockouts.
Coordinate inbound logistics planning for air, ocean, and road shipments including consolidation planning, container utilization, routing, lead-time management, and coordination with freight forwarders and 3PLs.
Ensure compliance with international trade regulations and documentation requirements (commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, certificates of origin) to support timely customs clearance and avoid penalties or delays.
Calculate and optimize safety stock, reorder points, and inventory targets across multi-echelon networks, factoring in supplier lead times, modal transit variability, and demand volatility.
Execute landed cost and landed time analysis to recommend carrier/mode selection, route optimization, and consolidation opportunities that reduce total cost-to-serve without sacrificing OTIF.
Maintain and reconcile master data and SKU attributes in ERP and planning tools (lead times, minimum order quantities, pack sizes, HS codes, default UOM) to ensure planning accuracy.
Partner closely with Commercial/Category, Manufacturing, and Warehouse Operations to align promotions, new product launches, and phase-outs with supply plans and minimize obsolescence risk.
Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action for supply exceptions, late shipments, shortages, and claims; produce and present mitigation plans to stakeholders with clear RACI.
Monitor and report key planning KPIs (OTIF, inventory days of supply, inventory turns, fill rate, forecast accuracy, expedited spend) and deliver monthly/weekly insight decks to regional leadership.
Negotiate and collaborate with carriers, freight forwarders, and customs brokers to secure competitive rates, capacity guarantees, and reliable service while protecting service levels.
Implement and drive continuous improvement initiatives across planning processes (S&OP integration, cycle time reduction, SKU rationalization, vendor lead-time performance) and support automation efforts.
Manage cross-border risk assessment and contingency planning for geopolitical, regulatory, seasonal, or capacity disruptions and coordinate alternative routing or sourcing plans.
Coordinate import compliance strategies including tariff classification (HS codes), valuation, duty mitigation (FTAs, bonded warehouses), and documentation for audits and certifications.
Support product lifecycle transitions (new product introduction and end-of-life) by building launch supply plans, safety stock cushions, and clear handovers to Global/Regional supply owners.
Validate and translate commercial promotions, marketing campaigns and sales forecasts into operational replenishment plans while balancing inventory and working capital objectives.
Facilitate S&OP and IBP processes by providing supply-side capacity, constraints, and scenario planning inputs; scenario-model impacts of demand and supply changes to recommend best-fit solutions.
Manage vendor performance and lead-time improvement initiatives with suppliers through scorecards, collaborative planning sessions, and supplier development plans to drive reliability.
Coordinate with finance and procurement to reconcile inventory valuation, landed costs, and accruals for inbound freight and customs duties.
Support digital planning tool rollouts (Anaplan, Kinaxis, Blue Yonder, SAP IBP) and act as a subject matter expert in requirements gathering, UAT, and continuous feature improvement.
Oversee import documentation quality and customs clearance deadlines to minimize dwell time and demurrage at origin and destination ports.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Provide mentoring and on-the-job training to junior planners and coordinators on international planning best practices.
Assist in developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for international planning, import compliance and transportation execution.
Coordinate with sustainability teams to support initiatives that reduce carbon footprint through mode selection and consolidation.
Participate in site and supplier audits related to logistics and supply continuity.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Global supply chain planning and inventory optimization expertise (safety stock, ROP, multi-echelon).
Advanced proficiency with ERP/planning systems such as SAP APO/PPDS, SAP IBP, Oracle, Anaplan, Kinaxis, or Blue Yonder.
Hands-on experience with transportation management and freight planning tools; carrier selection and consolidation tactics for ocean, air, and road.
Strong Excel skills including pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, advanced formulas, macros and experience building dashboards.
Experience with SQL or data-querying tools to extract and validate planning data; familiarity with BI tools (Tableau, Power BI) is a plus.
Deep knowledge of import/export regulations, Incoterms, HS classification and customs clearance processes.
Familiarity with landed cost modeling, duty optimization strategies, and cost-to-serve analysis.
Forecasting and statistical demand planning techniques and tools; experience managing forecast consensus processes.
Experience preparing and presenting KPI reports, supply performance metrics and root-cause analyses to senior stakeholders.
Project management experience for leading cross-functional rollouts, supplier onboarding, and process improvement projects.
Knowledge of warehouse operations, bond, FTZ/bonded warehouse flows and inventory accounting impacts.

Soft Skills

Strong cross-functional stakeholder management with excellent written and verbal communication skills for vendor, freight partner and internal engagement.
Analytical mindset with attention to detail, problem-solving skills and ability to drive decisions using data.
Commercial orientation and negotiation skills to balance service levels and logistics costs.
Ability to work under pressure, prioritize multiple deadlines and manage complex exception handling.
Continuous improvement mentality and change agency skills to drive process standardization and automation.
Cultural sensitivity and experience working with global teams across multiple time zones.
Proactive, bias-for-action approach and resilience when managing supply disruptions.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business, Engineering, International Trade or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree (MBA, MSc in Supply Chain/Logistics) or professional certification (APICS/CPIM/CSCP, CIPS, Certified Customs Specialist).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Supply Chain Management / Logistics
Business Administration / Economics
Industrial Engineering / Operations Research
International Trade / Customs & Compliance

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3–7 years of progressive experience in supply chain planning, logistics or international trade for mid-level positions. Senior roles typically require 7+ years.

Preferred:

5+ years of direct international planning experience managing cross-border inventory, PO lifecycle, and freight orchestration.
Demonstrated experience with SAP/Anaplan/IBP or comparable planning platforms, and a track record of improving OTIF, inventory turns, and landed cost savings.