Demand Planning Manager

The Opportunity:
We are seeking an experienced and highly analytical Supply Chain - Demand Planning Manager to join our team for an
18-month project duration
. This role is crucial for managing the Online & Offline demand planning of LUXE Products, ensuring forecast accuracy, driving catalogue rationalization, and playing a vital part in our Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes. If you thrive in a project-based environment, possess strong analytical capabilities, and can effectively lead cross-functional consensus, we encourage you to apply.

Main Responsibilities

• Manage Catalogue and Challenge Rationalization:

• Be responsible for comprehensive catalogue analysis and leading the catalogue rationalization process.

• Proactively challenge new launch catalogues and propose strategic discontinuations to optimize product offerings.

• Control and manage the Power BI (PBI) Catalogue tool for effective data visualization and decision-making.

• Manage Online & Offline Forecasting Process:

• Manage the global monthly sales forecast process, meticulously building turnover projections by piloting the sales forecast process.

• Contribute to the application of Group Standards for demand planning processes and tools, and drive continuous improvement initiatives. (This includes working with Forecasting Management (FM) for Sales & Inventory (SI) modelling and analyzing packages provided by Business Partners (BP)).
• Analyze the Demand Planning cockpit, conducting Root Cause Analysis (RCA) based on Global standards to identify and address forecasting discrepancies.
• Review, analyze, and transmit launch sizing to the S&OP team.
• Update data supply notes received from S&OP (covering Japan, Europe, and US sources).
• Ensure the active commitment of all relevant stakeholders throughout the demand planning cycle: during the preparation phase, consensus meetings, pre-validation phase, and final validation meetings.
• Challenge the business drivers provided by all stakeholders (assessing quality, consistency, relevancy, and exhaustiveness) to ensure efficient consensus building and alignment between collaborative forecasts and market trends.
• Drive stakeholders to analyze figures based on specific business drivers and formulate effective action plans when necessary.
• Be the owner of explicability throughout the entire forecasting process, ensuring transparency and clarity.

• Be the owner and challenger of all steps involved in meeting preparations.

• Ensure Consistency and Consensus on Sales Forecasts:

• Be responsible for the quality and consistency of data used for sales forecasts, acting as the Data Owner for relevant information.

• Ensure alignment on scenarios, risks, and opportunities to be presented at validation meetings, facilitating informed decision-making. Contribute significantly to the construction of both budget and trend forecasts.

• Build and Challenge Forecast:

• Be responsible for baseline modeling, incorporating both Online and Offline (O+O) modelling approaches.

• Challenge and consolidate sales forecasts for promotions, new launches, and Point of Sale (POS) materials, as developed by the Sales and Marketing teams.
• Consolidate all forecast components: baseline, launch, promotion, and both offline and online forecasts.

• Manage forecast using PBI/FM tools effectively.

• Analyze Forecast Performance:

• Be fully responsible for monitoring sales forecast performance, tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as Forecast Accuracy in SI and Bias.

• Conduct rigorous tracking of actual sales versus forecast (e.g., M-3/M-1), performing root cause analysis, and building and implementing action plans for continuous performance improvement.

• Contribute to the performance analysis of promotions and launches in collaboration with Sales and Marketing teams (utilizing the promotion library built by BP, and launch data consolidated by Demand Planning from Marketing input).

• Online Planning:

• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of end-to-end supply for the online segment (e.g., reservation models - Eluxe), including stock allocation based on forecast, bundling strategies, and online fulfillment processes from e-DP.

• Others:

• Manage Excess & Obsolescence (E&O) to minimize waste.
• Review supply plans monthly after incorporating the latest forecasts.
• Prepare and analyze zone-specific reports.
• Develop and review trend and budget forecasts.
• Undertake other tasks, projects to be assigned by line manager.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Forecast Accuracy in Sales & Inventory (SI)
• Forecast Bias

Skills And Qualifications

• Proven experience in demand planning and forecasting within a complex supply chain environment.
• Strong proficiency in Power BI (PBI) and Forecasting Management (FM) tools.
• Demonstrated analytical skills, including root cause analysis (RCA) and KPI tracking.
• Solid understanding and experience with Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes.
• Ability to challenge assumptions, drive consensus, and influence stakeholders effectively.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills to articulate complex data and insights.
• Strong organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail.
• Proficiency in data analysis and reporting.

Personality

• Highly analytical and data-driven.
• Proactive and results-oriented.
• Collaborative team player with strong interpersonal skills.
• Resilient and adaptable, especially within a project-focused role.
• Possesses integrity and a strong sense of ownership.
• Ideal Profile: Candidates should have extensive experience in demand planning, particularly within consumer goods or a similarly fast-paced industry, with a proven track record of managing both online and offline forecasting. Experience working on specific projects or fixed-term contracts and a background in challenging status quo and driving process improvements are highly valued.

Additional Information

• Employment Type: Fixed-term 18-month project contract.
• Working Experience: Minimum 5+ years in demand planning or supply chain management
• Travel Requirement: Occasional travel may be required