Category Manager, Forecast and Planning, Global Manufacturing and Distribution Services

Job description

The CM, Forecast and Planning serves as the manufacturing and financial backbone of the Global Manufacturing and Distribution Services organization. This role ensures every production investment is translated into measurable business outcomes. The CM, Forecast and Planning owns financial modeling, resource investment prioritization, and long-range operational planning, while establishing the standardized methodologies the organization uses to measure enablement and return on investment.

This individual provides executive visibility into performance against innovation commitments and savings targets, ensuring leadership has real-time clarity on where the organization is delivering, where it is at risk, and where to allocate next.

Key job responsibilities

Financial Modeling & Forecasting

Build, maintain, and continuously refine financial models that project savings delivery, cost avoidance, and investment returns across all pillars within Global Manufacturing and Distribution Services.

Resource Investment Prioritization

Develop and manage frameworks for evaluating and prioritizing resource allocation (finances, time, materials) across competing initiatives, ensuring capital and headcount are directed toward the highest-value opportunities.

Long-Range Operational Planning

Lead annual and multi-year planning cycles, partnering with pillar leaders to build bottoms-up forecasts, set targets, and align operational roadmaps with organizational strategy.

Performance Measurement & Reporting

Establish standardized methodologies for tracking enablement, ROI, and cost reduction performance. Create and maintain executive dashboards and reporting cadences that provide leadership with consistent, actionable visibility.

Transformation Program Tracking

Monitor and report on the status of transformation initiatives across the organization, flagging schedule risks, budget variances, and dependency conflicts to leadership with recommended corrective actions.

Business Case Development

Partner with pillar leaders and sourcing managers to build business cases for new investments, headcount requests, and strategic initiatives, ensuring financial rigor and alignment with organizational priorities.

Variance Analysis & Risk Management

Conduct regular variance analysis against plan, identifying root causes for over/under-performance and developing mitigation strategies to protect savings commitments.

Executive Communication

Prepare and deliver monthly/quarterly business reviews, savings readouts, and investment performance summaries for senior leadership (Director/VP level), translating complex financial data into clear narratives.

Process Standardization

Drive consistency in how financial performance is measured and communicated across all seven pillars, replacing ad-hoc reporting with scalable, repeatable processes.

About the team

Here is a polished, publicly shareable team overview narrative for GPO — written for a candidate reading a job posting:

About the Team — Global Procurement Operations (GPO)

Global Procurement Operations (GPO) is Amazon's worldwide procurement and facilities services organization, responsible for sourcing, managing, and delivering the operational services that keep Amazon's vast network running. Led by Kennedy Oates, VP of Global Procurement Org, GPO operates at massive scale — spanning more than 15 countries across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America.

GPO's mission touches every corner of Amazon's physical operations. The organization manages strategic procurement across categories including facility services, third-party logistics (3PL), supplier management, sustainability, and site launch — ensuring Amazon's fulfillment centers, sort centers, and delivery stations are properly equipped and supported. GPO is also responsible for driving procurement innovation through technology, with a dedicated technology pillar focused on building the tools and systems that make world-class procurement possible at Amazon's scale.

The organization is structured around regional and functional centers of excellence, each led by a senior director-level leader.

GPO's corporate team includes approximately 1,400 procurement and supply chain professionals at levels working alongside a global network of on-site service partners embedded across Amazon's operational facilities. The team is highly global and distributed, with significant presence in the United States, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, Brazil, the UAE, and beyond.

Joining GPO means working at the intersection of strategic sourcing, operational excellence, and global scale — partnering with operations, finance, legal, and sustainability teams to deliver impact across one of the world's largest and most complex supply chains.