The Demand Planning Manager is responsible for leading the development of accurate, unbiased demand forecasts (short term and long term) whilst delivering strong forecast accuracy and demand control– by leading the E2E demand planning process, developing and implementing forecasting models, and analyzing market trends to drive business growth and optimize supply chain efficiency.

The role partners closely with Sales, Marketing, Finance and Supply Chain to drive forecast accuracy, enable effective S&OP+ decision and support service, inventory and revenue objectives.

The Demand Planning Manager co-pilots end-to-end planning via leadership collaboration with Demand & Supply functions into the S&OP+ process.

• Is a key stakeholder in delivery of Step 2 (Demand Management review - DMR).
• Focus both short-term (next 12 weeks) and long-term (Yr 1-3) time horizons.
• Responsibility for period end demand related reporting and inputs into S&OP process.
• Identify areas of Risk and Opportunity to the demand forecast.

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What are we looking for?

• Minimum of a BA/BS in a Business, Supply Chain or a Business-related field.
• Minimum 5 years of direct Demand Planning experience, ideally in the CPG industry.
• 3 to 5 years of People leadership experience is mandatory.
• Advanced Demand Forecasting experience (Ability to understand and adapt to proprietary finance/forecast systems).
• Great cross-functional collaboration and understanding of sales, supply planning and customer service processes.
• Solid understanding of S&OP process, E2E.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent analytical skills (mathematical aptitude and information filtering).
• Strong computer skills: Excel modelling, Power BI, Queries, SQL, Co-Pilot, Power Point presentations.
• Six Sigma an asset.

What will be your key responsibilities?

• Own the end-to-end demand forecasting process and is responsible for Forecast Accuracy and Bias for total volume forecast (Short and Long Term)
• Lead the delivery of the most accurate demand forecast using the customers’ demand and supply chain data, historical data, best practice planning methodology, accurate base and promotional forecasts, Sales LE tracking & reporting, and Demand Planning systems,
• Lead and facilitate the delivery of the DMR (Step 2 of S&OP+) process from feeder meetings for all customers driving accountability with the total organization and facilitates to drive quality decision making within each periodic review. Presenting risks, opportunities and scenarios. Adopt a continuous improvement mindset, proactively identifying areas of improvement whilst keeping focus on execution excellence.
• Be responsible for managing the process that converts the agreed demand plan into production requirements and working with Supply Chain to ensure the product is delivered on time, in full to meet customer needs.
• Drives analysis of forecast performance and leverages modeling techniques to develop tactical and operational accurate demand forecasts that are data driven and unbiased
• Partner with sales leadership to support strategic demand planning and develop and execute solutions that enable efficiency, effectiveness and growth.
• Identifying opportunities to improve systems and processes to introduce better, faster, more accurate and scalable solutions that better meet customer needs and deliver strong forecast accuracy.
• Utilize operational reviews, supply chain trends, sales achievements, internal and external data to proactively gain insights, identify issues and propose improvements solutions.  This includes accurate identification, analysis and reporting of data e.g. loyalty, market, new product forecast, pipeline fill, and cannibalization.
• Supports the building of an effective and high performing team across Sales, Supply and Marketing creating strong morale and encouraging and facilitating open dialogue
• Provide Demand insights to KPIs linked to the organization’s strategies
• Lead, coach and develop demand planning team, providing guidance, training and coaching to ensure associates success while fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and collaboration.
• This role will be responsible for both the strategic and operational day-to-day function of demand planning and will be expected to work closely with stakeholders across all functions.

Other:

• Focus on continuous improvement agenda.
• Special Projects as required.
• Responsible for following all Quality and Food Safety Policies and applicable procedures.
• On job training and development.
• All other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

What can you expect from Mars?

• Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles.

• Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.

• Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.

• An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.

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