The posting
About the role:
The Demand Planner plays a key role in ensuring Backroads offers the right trips, at the right times, with the right level of capacity to meet guest demand. As a member of the Demand Planning team and the greater Yield Organization, this role analyzes booking trends, performance data, and market insights to make recommendations that optimize trip offerings and support future growth.
This person will identify opportunities and risks, recommend schedule and capacity adjustments, and help shape future trip assortments. They will also partner closely with teams across Trip Development, Marketing, Hotel Operations, Business Analytics, Sales, and Yield to support strategic planning initiatives and ensure business decisions are backed by data.
What you’ll be doing:
- Analyze booking trends, trip performance, and demand patterns to identify opportunities and risks across Backroads' trip assortment and support data-driven decision making.
- Conduct ongoing reviews of trip performance and departure schedules, making recommendations to add capacity, release inventory, modify departures, or cancel trips based on demand and business objectives.
- Play a key role in biannual planning meetings by identifying challenges, opportunities, and strategic initiatives, developing proposals and recommendations, and driving alignment among stakeholders and leadership.
- Serve as a primary Demand Planning resource through the team's service desk, providing timely guidance and recommendations to Trip Development and other cross-functional partners on trip performance, scheduling, inventory, and capacity-related requests.
- Play a central role in the annual assortment planning process, evaluating current and future offerings and helping define what the Backroads portfolio should look like over the next two to three years.
- Partner closely with Trip Development to align trip offerings with guest demand, identify capacity constraints, and develop solutions that support business growth.
- Collaborate with Marketing to prioritize trips, destinations, and product segments for promotion based on demand trends, booking performance, and business priorities.
- Monitor industry trends, competitor activity, and market demand to identify opportunities that can enhance Backroads' trip offerings and future planning strategies.
- Prepare ad hoc analyses, presentations, and recommendations for leadership and cross-functional stakeholders, as well as support ad hoc business inquiries and projects.
Exact duties and responsibilities may shift based on business needs.
What you’ll need to be successful:
- 3+ years of experience in planning, forecasting, business analytics, consulting, inventory management, or a related field.
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related discipline.
- Advanced Excel skills and experience working with large datasets to identify trends and support decision-making.
- Strong analytical, quantitative, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate data into actionable business recommendations.
- Ability to communicate complex information clearly through presentations, reports, and discussions with cross-functional partners and C-Suite executives.
- Highly organized with strong project management and prioritization skills in a deadline-driven environment.
- Comfortable working across multiple systems and managing detailed information with a high level of accuracy.
- Ability to build strong working relationships and collaborate effectively with stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
- Self-motivated and able to balance independent work with cross-functional collaboration.
- Curiosity and a proactive mindset, with a willingness to learn new concepts and explore data to solve business challenges.
Work environment:
- On-Site, Berkeley, CA
- 4 days in-office, 1 day work from home (Wednesdays)
About the department:
The Demand Planning team is a highly analytical group responsible for helping Backroads align trip offerings and capacity with guest demand. By combining booking data, market insights, and long-term planning, the team helps ensure Backroads delivers the right mix of trips and experiences to support both guest satisfaction and business growth.
The team works closely with Trip Development, Hotel Operations, Rooming Operations, Business Analytics, Sales, Marketing, and Yield teams to evaluate trip performance, optimize capacity, and support strategic planning decisions. Through data-driven recommendations, the Demand Planning team plays a significant role in shaping the future of the Backroads trip assortment.
About Backroads:
Founded in 1979, Backroads is the world’s leading guest-focused travel company, offering luxury Biking, Hiking & Walking, and Multi-Adventure Trips for active people of all ages and experience levels. But we’re more than a travel company —we’re pioneers in crafting extraordinary experiences that bring people closer to the world and each other. We blend innovation, precision, and an unrelenting drive for excellence, drawing strength from our roots as a long-standing, family-run, global company. We are dynamic, resilient and invest deeply in our people and our guests. We set the benchmark in active travel and raise it every year.
Why Backroads:
Backroads is built on sustainable growth, a transparent culture and a high-caliber team. We empower employees to deliver exceptional experiences and share our story with pride. You’ll work alongside dedicated, competent and active colleagues in an environment that values collaboration, balance and continual improvement. We move fast, act with integrity and strive for high-quality results.
Backroads is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
Salary Ranges:
$100,000.00 - $125,000.00
At Backroads, we uphold a commitment to transparency and fairness within our hiring process, particularly regarding compensation. The salary range posted for each role applies to both employment offers and employees actively working in the role.
New hires are typically offered a starting salary between the minimum and midpoint of the range to ensure there is continued opportunity for salary progression during your employment at Backroads, reflecting our commitment to rewarding ongoing dedication, high performance, and significant contributions to our team. This approach not only supports our budgeting strategy but also our intention to foster an environment that encourages long-term growth and strong relationships between Backroads and our valued employees.
Our office roles are onsite in our Berkeley headquarters, unless specifically noted as 'available for remote'. We do allow one work-from-home day a week, as well as one work-from-anywhere week per year. This pay range is intended for in-person work in our Berkeley, CA headquarters. Pay ranges for remote-eligible roles will be subject to adjustment based on the geolocation of the employee.
