Demand Planner (Fresh Foods)

Sainsbury's; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK retailer is seeking a Demand Planner to join their fresh team. This role, based in London, operates on a hybrid working model and is crucial for ensuring product availability while driving sales growth. Responsibilities include cross-functional collaboration, optimizing supply chain systems, and enhancing customer satisfaction. The ideal candidate will have 3-5 years of experience in demand planning and possess strong analytical skills. If you are motivated by continuous improvement and stakeholder management, apply now.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in demand planning or related role.
• Deep understanding of supply chain dynamics and commercial forecasting methods.
• Ability to apply data analytics to solve complex problems.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with commercial teams and hold stakeholders accountable.
• Drive supplier partnerships and enhance network operations.
• Optimize supply chain systems for customer availability.

Skills

Demand planning

Inventory management

Data analytics

Customer centric mindset

Stakeholder management

Business acumen

Tools

SAP

Oracle

JDA

Blue Yonder

Job description

As a Demand Planner within our fresh team, you will play a crucial role in ensuring market leading product availability, driving sales growth, and optimising our inventory levels and cost to serve. In this role, you will analyse and validate demand forecasts and collaborate with various stakeholders to develop and execute effective demand planning strategies. Your role is key in maintaining our commitment to customer obsession, ensuring that we continue to deliver exceptional service and value to our customers. Your efforts will directly contribute to enhancing our bottom line, making a tangible impact on our profitability and overall business performance.

This role operates on a hybrid working model based from out London Support Office

What I am accountable for:

• Cross functional collaboration: Build and sustain strong relationships with commercial teams, including Buyers, Range Planners, Technical, and Product Development. Hold stakeholders accountable to ensure process compliance, balancing product availability and P&L performance.
• Supplier Partnerships: Proactively drive the supplier agenda by fostering trust-based strategic partnerships and developing joint business plans. Focus on enhancing network operations, optimizing stock holding, improving working capital, and achieving supplier targets.
• Data optimisation: Use data analytics, market trends, performance metrics, and customer behaviour insights to solve complex problems, ensure data integrity and optimise supply chain systems for exceptional customer availability.
• Customer Focus: Apply a customer lens across all KPIs, perform root cause analysis at various levels and develop action plans that add value to both the bottom line and customer satisfaction (CSAT).
• Category Management: Ensure comprehensive management over category profiles, validate and communicate the impacts of future events and seasonal trade patterns to ensure success for both suppliers and retail teams.
• Risk Management: Anticipate and identify potential risks, proactively develop and implement contingency plans, and evaluate risks within the broader strategic planning context.
• Continuous Improvement: Apply a continuous improvement mindset to create and lead initiatives for your product portfolio that generate improvements in service or drive efficiencies and have a positive impact to both top line and Cost to Serve.
• Long-Term Planning: Drive long-term supply planning with a horizon beyond one year and consider both company ambitions and market challenges to ensure supply surety and resilience.

What I need to know:

• Experience: Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in demand planning, inventory management, or a related role within the retail industry.
• Supply Chain knowledge: Deep understanding of supply chain dynamics, inventory management, and distribution strategies specific to the sector. Strong knowledge of best-in-class commercial forecasting methods and tools in FMCG industry.
• Technical & analytical skills: Experience using complex analytics, data interrogation and root cause analysis to solve complex problems and drive better outputs from demand planning software (e.g., SAP, Oracle, JDA, Blue Yonder).
• Customer centric mindset: Ability to apply a customer focus across all KPIs and in decision making.
• Continuous improvement: Demonstrates end to end thinking to drive performance improvement in both processes and across all KPIs, delivering efficiencies and improvements to the P&L.
• Stakeholder management and collaboration: Ability to develop strong business partnering relationships, stakeholder management, and cross-functional working at all levels. Ability to tell stories and provide answers to ensure effective communication.
• Business Acumen: Strong business and commercial acumen with an understanding of the market context as well as Sainsbury’s ambitions and challenges.

Essential

• Experience: Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in demand planning, inventory management, or a related role within the retail industry.
• Supply Chain knowledge: Deep understanding of supply chain dynamics, inventory management, and distribution strategies specific to the sector. Strong knowledge of best-in-class commercial forecasting methods and tools in FMCG industry.
• Technical & analytical skills: Experience using complex analytics, data interrogation and root cause analysis to solve complex problems and drive better outputs from demand planning software (e.g., SAP, Oracle, JDA, Blue Yonder).
• Customer centric mindset: Ability to apply a customer focus across all KPIs and in decision making.
• Continuous improvement: Demonstrates end to end thinking to drive performance improvement in both processes and across all KPIs, delivering efficiencies and improvements to the P&L.
• Stakeholder management and collaboration: Ability to develop strong business partnering relationships, stakeholder management, and cross-functional working at all levels. Ability to tell stories and provide answers to ensure effective communication.
• Business Acumen:Strong business and commercial acumen with an understanding of the market context as well as Sainsbury’s ambitions and challenges.

Desirable

• Desirable