Demand Planner

Advocate Group; Oxford; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Advocate Group is supporting an international drinks business from its Oxford-based Planning team. They are seeking a proactive Demand Planner who can learn quickly and apply data-driven forecasting to improve stock availability and forecast accuracy.

You’ll work with Sales, Marketing and Supply Planning to analyse data, build forecasts and support monthly planning cycles. A degree is beneficial, and Excel skills are essential for success in this role.

Qualifications

• 18 months+ experience in supply chain, planning, or data-focused roles.
• Strong Excel skills and comfort with numbers and data.
• Analytical mindset with ability to spot trends and investigate discrepancies.
• Excellent attention to detail and ability to manage competing priorities.
• Good communication skills and confidence to collaborate with different teams.
• Interest in developing a career in demand planning and forecasting within FMCG.

Responsibilities

• Analyze sales, customer and historical data to build and maintain demand forecasts.
• Use Excel to interpret data, identify trends and flag supply or stock issues.
• Coordinate with Sales, Account Management and marketing on demand changes and promotions.
• Support monthly planning processes and customer forecast reviews.
• Collaborate with production, supply planning and logistics to ensure stock availability.
• Produce reports to inform business decisions and challenge forecast assumptions where needed.

Skills

Excel proficiency

Data analysis

Forecasting

Attention to detail

Cross‑functional communication

Career growth potential

Education

Degree beneficial

Tools

Excel

Job description

Are you someone who enjoys working with numbers, analysing data and figuring out how to keep products moving? Looking to take the next step in your supply chain or operations career and develop your planning skills?

We're working with a well-established international drinks business looking for a Demand Planner to join its Planning team. This is a great opportunity for someone with a background in supply chain, operations or a related analytical role who wants to develop their forecasting and demand planning experience within a fast-paced FMCG environment.

You don't need to be an experienced Demand Planner already. If you're confident working with Excel, enjoy working with data and have the drive to learn, we'd love to hear from you.

The Role

You'll play an important part in helping the business forecast demand, maintain stock availability and ensure products are in the right place at the right time. Working closely with Sales, Marketing, Supply Planning and customer teams, you'll use data and insights to support business planning and improve forecast accuracy.

Key responsibilities include:

• Analysing sales, customer and historical data to build and maintain demand forecasts across products and accounts.
• Using Excel to interpret data, identify trends and highlight potential supply or availability issues.
• Working with Sales and Account Management teams to understand changes in demand, new product listings, promotions and seasonal trends.
• Supporting the monthly business planning process and customer forecast reviews.
• Coordinating forecasts with production, supply planning and logistics teams to support stock availability.
• Monitoring promotional activity, reviewing forecast accuracy and analysing performance after promotions.
• Producing reports and management information to help the business make informed decisions.
• Building relationships with internal teams and customers, sharing insights and constructively challenging forecast assumptions where needed.

What We're Looking For

We're open-minded about your background. You could already be working in demand planning, but equally, you might be in supply planning, supply chain coordination, operations, inventory management or another role where you've developed strong analytical skills.

You'll ideally bring:

• Around 18 months or more of experience in supply chain, operations, planning or a data-focused role. Direct demand planning experience is beneficial, but not essential.
• Good Excel skills and confidence working with numbers, spreadsheets and data.
• A strong analytical mindset, with the ability to spot trends, investigate discrepancies and draw conclusions from data.
• Excellent attention to detail and a well‑organised approach to managing competing priorities.
• Good communication skills and the confidence to work with different teams across the business.
• A genuine interest in developing your career in demand planning and learning how forecasting supports a wider business.
• Experience within FMCG, retail or a customer‑focused supply chain environment would be advantageous.

A degree would be beneficial, but we're particularly interested in your analytical ability, attitude and potential to grow.

Interested?

If you're analytical, confident with Excel and keen to grow your career, we'd love to hear from you.

The Advocate Group is a leading recruitment partner to the FMCG and consumer product sectors. We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified individuals, regardless of race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, or age. By applying for this role, you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy, which can be found on our website. The Advocate Group is acting as an employment agency in relation to this vacancy.