Role purpose
Demand planning / management & forecasting
- To directly manage the Territory/CU demand planning team and drive forecasting and demand planning best practice across all Territories within the Region
- To lead the deployment of the forecasting and demand planning / management processes and capabilities within the Region, in line with the global target operating model and agreed ways of working, and lead associated change management initiatives
- To establish and maintain a robust and efficient regional S&OP decision making platform, in line with global guidelines (joint accountability with Regional Supply Operations)
- To report and monitor defined regional demand planning / forecasting KPIs and metrics, and proactively recommend and drive improvement initiatives
- To actively support the Commercial and marketing teams in developing and signing off robust regional 5-year demand plans, in line with the global calendar
- To facilitate and support relevant demand / forecasting and S&OP platform activities, providing analytical support to guide decision-making and securing timely input to the global S&OP platform
Price and SKU management
- To lead the operational execution of the regional PMin process, incl. ensuring commercial price execution within regional PMin guidelines and a structured exception management process
- To manage of regional SKU range, within the established range hurdles, and oversee a structured phase-in / phase-out process
Accountabilities
Forecast and demand plan development: Monthly (Current Year) and Annual (5 Year)
- Lead the monthly regional demand review process
- Support the annual regional pre-SPP demand review process
- Assist in development of local replenishment strategies and objectives including customer service objectives, inventory targets and make recommendations for the global demand safety stock
- Support the setup and maintenance of local forecast alerts to monitor forecast consumption, drive alignment to agreed process and address main deviations
- Facilitate the annual review of exception management rules for respective Region (i.e. out of cycle changes, unforecasted demand etc)
Forecasting KPIs
- Roll out and drive regionally forecast accuracy and demand reliability metrics and reports, in line with global policy
- Track and measure performance against forecasting KPI`s, including action plans for improvement
Range Management
- To facilitate and support the incorporation of range management decisions (variety phase-in & phase-out, tail management) into the demand plan and the implication on associated SKUs; track and monitor through Regional S&OP process as required
- To establish and lead the regional operational SKU management process in line with commercial, marketing and supply guidance
- To lead the annual product segmentation process for the Region
Price management
- To facilitate the implementation and operational management of the regional PMIN process for all commercial varieties and SKUs, including exception management as required
Process set up and implementation
- Represents the Region in relevant global platforms to contribute to global target process design for demand planning/management and S&OP, as well as regional PMin and SKU management
- Ensure that critical demand planning and pricing processes & tools are designed and function as efficiently as possible and proactively review any improvements with regional and global teams
- Together with regional Supply Operations, establish and maintain a robust regional S&OP decision making platform, in line with global S&OP target process
- Serve as technical expert in matters concerning forecasting tools, process and system integration with P&S, Finance etc.
- Kick off and lead regional process / system improvement initiatives, in line with regional requirements and global efforts
- Manage the interface with Regional Supply Operations, financial forecasting, budgeting and S&OP, and ensure alignment with the Global Demand Planning Manager and OU team
- Regularly refresh knowledge and train the regional portfolio and demand planning community on process, system, KPIs and business rules
- Facilitate Territory / CU forecasting process improvement initiatives
Critical Experience (Experience/Previous Roles required for Job)
- Advanced skills in Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook.
- Operate statistical analysis tools
- Excellent communication skills
- Advanced analytical skills
- Proven leadership ability
Critical Knowledge (Education/ Development expected for Job)
- Bachelor Degree and/or Master, preferably in Business or Economics
- 3-5 years’ experience in a Demand Planning or Demand Management, Commercial Operations, Marketing or Supply Chain roles
- APICS accreditation
- ERP proficient knowledge
- Ability to deal with change and demonstrate problem solving
- Ability to organize and prioritize workload to meet deadlines, multi-task and complete projects on time
- Knowledge of demand management/forecasting tools, forecasting processes
