Demand Planner

A little bit about Lindt

We are a premium chocolate manufacturer established in 1845 operating in over 86 countries around the World. Guided by our Global purpose to Enchant the World with Chocolate and UK vision of Creating Moments to Make Everyone Feel Special, we have around 400 team members in the UK across our Head Office, Retail, and Field Sales divisions. We are a Top 20 Great Place to Work and are proud of our incredible people, our unique values-led culture and our iconic market leading brands such as LINDOR & GOLD BUNNY.

We’re also proud of being one of the few ‘bean-to-bar’ chocolate makers in the world, where we control every step of our chocolate production.

How you could help us to Enchant the World with Chocolate

We have an exciting opportunity where you could be a part of our incredible team.

In this role you will be fully creating, developing and reporting the evolution of demand coming from the consensual plan discussed between Supply Chain, Sales and Marketing department. This is a high-profile role that is the key point of contact between the market and the supply planning team to ensure goods are delivered on time and in full.

Responsible for full utilization of the APO Demand Planning tool, the DP will interact daily with other Supply Chain teams, Sales, Marketing, Logistics and Finance to achieve corporate benchmarks relating to the rolling forecast by customer by brand.

The DP will be responsible for preparing and driving the monthly reviews (LBP process) for their Customer accounts. The DP will be jointly responsible for customer forecasts with the Account Teams and is a key forecasting resource necessary in the demand planning process through direct analysis of past, current and future purchase trends.

The DP will work closely with marketing to provide a long-term forecast at SKU/Division Level, they will facilitate a monthly meeting with the relevant brand manager(s) to enable this.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Drive the yearly / monthly demand planning processes (Budget, 24 months Rolling Sales Plan) through fully utilizing the APO Demand Planning Forecasting tool to provide a consensus forecast for Lindt products at SKU/customer level
• Use the various analysis tools (AC Nielsen/EPOS...) to provide insight to all generated numbers
• Facilitate weekly/monthly meetings with Sales, Marketing, Logistics and Finance incorporating this forum as a key process to accurate forecasting.  Providing accurate minutes of these meetings will be essential to ensuring appropriate next steps are implemented and action is taken
• Provide timely Weekly/monthly base Rolling Sales Plan based on the APO forecast and agreed with sales
• Constantly analyse Demand Planning process and suggest process improvement ideas to management on a regular basis
• Participate in / lead necessary Demand planning related Task Forces designed to improve Planning Accuracy
• Work with Marketing to introduce new products and manage the phase in / phase out of forecast for changing items
• Work with Supply Planning to ensure that all future sales demand is ready and utilized in the MRP netting process
• For your customer portfolio, build trust with your customer planning counterpart to enable free exchange of data and to influence volumes and phasing (particularly for promotional volume management)

What experience you’ll bring

• The Demand Planner will demonstrate a high level of knowledge of FMCG businesses, the category and the trade.  An attitude of constant learning must be applied to each project
• Strong analytical and mathematical skills are required. (A Level, or numerate based Degree)
• Functional knowledge of retail and account management functions in order to understand all of the relevant factors which must be taken into account when analysing business strategy
• Undergraduate degree preferred
• Extensive experience of working in collaboration with Sales or Marketing within a commercially-orientated blue chip FMCG company
• Commercial acumen with good knowledge of P&Ls
• Proven negotiation skills
• Excellent organisational, communication and presentation skills
• Proven ability to influence across, and network with, a variety of internal and external stakeholders
• Enthusiastic self-starter with the ability to prioritise and manage a number of diverse tasks in a fast-paced-environment
• Excellent attention to detail
• Advanced Computer Proficiency in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Knowledge of SAP and APO Demand Planning software is required with Cognos/Promax an advantage

Being yourself every day

We want everyone at Lindt feel safe to be themselves, ensuring they are empowered, represented, celebrated and included in our workplace. You’ll notice this throughout the recruitment process; in our ‘dress for your day’ policy and through our proactive DE&I strategy.

Living our values everyday

At Lindt UK, our values guide us in everything we do. Being Passionately Lindt, Always Evolving, Building Real Relationships, Acting Responsibly and Making An Impact are an integral part of life here at Lindt.

What you can expect from us

In return for everything that you’ll bring, we can offer you an exciting role in a fast-growing organisation, where we’ll provide an environment where you will thrive, feel supported and fulfil your career aspirations. As well as supporting your physical and mental wellbeing, as part of our offering, you will receive a competitive compensation and benefits package including; competitive salary, bonus, pension, life cover, chocolate allowance; chocolate give-aways, chocolate discount, £100 personal incentive, birthday day off and so much more!

Where you’ll be based
This role is based in Feltham, London (Hybrid Working: in the office 60% and WFH 40%).