Director, Economic Strategy & Forecasting

This is a hybrid position in Houston, TX requiring an on-site presence 3-4 days per week in Houston, TX. Please note that the number of days on-site can be increased based on business needs.

Sysco is searching for a Director, Economic Strategy & Forecasting
, to join the U.S. Food service (USFS) Finance team. This newly established position is responsible for leading a team that develops forecasts grounded in economic principles. These forecasts are designed to translate macroeconomic conditions, commodity cycles, and pricing actions across Sysco’s diverse customer types and categories. The Director acts as the company's economic authority on volume, collaborating with leaders in revenue management, merchandising, and supply chain to develop a unified, causally reliable forecast.

This is a strategic leadership role focused on safeguarding and increasing profitable volume.

• Oversee the entire volume forecasting framework, covering weekly, monthly, and long-term horizons.
• Develop econometric demand models segmented by customer type.
• Establish macro-adjusted baseline demand signals across Sysco’s markets and regions.
• Work with sales and merchandising leadership to evaluate and value initiatives intended to drive incremental growth.

• Interpret CPI, PPI, food-away-from-home indices, consumer sentiment, and employment indicators to assess their impact on volume.
• Create scenario-based outlooks (base, upside, downside) that are tied to economic assumptions.

• Establish frameworks to break down volume performance into macro demand, pricing and elasticity, mix and substitution, and initiative contribution.
• Lead forecast back-testing, accuracy diagnostics, and overall model governance.

• Quantify price-volume response and elasticity for each customer type and category.
• Provide analyses of volume-at-risk and delivered margin impact to inform pricing decisions.
• Collaborate with the Pricing COE to evaluate inflation pass-through and pricing guardrails.

• Act as a thought partner to USFS FP&A, Revenue Management, Merchandising, Supply Chain, Sales, and Field Finance.
• Translate complex economic modeling into narratives and decision frameworks suitable for executive audiences.
• Lead economic outlook reviews within the Sales & Operations Planning cadence.

• Recruit and develop analytical talent while establishing modeling standards and documentation protocols.
• Build scalable forecasting infrastructure and institutionalize best practices across functions.
• Create a roadmap for long-term forecasting maturity.

• A bachelor’s degree in economics, econometrics, statistics, applied mathematics, finance, data science, or closely related quantitative discipline is required.
• Master’s degree in economics, Econometrics, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Data Science, or an MBA with a strong quantitative concentration is strongly preferred.

• At least 10 years of experience in forecasting, economic analytics, pricing strategy, commercial finance, or a related field.
• At least 5 years in a leadership capacity managing advanced analytics or forecasting teams.
• Experience working in a complex, multi-category, decentralized organization.
• Proven ability to influence senior executives through data-driven insights

Experience in Large-Scale Distribution (Food service, Industrial, Healthcare, B2B) preferred

• Experience in advanced econometric modeling, including panel data, elasticity estimation, and time-series forecasting.
• Experience with ARIMA, VAR, regression modeling, and scenario simulation techniques.
• Strong understanding of inflation dynamics and commodity market cycles.
• Proficiency in Python, R, or similar statistical tools.
• Exceptional business translation skills, with the ability to connect models to margin outcomes.
• Ability to work seamlessly between technical teams and executive leadership.
• Demonstrates intellectual rigor without over complicating decision-making processes.
• Balances centralized economic authority with collaborative engagement in the field.
• Communicates economic uncertainty clearly and credibly.
• Exercises strong governance discipline.
• Strong interpersonal, leadership, communication, and presentation skills
• Self-starter with a strong ability to lead and develop a new team
• Professional attitude, service orientation, strong work ethic; superb team player