Senior Manager, WW Planning

About the role:

Samsara is seeking a Manager II, WW Planning to lead the sustaining Demand Planning and Supply Planning teams responsible for creating and executing hardware forecasts across all of Samsara’s product lines globally. In this role, you will own the end-to-end forecasting process for in-market products—from signal collection and scenario modeling through handoff into supply and fulfillment—ensuring we meet customer demand while balancing inventory, cash, and cost objectives.

You will manage a team of demand and supply planners who are accountable for our collaborative planning process with Sales, Product, Customer Success, Strategic Finance, Supply Chain, and Operations, using data to inform real-time decisions and long-range plans. The ideal candidate has a strong track record in hardware demand and supply planning, is comfortable operating at both strategic and detailed levels, and can translate complex forecasts into clear narratives and decisions for senior leadership.

This role is open to candidates residing in the US except the San Francisco Bay Metro Area, NYC Metro Area, and Washington, D.C. Metro Area.. Relocation assistance will not be provided for this role.

You should apply if:

• You want to impact the industries that run our world: Your efforts will result in real-world impact – helping to keep the lights on, get food into grocery stores, reduce emissions, and most importantly, ensure workers return home safely.
• You are the architect of your own career: If you put in the work, this role won’t be your last at Samsara. We set up our employees for success and have built a culture that encourages rapid career development, countless opportunities to experiment and master your craft in a hyper growth environment.
• You’re energized by our opportunity: The vision we have to digitize large sectors of the global economy requires your full focus and best efforts to bring forth creative, ambitious ideas for our customers.
• You want to be with the best: At Samsara, we win together, celebrate together and support each other. You will be surrounded by a high-calibre team that will encourage you to do your best. 

In this role, you will:

• Lead the sustaining Demand and Supply Planning teams that own forecasts for all Samsara hardware products globally, ensuring alignment across product families, regions, and sales segments.
• Collaborate tightly with Product and NPI Planning to ensure a smooth handoff from new product introduction into sustaining, including ramp curves, lifecycle transitions, and End-of-Life (EOL) planning for legacy products.
• Own the global demand forecasting process for physical products, consolidating signals from Sales, Product, Marketing, and historical performance into a coherent forecast that supports revenue, margin, and service-level targets.
• Translate demand into executable supply plans in partnership with Supply Chain, Global Operations Engineering, and Fulfillment to ensure capacity, materials, and production are aligned with forecast scenarios and buffers.
• Own the refurbishment and RMA demand  and supply forecast, collaborating with vendors to ensure capacity, turnaround times, quality, and cost targets are met.
• Run recurring forecast and supply reviews (e.g. IBP/S&OP forums), clearly communicating changes in business trends, upside and downside scenarios, and risks & opportunities to the operating plan to senior leadership across Operations and Sales.
• Establish and own key planning KPIs such as forecast accuracy and bias, on-time delivery, out of region shipments, and excess & obsolescence (E&O), driving root-cause analysis and corrective actions with your team and cross-functional partners.
• Own and drive Samsara’s vendor managed inventory partnership, ensuring appropriate targets are established and communicated to manufacturers and stakeholders to support company goals.
• Drive process and systems improvements across forecasting, scenario modeling, and reporting—leveraging tools such as Databricks, Tableau, NetSuite, Salesforce, and e2open (or similar) to automate workflows and improve data quality and transparency.
• Coach, develop, and scale a high-performing planning team, setting clear expectations, providing regular feedback, and building career paths for both demand and supply planners across levels and geographies.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships with Sales, Sales Operations, Product, Hardware Product, Supply Chain, and Operations to ensure that planning insights are embedded in daily decisions and long-term strategy.
• Scope and lead high-impact cross-functional projects that sit at the intersection of planning, supply chain, and commercial strategy (e.g. demand outlier forecasting, safety stock optimization, buffer strategy for new regions), delivering measurable top- and bottom-line impact.
• Champion, role model, and embed Samsara’s cultural principles (Focus on Customer Success, Build for the Long Term, Adopt a Growth Mindset, Be Inclusive, Win as a Team) as we scale globally and across new offices.
• Hire, develop and lead an inclusive, engaged, and high performing team.

Minimum requirements for the role:

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Industrial Engineering, Operations Research, Finance, Economics, Data Science, or another relevant analytical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of experience in forecasting, demand planning, supply planning, or closely related planning/supply chain roles in hardware or electronics, with at least 3+ years directly managing planners or analytical teams.
• Demonstrated experience owning demand and/or supply forecasts for complex hardware portfolios across multiple regions, channels, or customer segments.
• Strong analytical skills, including proficiency with Excel/Google Sheets and experience building models and dashboards that support decision-making.
• Proven ability to synthesize complex data and tradeoffs into clear, concise narratives for executive audiences, including risks, opportunities, and recommended actions.
• Track record of cross-functional collaboration with Sales, Finance, Product, and Supply Chain, earning trust and influencing without direct authority in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated ability to design and improve planning processes, including implementing or evolving S&OP / Integrated Business Planning (IBP) cadences and governance.
• A growth mindset with curiosity about Samsara’s products, customers, and markets, and a willingness to question assumptions and experiment with new approaches to planning.

An ideal candidate also has:

• MBA or other Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. Supply Chain, Operations, Industrial Engineering, Finance, Data Science).
• Experience planning for electronics or high-tech hardware products and SaaS revenue models, including understanding of lead times, component constraints, and outsourced manufacturing models.
• Proficiency with AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Glean, Cursor, etc.) and SQL, Databricks, or BI tools (e.g. Tableau, Power BI) 
• Hands-on experience with planning and ERP systems such as e2open, SAP IBP, NetSuite, Databricks, and Salesforce, including defining requirements and partnering with Systems/IT teams on tooling upgrades.
• Experience in high-growth, innovative, and complex organizations (startup or public company) where processes and systems evolve rapidly.