Customer Demand Planner

Ferrero; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 81,000 - 108,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement plans

Paid time off

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Ferrero is seeking a Customer Demand Planner to lead bottom-up demand forecasting for the current fiscal year, interfacing with Sales and Trade Marketing for short- to mid-term plans. You will ensure forecast accuracy and service levels at customer/channel/SKU levels, driving S&OP alignment and providing insight into demand drivers to leadership.

The role reports to the Demand Planning Manager and focuses on reducing finished goods inventory while maintaining strong stakeholder communication

Qualifications

• Minimum 7 years of Supply Chain work experience, with at least 4 focused on Demand Planning.
• Bachelor’s Degree in logistics or business.
• Proficiency with SAP APO and familiarity with Blue Yonder (JDA).
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Excel (vlookup, pivot tables, macros) and PowerPoint.

Responsibilities

• Act as the S&OP BPO and drive weekly Demand Management (S&OE) routines.
• Forecast demand at customer/channel/SKU level to support supply execution.
• Consolidate Enriched baseline and Customer uplifts into the Total Forecast across levels.
• Coordinate with Sales, Marketing, Trade Marketing, and Supply Planning to validate historical assumptions.

Skills

Demand planning

Forecasting

Analytics

Communication

Cross-functional collaboration

S&OP

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in logistics or business

Tools

SAP APO

Blue Yonder (JDA)

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

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We have a current opening for a Customer Demand Planner and are actively reviewing applications.

As a Customer Demand planner, you will be responsible for the bottom-up customer/channel-level demand forecast for the current Fiscal Year, ensuring a reliable roll-up total country the feeds supply execution. You will act as the primary Supply Chain interface to Sales and Trade Marketing for short-to-mid-term demand, safeguarding Forecast Accuracy and Service Level at customer/channel/SKU level. You will represent customer/channel reality in the S&OP cycle and drive the weekly demand Management (S&OE) routine to translate latest actuals, promo performance and customer signals into timely forecast updates.

The goal of this position is to continuously improve service levels and simultaneously reduce finished goods inventory through accurate forecasting. Key to this role will be anticipate and understand the needs of different stakeholders across the company relative to forecasting, turning assumptions into actionable plans and providing insight into demand drivers to leadership. In this role, you will report to the Demand Planning Manager.

Main Responsibilities:

• Act as the S&OP BPO (Business Process Owner)
  • Facilitate, prepare, enable, and support the S&OP meetings defining the agenda, main topics, and participants.
  • Ensure reflections of the decisions are in the Demand Plan
  • Support the yearly budget process by assessing demand assumptions and validating into the budget cycle
• Historical Data Management
  • Collect, consolidate, clean, and prepare historical sales data and event drivers (price changes, promo uplift, distribution changes, ect.) to ensure accuracy for statistical forecasting
  • Coordinate with Sales, Marketing, Trade Marketing, and Supply Planning to validate historical assumptions
• Statistical/ Modeled & Enriched Baseline
  • Provide support to Area DP HUB to generate the statistical baseline (Total customer/Channel levels)
  • Facilitate the integration of: Market trend & other marketing non-commercial inputs (innovations, marketing activities), non-commercial factors (pricing changes impact), commercial enrichments (Permanent)-(distribution changes, customer trends), and supply chain factors
  • Collaborate with Area DP HUB, local sales, Trade Marketing and Marketing to derive Combined Enriched baseline
• Uplift Development – ensure proper governance on how customer uplifts are captured and validated
• Demand Consolidation & Consensus Building
  • Own the consolidation of Enriched baseline and Customer uplifts into the Total Forecast at all required levels (customer, channel, SKU, market)
  • Facilitate alignment across key business references to achieve a single consensus demand plan
• Forecast new products
  • Support Sales and Marketing departments with development of the demand plan for new products by analyzing similar products trends/seasonality, other product launches curve (pipeline building) ect.
• KPI Tracking & Continuous Improvement
  • Lead forecasting performance analysis, including accuracy and bias reporting at Region Board
  • Conduct structured Root Cause Analyses (RCA) for Forecast deviations vs Actuals
  • Make recommendations to enhance business processes and identify opportunities to improve operational efficiencies

About You:

• Thorough understanding of demand management, robust analytical skills, strong communication and influencing skills to bring diverse teams to consensus.
• Minimum 7 years of Supply Chain work experience, with at least 4 of those with a focus on Demand Planning, preferably in the food & beverage or fast-moving consumer goods industries
• Demonstrated success in driving continuous improvement initiatives in customer service levels and waste reduction
• Skilled in relationship management within your team, Supply Chain, Sales, Marketing, and most important our customers to drive a continuous improvement mindset across the supply chain and the entire organization.
• Strong knowledge of advanced analysis techniques and forecasting models
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Excel (vlookup, pivot tables, macros), power point.
• Bachelor’s Degree in logistics or business
• Proficiency with SAP APO and familiarity with Blue Yonder (JDA) is preferred

Artificial Intelligence Disclosure
As part of our recruitment process, Ferrero may use artificial intelligence (AI) enabled tools to assist with reviewing candidate applications. These tools are used solely to support recruiters by summarizing application information and identifying potential alignment with job requirements. AI does not independently screen out or select candidates, and it does not replace human judgment. Final decisions regarding candidate progression are always made by Ferrero recruiters and hiring managers.

What We Offer:

Careers with caring built in - discover our benefits here .

The base compensation range for this position is $80,931 - $107,908. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors permitted by law. This range represents the anticipated salary for this position at this time.

In addition to base salary, we offer a comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and other benefits.

About Ferrero:

Ferrero began its journey in the small town of Alba in Piedmont, Italy, in 1946. Today, it is one of the world’s largest sweet-packaged food companies, with many iconic brands sold in countries all over the world. Find out more at ferrero.com .

DE&I at Ferrero:

Ferrero is committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture in which all employees feel welcomed and appreciated and have the same opportunities. We believe all our people are equally talented in their own way. In nurturing the curiosity and natural abilities of our employees, we provide them, generation after generation, the means to succeed personally and professionally, enabling them to craft their journey at Ferrero. The diversity of our talents is what makes our work environment multicultural, innovative, and highly rewarding.
Find out more here .

Ferrero is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable human rights laws. Ferrero will recruit, hire, train, and promote all persons without regard to race, creed, color, sex (including pregnancy, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity), religion, national origin or ancestry, age, disability, or history of disability (except where physical or mental abilities are a bona fide occupational requirement and the individual is not able to perform the essential functions of the position even with reasonable accommodations), citizenship, or any other protected characteristic.

Ferrero will accommodate the needs of applicants with disabilities throughout all stages of the selection process. If you need accommodation during the recruitment process, please advise the People & Organization (HR) Representative. Information relating to the need for accommodation and accommodation measures will be addressed confidentially.