Group Demand Planning & S&OP Lead

Mediq; De Meern; On-site; EUR 78,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Mediq is seeking an experienced Group S&OP Demand CoE Lead to strengthen and professionalize our S&OP capability across Europe. You will own the Group Demand Planning process, set standards across markets, challenge forecast quality and drive measurable improvements in service, inventory and cost.

You will lead Demand Planners across European markets, develop training and playbooks, and rollout planning tools like Slim4 and IBP within an international organization.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Supply Chain, Statistics, Econometrics, Engineering, Business or a related discipline.
• Significant experience in Demand Planning and S&OP, typically around 8 years or more, although depth of experience is more important than the exact number of years.
• Demonstrable experience designing, resetting or owning an S&OP or IBP process across multiple markets or business units.
• Deep knowledge of statistical forecasting, forecast enrichment, forecast value add, accuracy and bias management.
• Experience with tender-driven demand, new product introductions and end-of-life planning.
• Strong understanding of the impact of Demand Planning on inventory, working capital, service and P&L.
• Experience with advanced planning systems such as Slim4, SAP IBP, o9, Kinaxis or comparable solutions.
• Advanced Excel skills and experience with Power BI and data modeling.
• Hands-on exposure to machine-learning or AI-supported forecasting and demand sensing is an advantage.
• Experience within medtech, pharma, FMCG or another high-SKU distribution environment is an advantage.
• APICS CPIM/CSCP, IBF CPF or a comparable certification is preferred.
• English at C1 professional level; Dutch or German is helpful but not required.
• Willingness to travel regularly across our European markets.

Responsibilities

• Design and own the Group Demand Planning process across the end-to-end S&OP cycle.
• Establish one Demand Planning standard across markets and business units with a rolling horizon.
• Define planning approach for tenders, contracts, new product introductions and end-of-life planning.
• Challenge forecast quality across markets and escalate issues.
• Define and improve the Group S&OP cadence from Demand Review to Executive S&OP.
• Facilitate group-level reviews toward clear decisions, ownership and follow-through.
• Assess S&OP maturity and drive a roadmap to increase maturity.
• Own Group definitions and reporting for forecast accuracy, bias and value add.
• Perform root-cause analysis on forecast deviations and translate to process improvements.
• Establish onboarding and training requirements for new and existing planners.
• Support onboarding of forecasting tools and processes.

Skills

Demand Planning

S&OP

Forecasting

Power BI

Excel

Stakeholder mgmt

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Supply Chain

Tools

Slim4

SAP IBP

o9

Kinaxis

Job description

Are you an experienced Demand Planning and S&OP professional who knows how to turn forecasting into better business decisions? Have you designed or transformed an S&OP or IBP process across multiple markets? And can you challenge commercial and operational leaders while building one common planning standard across an international organization?

At Mediq, we are looking for a Group S&OP Demand CoE Lead (Group Demand Planning & S&OP Lead) to strengthen and further professionalize our S&OP capability across Europe.

In this Group role, you are the process owner and subject-matter expert for Demand Planning. You set the standard across our markets, challenge forecast quality and build planning capabilities throughout the organization. Your goal is clear: create one reliable demand plan that enables Mediq to make fact-based decisions about service, inventory and cost.

You report to the Head of S&OP Group and provide functional leadership to Demand Planners across our European markets.

Your impact at Mediq

Mediq's S&OP organization covers demand and supply planning across Benelux, Germany, UK & Ireland, the Nordics and Baltics as well as our own-brand portfolio. We operate one monthly S&OP cycle from Demand Review through to Executive S&OP.

With approximately €140 million in Group inventory under steer, the quality of our demand plan has a direct impact on customer service, working capital and operational performance.

As Group S&OP Demand CoE Lead, you make the demand plan the reliable starting point for decision-making. You create one planning standard across markets, improve forecast accuracy and bias and ensure that Sales, Category Management, Tender Management and other stakeholders take ownership of the assumptions they bring into the plan.

This is not a reporting role. You make sure the S&OP cycle leads to decisions, actions and measurable improvements.

What will you do?

You will own and further develop the Group Demand Planning process and play a central role in our end-to-end S&OP cycle.

Your key responsibilities include:

• Designing and owning the Group Demand Planning process, from historical data cleansing and statistical forecasting through commercial enrichment, consensus and sign-off.
• Establishing one Demand Planning standard across markets and business units, including segmentation, planning hierarchy and a rolling 12-18 month horizon.
• Defining the planning approach for tenders, contracts, new product introductions, end-of-life products and our own-brand portfolio.
• Challenging forecast quality across all markets and escalating when significant issues remain unresolved.
• Defining and improving the Group S&OP cadence from Demand Review and Supply Review through Pre-S&OP and Executive S&OP.
• Facilitating Group-level reviews towards clear decisions, ownership and follow-through rather than simply reviewing reports.
• Assessing S&OP maturity across markets and driving the roadmap to increase maturity over time.
• Owning Group definitions and reporting for forecast accuracy, bias and forecast value add.
• Performing root-cause analysis on material forecast deviations and translating findings into improvements in processes, parameters and inputs.
• Establish a strong onboarding process for new planners, plus training requirements for existing planners.
• Support onboarding of new forecasting tools and processes.

Connecting Demand Planning to business performance

A good forecast is not an objective in itself. It needs to result in better business decisions.

You can translate the demand plan into its impact on inventory, customer service, working capital and P&L. You can bring trade-offs between service, inventory and cost to the S&OP forum together with a clear recommendation.

You develop & support the process which provides the volume input for financial forecasting and integrated business planning and ensure that demand-related root causes are used to prevent future risk and excess stock.

An important part of your role is also building Demand Planning capability across Mediq. Demand Planners remain part of their local organizations, but you provide functional leadership: you set the process and quality standard, challenge forecasts and help planners further develop their expertise.

You develop training, playbooks, onboarding and a strong community of practice. You also own the Demand Planning requirements and functional rollout of our planning tools, including Slim4 and our integrated business planning environment. Where it creates measurable value, you introduce statistical and AI-supported forecasting.

What do you bring?

You are an experienced Demand Planning and S&OP professional who combines deep forecasting expertise with strong business judgment.

You understand the numbers, but you also know that successful S&OP depends on influencing people. You can challenge a Demand Planner on forecast bias and, in the next meeting, explain the impact of that forecast to a commercial or senior business leader in terms of service, inventory and euros.

We are looking for:

• A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Supply Chain, Statistics, Econometrics, Engineering, Business or a related discipline.
• Significant experience in Demand Planning and S&OP, typically around 8 years or more, although depth of experience is more important than the exact number of years.
• Demonstrable experience designing, resetting or owning an S&OP or IBP process across multiple markets or business units.
• Deep knowledge of statistical forecasting, forecast enrichment, forecast value add, accuracy and bias management.
• Experience with tender-driven demand, new product introductions and end-of-life planning.
• Strong understanding of the impact of Demand Planning on inventory, working capital, service and P&L.
• Experience with advanced planning systems such as Slim4, SAP IBP, o9, Kinaxis or comparable solutions.
• Advanced Excel skills and experience with Power BI and data modeling.
• Hands-on exposure to machine-learning or AI-supported forecasting and demand sensing is an advantage.
• Experience within medtech, pharma, FMCG or another high-SKU distribution environment is an advantage.
• APICS CPIM/CSCP, IBF CPF or a comparable certification is preferred.
• English at C1 professional level; Dutch or German is helpful but not required.
• Willingness to travel regularly across our European markets.

What makes you successful?

You combine technical Demand Planning expertise with the authority to influence an international organization without formal line management.

You can personally challenge a statistical forecast, but you also know how to get commercial leaders to take ownership of their input. You simplify complexity and explain forecast uncertainty and business trade-offs in language senior stakeholders understand.

You drive meetings towards decisions rather than reports, investigate the real cause of forecast misses and build processes that continue to work without depending on one individual.

Ultimately, your impact is visible in better forecast accuracy, lower bias, improved customer service and healthier inventory levels.

What does Mediq offer?

This is an influential Group Supply Chain role with the opportunity to help build and professionalize S&OP across our European organization.

You can expect:

• A gross monthly salary between €7,000 and €8,500 based on a full-time position, depending on your knowledge and experience.
• An on-target annual bonus of 10%.
• A gross mobility budget of €500 per month.
• Ownership of the Group Demand Planning process across multiple European markets.
• A central role in the further development of Mediq's end-to-end S&OP capability.
• Functional leadership of Demand Planning professionals across our markets.
• Significant exposure to senior stakeholders across Operations, Sales, Category Management, Finance, Sourcing and IT.
• The opportunity to further develop our use of advanced planning, data and AI-supported forecasting.
• A role with direct impact on customer service, inventory, working capital and financial performance.
• An international environment with strong opportunities for professional development.

About Mediq

Mediq is a leading European healthcare company. We support healthcare professionals and patients with medical devices, healthcare solutions and services and work every day to make healthcare more accessible and affordable.

Reliable planning is essential to that mission. We need the right products available at the right time while managing inventory and cost responsibly. As Group S&OP Demand CoE Lead, you will help create the planning capability that enables us to do exactly that.