Market Collaboration Planner Site Lead Lordsview at Unilever

Main Job Purpose:

This role is the main interface between the L2 Planning Hub and the Market (L1) for supply planning, collaborating with the operations teams and L1 Execution Planners to ensure L1 plans are adopted and service levels and working capital targets are met. The Market Collaboration Planner will be the Planning contact point for the Market on Supply and Innovation for the category, with a short to medium term planning focus.

Key Accountabilities:

Supply:

• Ensure that any critical information from Sales and Operations teams in Market required to create executable plans are shared with the Hub
• Ensure monthly Finished Goods supply plan is in line with agreed demand plan and month end FG stocks for the category
• Drive acceptance of supply plans, ensuring adoption by Sales and Operations teams
• Drive plan effectiveness over short to medium term
• Responsible for the following planning inputs from the Market into S&OP: end to end supply planning (local, 3P, imports) and resultant stock availability at MSO for the 0 – 24-month horizon
• Recommend parameter changes from L2 and liaise with Sales and Operations teams to get these approved
• Alongside the Demand Planner, responsible for the supply and demand reconciliation process being in place and is a key member of S&OP ‘Shape’ meeting
• Actively support the Demand Fulfilment Manager on the preparation of the S&OP, and contribute bringing insights and recommendations when required
• Identify potential bottlenecks on finished goods production, and propose ways to resolve them at optimal cost
• Review the rough cut capacity planning for the category to ensure that customer service, stock and cost (working capital and factory recoveries) requirements are met through S&OP ‘Supply’ meeting
• Responsible for Supply inputs to Regional Demand Supply Reconciliation process
• Integrate supply chain constraints into the current month’s operational forecast through the S&OP process
• The Market Collaboration Planner will be the first Planning contact point for the Market on Supply and Innovation, with an operational day-to-day planning focus
• First point of escalation for trade off decisions outside of the Hub’s level of authority; For Imports, this responsibility is executed in close co-operation with & full support of, the Imports/Exports Team

Service:

• Drive integrated activities with the broader supply chain and customer teams as well as through collaboration both internally and externally to ensure customer service requirements are understood and met
• Responsible for the overall stock availability for the category
• Responsible for joint projects to improve responsiveness and flexibility
• Drive resolution of short-term constraints for SKUs shared between export and local for the category (export specific SKUs will be managed by factory scheduler / export hub)
• Update monthly Service Loss Tree
• Oversee monthly Service Review (performance vs plan, update fcst YTG) and sign-off with Demand Fulfilment Manager

Working Capital Management:

• Drive improvements on working capital recommended by L2 Inventory Optimisation Specialist including inventory holding policy change in order to meet customer service level targets
• Own and manage the finished goods obsolete and excessive stock.  Raise and manage provisions in accordance with policy. Own the stock cover line for total forward supply view (weeks 0 – 52), balancing service levels and costs appropriately
• Ensure accurate stocks forecast is in place for category(ies)
• Responsible for inventory DOH for the category
• Responsible for updating monthly Inventory Loss Tree
• Oversee monthly Working Capital Review (performance vs plan, update fcst YTG) and sign-off with Demand Fulfilment Manager

Business Waste:

• Manage and update weekly Business Waste projections
• Oversee monthly Business Waste Review (performance vs plan, update fcst YTG) and sign-off with Demand Fulfilment Manager
• Responsible for updating monthly Business Waste Loss Tree
• Work with Execution Planner to close actions on waste prevention for Finished Goods and Packing and Raw Materials
• Input into Distribution Network Capacity Planning:
• Provide input (pallet holding) to the distribution team to ensure that customer service level and financial targets are met
• Work closely with distribution to understand outbound network constraints and liase with the appropriate planning teams (site and third party) to overcome short term constraints

Innovation:

• Monitoring that innovation plan is on track as per agreed stock cover
• Point of contact to cross-functional business teams aftermarket ready gate

Reporting:

• Review daily the performance of the current month and provide feedback to the Demand Fulfilment Manager

Exception Management:

• Sign-off and escalate exceptions to Demand Fulfilment Manager
• Professional Skills & Standards of Leadership:
• Future fit planning skills is an advantage (Supply Chain and planning Mastery; Leading for growth and High performance)
• Tertiary degree with Supply Chain and/ or Business Management is preferred. An engineering degree will also be considered, with experience in the general supply chain being an advantage
• Further studies in supply chain, including a APICS/SAPICS qualification, would be beneficial
• A good understanding of, and the use of SAP is essential
• Planning and functional business process knowledge
• Strong Business Acumen
• Business partnering experience
• Excellent communication skills and ability to influence stakeholders to achieve results
• Strong change, service and agile mindset
• Strong accountability and responsibility
• Standards of Leadership: Business Acumen; Talent Catalyst; Passion for high performance

Experience Required:

• Operational experience in either source, plan, make or deliver: 2-4 years’ experience
• Strong evidence of the distinguishing competencies as outlined above
• Sound business background in order to appreciate the impact of their role within the broader business, and especially with reference on managing and meeting business targets/forecasts.
• They must be restless for excellence and must pro-actively pursue opportunities for improvement and be able to take a broad base of the business with them
• Working knowledge of S&OP
• Understanding of “Make” and “Source” processes

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.