Demand Planner - JHB at Abbott

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• DEMAND PLANNING: own the demand forecast process, consolidate the country demand forecasts in sales and units and develop a realistic demand plan for Africa. Anticipate when to act and provide supporting detail to reach consensus on the demand forecast, identify and articulate issues and decisions that need to be addressed in the IBP meeting. Challenge forecast assumptions, ensure the demand forecast is integrated into and synchronized with the financial plans, continuously monitor variables affecting demand, collect and report rationale for variances and deviations to target.
• TAKES ACCOUNTABILITY AND OWNERSHIP OF THE SYNC CHART PROCESS for Africa Liaising with Delkenheim and Des Plaines for Direct Shipment
• FORECASTING ACCURACY: drive accountability for demand forecast accuracy in the region through KPI reporting and feedback to process participants.
• IBP PROCESS: ALIGNS WITH MANAGING DIRECTOR AND COMMERCIAL EXCELLENCE ON the Integrated business planning {IBP) process with senior management and cross-functional teams across Africa through monthly Demand Review meetings.
• OVERSEEING PROCESSES IN DELIVERY OF THE MONTH/ QUARTER: analyze the demand for the month/ quarter and work closely with Supply Chain team, Head of Commercial Excellence and Managing Director to ensure sales commitments can be met. Creates and manages area or country product/shipment allocations during times of short supply.
• NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES support the development of new product launches and retirements plans
• COMMUNICATION: support management team in demand planning and forecasting accuracy improvements, develop and maintain communication links between finance, marketing, sales, and commercial excellence to ensure proper execution of the forecast
• KPI MANAGEMENT: develop, maintain, and constantly improve processes and performance measures for Africa
• FUNDER DEMAND: Attend all funder calls and provides input on all demand related questions
• FUNDER DEMAND: Ensure that Abbotts demand aligns with funder contracts ensuring Africa is always within the OTIF, KPI stipulated by funders in their SLA
• WEEKLY REPORTING on Demand for region Africa and ensuring no stock out in any country
• DEVELOPS AND IMPLEMENTS PROGRAMS to help the field be more efficient and allow sales team to be more time in front of customers
• Africa Growth Charts / KPI TRACKING REPORTS ON MONTHLY BASIS
• Work through the SYNCH CHART ON MONTHLY BASIS to ensure the supply can cater for Other Africa needs
• Manage the stock assignment with SNR Commercial Analyst, EMEA and Head of  Commercial to get the needed stock requirement in-route to South-Africa

ENSURE STOCK RECONS

• Understand customer expectations on KPI's, provide visibility to their scorecards internally and deliver on customers' KPI expectations wrt demand
• Collaborates with key stakeholders and those who influence service performance; including Commercial teams, Supply Planning, freight, and warehousing service providers to address ways to improve customer satisfaction
• BACK ORDER MANAGEMENT – and ongoing feedback to sales team

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• University Degree in Supply Chain and or logistics, or equivalent business experience

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE:

• 4 years experience in a Snr Demand planning role
• Excellent MS Office skills, especially Excel and Power Point
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with ability to communicate across all organizational levels, confident presenting to senior management
• Enjoy working independently in an agile business environment
• Office based
• Accountability and Ownership of Demand Process     
• Long-term, strategic focus on global account relationship in terms of demand planning: Chemonics, Global Fund, UNDP, UNICEF
• Travel up to 30%
• Fluent in English