Demand Planner Benelux & Nordics

About the job

The goal of the position is to improve the supply chain service & performance for Industrial Accounts, Regional Accounts and/or Distributors & Artisans by being a key partner in the S&OP cross-functional process in Chocolate Benelux & Nordics. The demand planner will manage, capture and translate the demand signal into desired supply & service requirements in close collaboration with local & regional commercial, R&D, Finance and OSCO stakeholders. You will increase visibility and communication and ultimately improve service levels at the lowest cost. Externally you will build a profound understanding of the customer’ need and help drive collaboration and intimacy with key customers.

Key responsibilities include

• Lead the demand planning process for Benelux & Nordics on Industrial Accounts and/or Regional Accounts and/or Distributors & Artisans.
• Take overall responsibility for the demand plan figures within the Demand Planning system, ensuring they are representative of the S&OP latest cycle consensus plan (constrain the forecast when needed)
• Cooperate closely with sales in order to understand and reflect the latest business dynamics into the final forecast
• Be commercial’s main challenger when making sure forecasts reflect the most realistic demand outlook
• Reconcile top-down, bottom-up demand and gain consensus on new forecast assumptions
• Intensively work with business partners (Commercial & Financial analysts) on risks and opportunities, communicate them appropriately to SC counterparts (provide context beyond the numbers)
• Team up with the GBS demand planning team:
• Give guidance on how and where to enrich the forecast according to the latest forecast review discussions with sales
• Discuss and understand what is needed to improve forecast accuracy and forecast bias + translate into action plan
• Keep track of gaps with budgets and be able to explain
• Own the full local forecast construction process while making sure the monthly forecast cycle deadlines are met:
• Take the lead in the forecast validation with the Benelux & Nordics managing director
• Handover the local forecast and relevant information towards regional demand planning for the regional sign-off
• Work closely together with Finance on the YTG/YEF, budgeting and MTP process
• Coordinate phase in phase out for key innovation and product launches
• Collaborate with global supply chain organization on the consolidation of supply risks and early warnings for any supply disruption + communicate proactively to the sales community
• Contribute in reaching the right inventory health (incl. obsolescence) via active monitoring of stocks at risk and by setting up action plans with local commercial stakeholders
• Lead & manage the portfolio health assessment and optimization for your portfolio
• Act as a key contributor to the Value Creation Program identified for key/strategic customers (focus on improving service jointly, avoid cost/create shared value and bring visibility on ESG initiatives. This will require a close collaboration both internally and externally including frequent customer visits / organizing workshops.