Business Planning Specialist

Bridgestone; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading tire manufacturer is seeking a Business Planning Specialist in the United Kingdom. This role focuses on supporting business planning activities for both Commercial and Consumer product groups. Responsibilities include ensuring accurate sales forecasting, coordinating planning inputs, and preparing performance reviews. Candidates should have a degree in Business or Economics, with experience in sales operations and strong analytical skills. This full-time position offers a hybrid work model and a range of development opportunities.

Benefits

Supportive onboarding experience

Training and mentorship

Corporate Social Responsibility activities

Dynamic work environment

Work/life balance

Qualifications

• Experience in business planning and sales operations.
• Strong analytical skills for data-driven decision-making.
• Ability to manage cross-functional collaborations.

Responsibilities

• Prepare weekly sales planning in coordination with the LSCM team.
• Ensure monthly input to the Central Demand Planning team.
• Coordinate and support preparation of Sales Performance Reviews.

Skills

Sales forecasting

Data analysis

Business strategy

Performance management

Education

Degree in Business, Economics, or related field

Job description

Business Planning Specialist

POSITION SNAPSHOT

Type of work: Hybrid

Type of contract: Open-ended/permanent

Full/Part Time: Full time

Location: GB-GB03, GB

ABOUT US

Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM), headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and Bridgestone Europe, Middle East and Africa (BSEMEA), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, operate collectively as a “Bridgestone West” strategic region. This region services the strategic business needs of teams across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa. BSAM and BSEMEA are subsidiaries of Bridgestone Corporation, globally headquartered in Japan. Bridgestone and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand products and solutions to address the needs of a broad range of customers and industries.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Job purpose

At the market level, following HQ guidelines, she/he will support all Business Planning activities for both Commercial and Consumer product groups, with a primary focus on Commercial while ensuring business continuity and backup support for Consumer.

The role contributes to accurate sales forecasting, structured governance and data-driven decision‑making by coordinating planning inputs, consolidating results and preparing performance materials for management reviews.

The local function is centrally driven and operates within a collaborative model that integrates local market insights and customer value. This role reports to the Sales Operations Manager and works closely with two Sales Directors with a functional reporting line to central Business Planning.

Responsibilities

• Prepare weekly Landing Point (LP) and Sales Planning in coordination with the LSCM team, ensuring customer delivery reliability and enabling performance management to support the achievement of company targets.
• Ensure monthly input to Central Demand Planning team to secure demand signal quality, facilitating accurate supply planning. Ensure coordination and alignment across pricing strategy, marketing, logistics & supply chain (LSCM) and Go‑To‑Market (GTM) plans.
• Gap Analysis & Action Planning
  • Identify gaps in performance and convert insights into concrete action plans to support sales target achievement together with Sales Directors.
  • Monitor sales performance, proactively identify deviations from plan and conduct root‑cause analyses to initiate corrective actions
• Streamlined Management Reporting
  • In alignment with HQ’s guidelines coordinate and support the preparation of Sales Performance Business Reviews, Executive Review meetings and handle ad‑hoc requests from VPs, central teams or local Sales Directors.
  • Consolidate market performance results and trends, highlighting key drivers, risks & opportunities.
  • Ensure alignment of all business performance materials with HQ templates and standards.
• Budgeting (OB, Field budget and Customer Targets)
  • Coordinate and prepare Budget (OB) and Latest Forecast (LF) processes at the local level, granting B4P inputs.
  • Consolidate high‑level DUMS input for OB and contribute to financial simulations and what‑if scenarios in alignment with HQ demand planning, Business Planning and Sales team.
  • Coordinate the preparation and maintenance of the field sales budget in alignment with HQ guidelines and local Sales team, which underpins the Sales Incentive Plan (SIP).
  • Coordinate and manage customer targets in collaboration with the local organization to support performance goals, following HQ policies, granting follow‑up and alignment with Pricing team.
• Promote strong engagement with local Sales teams through kick‑off meetings, alignment sessions and interactions with key customers.
• Contribute to sales enablement and execution efforts through close contact with the Sales teams, ensure continuous market feedback, explain the guidelines and provide operational tools and presentations to effectively activate and support the Sales force.
• Ensure regional coordination and execute company’s priorities incorporating local market insight into overall sales GTM plans to ensure customer centricity and market needs.
• Collaborate closely with Sales Leaders, Finance, Marketing and LSCM to ensure aligned assumptions, realistic targets and timely information flow.
• Support coordination between Consumer and Commercial planning activities to ensure continuity, standardization and mutual backup when required.
• Contribute to simplification and standardization of planning and reporting processes in line with HQ guidance.
• Support automation and digitalization initiatives aimed at improving forecasting accuracy and operational efficiency

WHAT WE OFFER

At Bridgestone, what really matter is to foster co‑creation opportunities and empowering you to be creative and curious to make mobility safer, more efficient, and more sustainable for future generations. Whatever role you fill, when you represent Bridgestone, you are a valued teammate, and part of our larger mission to “Serve Society with Superior Quality”, for that, we offer you more than just a competitive payment; we will provide you:

• A supportive and engaging onboarding experience to ensure a smooth transition into our team.
• The opportunity to develop and grow, through training and regular mentorship.
• Corporate Social Responsibility activities.
• A truly global, dynamic and challenging work environment.
• Agility and work/life effectiveness and your long‑term well‑being.
• A diverse and inclusive team.

We are committed to create an even more inclusive culture that advances equity, embraces individuality, and helps our increasingly diverse teammates, customers, and communities thrive, by providing equal opportunities in employment. This means that all job applicants and members of staff will receive equal treatment and that we will not discriminate on grounds of gender, marital status, race, ethnicity, color, nationality, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, religion or age.