Job at a glance
Role Purpose: The primary responsibility of this role is to manage key elements of the forecasting process, facilitating its smooth execution while ensuring the Sales and Commercial teams can effectively own and deliver the forecast itself. This involves maintaining and optimising the Anaplan system to enable seamless task completion, ensuring and managing data integrity for products and customers, performing weekly data uploads, and managing the period rollover process.
Additionally, the role supports the creation of a consensus forecast that serves as a critical input for driving accurate demand planning and optimal inventory levels. The role of a Demand Planner is central to ensuring accurate demand forecasts, efficient inventory management, and seamless collaboration across teams, ultimately supporting the organisation's financial and operational goals. Responsibilities: Regional S&OP Coordination: Lead the Supply Chain preparation and coordination for Monthly Regional S&OP meetings across the UK and EU regions.
Ensure all inputs, materials, and data are prepared accurately and in a timely manner to support effective decision-making. Forecast Accuracy & Reporting: Maintain and continuously improve the forecast accuracy KPI by identifying areas for improvement. Produce detailed reports and analyse variances between customer (UK) and market (EU) OP submissions, providing actionable insights to drive focus and challenge where required.
Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure a consistent and reliable forecasting process. Risk and Opportunity Management: Maintain the Risk and Opportunities (R&O) file for SCIM and Regional S&OP meetings. Work closely with the Supply Planner to provide timely and accurate feedback on R&O updates, ensuring potential risks and opportunities are clearly communicated and addressed. Demand Review Meetings: Conduct monthly demand and forecast review meetings with individual salespersons, focusing on key strategic customers.
Analyse demand patterns, customer behaviour, and market trends to identify risks, opportunities, and key drivers of demand. Facilitate alignment on an 18-month rolling forecast, considering contracted safety stock levels and strategic objectives. Statistical Forecasting Support: Create and maintain statistical forecasts in Anaplan for key strategic customers to support the Commercial team in creating accurate and reliable sales forecasts.
Product Lifecycle Management SKU Lifecycle Management: Review and manage product lifecycles, maintaining the SKU rationalisation file. Coordinate the six-monthly review process to identify SKUs for discontinuation. New Product Launch Monitoring: Monitor and report on the performance of new product launches, comparing planned launch volumes against actual results over a 12-month post-launch period.
Highlight variances and recommend corrective actions where necessary. NPD/EPD Process Management: Oversee the introduction of NPD/EPD by ensuring accurate product setup in Anaplan hierarchies. Provide forecast guidance to the Commercial team, support phase-out timings, and ensure alignment with lifecycle stages. Product Setup & Lifecycle Management: Manage product setup and lifecycle processes within Anaplan, including NPD introductions, product changes, and discontinuations.
Ensure timely and accurate data entry to support commercial and Supply Chain functions Data Management & System Maintenance Anaplan System Management: Ensure data integrity within Anaplan, including maintaining product and customer hierarchies, managing period rollovers, archiving forecasts, and addressing data issues. Coordinate with the Anaplan admin team to resolve any system-related problems and implement enhancements.
Data Uploads and Issue Resolution: Perform weekly data uploads from NetSuite, identifying and resolving data discrepancies. Escalate unresolved issues to relevant parties for resolution. Supply Chain Collaboration Cross-Functional Collaboration: Represent the Sup