Demand Planning Manager

AFL Telecommunications, LLC; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a skilled Demand Planner to enhance their forecasting processes and ensure seamless supply chain operations. In this pivotal role, you will proactively troubleshoot issues related to cost, quality, and delivery while producing insightful reports that drive decision-making. You will collaborate closely with various teams, including Sales and Marketing, to refine demand forecasts and manage inventory effectively. This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to a company that prioritizes sustainability and customer satisfaction, making a significant impact in the optical fiber network infrastructure sector. If you're passionate about optimizing processes and driving success, this role is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of demand planning processes is essential.
• Experience with Salesforce and Oracle desirable.

Responsibilities

• Proactively troubleshoot cost, quality, and delivery concerns.
• Develop and implement demand planning and sales forecasting processes.
• Manage risk relating to quality, cost, delivery, and supply of purchases.

Skills

Demand Planning

Forecasting

Cost Management

Quality Assurance

Data Analysis

Trend Analysis

Education

Degree in Business Administration

Degree in Supply Chain Management

Tools

Oracle

Salesforce

Excel

Job description

Milton Keynes Office & WH
Davy Avenue
Knowlhill
Milton Keynes, MK58HJ, GBR

Founded in 1984, AFL is an industry-recognized global leader in optical fiber network infrastructure. Our customer-first, high-speed fiber network solutions serve various markets – including energy, enterprise, and hyperscale – across 130+ countries. Products and services include single- and multi-mode optical fiber cable, test and inspection equipment, and our award-winning Data Center Interconnect solution, enabling centralized resource management for enhanced performance across multiple data center facilities.

Our recent European expansion brings end-to-end, sustainable optical fiber solutions closer to our valued EMEA customers, prioritizing customer satisfaction while lowering emissions in line with our Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy.

AFL is headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States, with facilities in multiple global locations, including the UK, Canada, India, China, Mexico, and Australia. AFL is a subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd.

Demand Planning and Forecasting

• Proactively troubleshoot cost, quality and delivery concerns
• Produce regular reports on purchase commitments, costs and delivery performance and share them at an established cadence with stakeholders
• Manage risk relating to quality, cost, delivery and supply of purchases
• Serve as key point of contact between demand and supply planning functions
• Support forecasting for projects and new product introduction initiatives
• Develop and implement demand planning and sales forecasting processes, data collection and reporting, tracking and reporting of KPI’s
• Contribute to future development of Sales and Operations Planning process
• Manage demand planning files to ensure accuracy; activity monitor and adjust Model % allocation as needed based on current trend analysis
• Drive the SOIP monthly demand review meetings with recommended changes to forecast
• Using demand planning methodology and trend/variance root cause analysis- make demand planning corrective actions and improvements
• Liaise with Product Management and Marketing teams relating to New Product forecasting, including updating demand file with current projections
• Knowledge of Oracle or similar forecasting system preferred
• Use and maintain the Demand Planning Excel models as the primary forecasting system tool
• Work with both Marketing and Sales on SKU level transition plan, track execution and call out risk and drive agreement when off-track
• Manage portfolio productivity with Marketing by target setting and driving necessary action
• Lead coordination efforts with Operations, Product Management, Finance, Customer Service, for product families within the business
• Develop multiple metrics to validate forecasting accuracy, as per industry standards and communicate corrective action(s) to ensure timely resolution within the Integrated Business Planning cycle
• Interact with Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service to understand demand forecast drivers

Preferred qualifications & experience

• Strong understanding of demand planning processes
• Degree in Business Administration/ Supply Chain Management
• Experience with Salesforce and Oracle desirable
• Integrated Business Planning experience would be highly advantageous