Demand Planning Manager at Kerry

About the role

• The Demand Planning Manager is responsible for generating a monthly forecast for a portfolio of products through a combination of statistical analysis, gathering of market intelligence and engagement with customers / Commercial team on understanding and forecasting future demand. The Demand Planning Manager plays a critical role in facilitating the communication between the Commercial team, Finance and the Supply Chain. The Demand Planning Manager is also tasked with securing a demand consensus as part of the monthly process. 
• This role would ideally suit an analytical, career driven individual who is able to exhibit dynamic capabilities with different organisational teams to achieve company targets and customer satisfaction.

Key responsibilities

• Create base forecasts from various sources including commercial, customers, marketing, sites, and historical sales data   
• Create a finalized plan against the time period(s) specified 
• Ensure the Demand Planning process is conducted on agreed cycles 
• Manage weekly demand planning process reports 
• Prepare daily / weekly reports on agreed key Demand Planning metrics 
• Communicate demand planning policy to sites as often as needed, together with the customer and supply chain implications of the demand plan 
• Provide analysis of and feedback on the customer and business rules to ensure optimal supply to markets and customers 
• Support the enablement of development projects through to launch, and identify product delists, to minimise material risk and service failures 
• Provide support and suggest solutions where business targets are not being realised 
• Attend and contribute to Supply Chain Meetings as required
• Accountability S&OP monthly reporting 
• Training of local supply chain teams on demand planning best practices, use of stock and forecasting accuracy / error measures to improve forecasting effectiveness  

Qualifications and skills

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain (BCom) or equivalent. 
• 4-5 years Supply Chain experience, of which 3 - 5 years must be in demand planning function including forecasting or sales and operations planning (S&OP) environment or with a proven track record in Supply Chain 
• Fluent in English, highly numerate; first class analytical skills including data manipulation 
• Flexible approach - excellent leadership skills together with strong team ethic 
• Experience of SAP APO, MS EXCEL®
• Experience in Power BI is an advantage.
• Effective problem-solving, numeracy and analytical skills at both operational and tactical levels
• Ability to manage complexity and ambiguity
• Good communicator across all levels within and external to the organization
• Strong negotiation skills and ability to build rapport and influence across all levels in the organisation
• Excellent self-management practices with a pro-active, energetic and committed approach
• Excellent presentation and report drafting skills
• Ability to manage multiple streams of information optimally with attention to detail
• An inclination towards the quantitative disciplines of mathematics, statistics and economics would be advantageous
• Basic business financial understanding would be advantageous. Basic business financial understanding would be advantageous
• Customer engagement