Inventory Planning Manager

We’re building a world of health around every individual — shaping a more connected, convenient and compassionate health experience. At CVS Health®, you’ll be surrounded by passionate colleagues who care deeply, innovate with purpose, hold ourselves accountable and prioritize safety and quality in everything we do. Join us and be part of something bigger – helping to simplify health care one person, one family and one community at a time.

Position Summary

The Inventory Optimization Manager is responsible for developing, evaluating, and implementing strategies that improve inventory performance across the enterprise.

This role partners closely with Supply Chain, Merchandising, Store Operations, Category Management, Finance, Technology, and external partners to balance product availability, sales growth, margin, inventory investment, and operational efficiency.

In this highly visible role, the Manager will lead analytical efforts and cross-functional programs supporting key strategic initiatives including Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), On Shelf Availability (OSA), Next Generation Planning Solutions (NGPS), Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning (SIOP), inventory productivity programs, and other enterprise transformation efforts.

The successful candidate will combine strong analytical skills, business acumen, project leadership, and communication capabilities to identify opportunities, build business cases, influence stakeholders, support testing and operational readiness, and drive execution of initiatives that improve inventory performance and customer experience across the CVS Health network.

Key Responsibilities

Inventory Strategy & Optimization

• Identify and evaluate opportunities to improve inventory productivity while maintaining or improving customer service levels.
• Analyze inventory, sales, forecast, service level, supply chain, and process performance metrics to identify risks and value creation opportunities.
• Develop recommendations that balance inventory investment, availability, sales, margin, and operational efficiency.
• Support enterprise inventory targets, long-range planning efforts, and working capital optimization programs.

Strategic Initiative Leadership

• Lead and support high-impact initiatives related to PLM, OSA, NGPS, SIOP, replenishment optimization, inventory analytics, and forecasting enhancement.
• Coordinate workstreams across business, technology, vendor, and operational teams to ensure successful implementation and value realization.
• Support pilot design, testing, readiness, adoption, and post-implementation stabilization for new tools, processes, and capabilities.
• Help connect initiative objectives to measurable business outcomes, including availability, inventory productivity, planning accuracy, and operational efficiency.

Analytics & Business Case Development

• Develop financial and operational business cases to support investment decisions and prioritization.
• Quantify expected benefits, risks, dependencies, implementation costs, and operational impacts for strategic initiatives.
• Create executive-level analysis, reporting, and presentations that support decision making and stakeholder alignment.
• Monitor initiative performance and track delivery against expected outcomes, milestones, and value commitments.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner with Supply Chain, Merchandising, Finance, Store Operations, Digital, Technology, and external partners to align priorities and drive results.
• Collaborate with vendors, solution providers, consulting partners, and supplier partners to identify opportunities and support implementation.
• Facilitate stakeholder discussions, summarize decisions, communicate progress, and help resolve issues or risks that could affect execution.
• Build trust and alignment across diverse teams through clear communication, strong follow-through, and fact-based recommendations.

Process Improvement & Change Management

• Evaluate process improvement opportunities across planning, forecasting, replenishment, allocation, inventory, and operational execution.
• Support documentation, training, knowledge transfer, and adoption of new processes and tools.
• Translate business requirements into practical operating models, reporting needs, and readiness plans.
• Drive continuous improvement by surfacing lessons learned and embedding repeatable practices across initiatives.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in Inventory Management, Supply Chain Planning, Demand Planning, Replenishment, SIOP/S&OP, Category Management, Supply Chain Analytics, Strategy, or related fields.
• 1+ years of hands-on Experience with Power BI, SQL, Python, Alteryx, Access, or other analytical tools.
• Experience leading complex cross-functional projects or strategic business initiatives.
• Up to 15% travel for meetings at our corporate office in Rhode Island.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong analytical skills with experience evaluating inventory, service level, forecasting, sales, and operational performance metrics.
• Experience building financial analyses, ROI models, and business cases.
• Ability to translate complex data into clear, actionable recommendations for business leaders.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills.
• Strong communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to influence without direct authority and drive accountability across teams.

• Master's Degree in Supply Chain, Operations Research, Engineering, Analytics, Finance, or MBA.
• Experience with inventory optimization, replenishment, forecasting, allocation, or retail planning systems.
• Experience supporting large-scale transformation programs or technology implementations.
• Knowledge of retail supply chain processes including forecasting, replenishment, allocation, assortment planning, inventory management, and store execution.
• APICS/ASCM, CSCMP, Lean, Six Sigma, or related certifications.
• Experience operating within a SIOP, S&OP, or Integrated Business Planning environment.
• Strong understanding of the relationships between inventory planning, finance, merchandising, store operations, suppliers, and supply chain execution.

Education

Bachelor's degree preferred; equivalent experience may be considered.

Anticipated Weekly Hours

40

Time Type

Full time

Pay Range

The typical pay range for this role is:

$66,330.00 - $145,860.00

This pay range represents the base hourly rate or base annual full-time salary for all positions in the job grade within which this position falls.  The actual base salary offer will depend on a variety of factors including experience, education, geography and other relevant factors.  This position is eligible for a CVS Health bonus, commission or short-term incentive program in addition to the base pay range listed above. 
 

Our people fuel our future. Our teams reflect the customers, patients, members and communities we serve and we are committed to fostering a workplace where every colleague feels valued and that they belong.

Great benefits for great people

We take pride in offering a comprehensive and competitive mix of pay and benefits that reflects our commitment to our colleagues and their families.

This full‑time position is eligible for a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the physical, emotional, and financial well‑being of colleagues and their families. The benefits for this position include medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid time off, retirement savings options, wellness programs, and other resources, based on eligibility.

Additional details about available benefits are provided during the application process and on Benefits Moments.

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on: 08/24/2026

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state and local laws.