Director, Demand and Market Distribution Planning in Uxbridge

Hasbro European Services provides various services to Hasbro business units in Europe and the Middle East and Africa. Step into a pivotal leadership role where you’ll shape the future of regional business planning! As the driving force behind a high-impact planning team, you’ll collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Management to create and maintain a dynamic 24-month rolling forecast. Your expertise will enable seamless inventory flow, champion global inventory policies, and optimize cash management and inventory health across the region. You’ll own the pursuit of excellence in planning practices, delivering top-tier customer service at the best possible cost. Your mission: maximize sales and service levels for our accounts while minimizing inventory and obsolescence. Beyond the numbers, you’ll provide brand and category oversight, actively shape demand, and lead process improvements that elevate our planning capabilities. This is your opportunity to make a real difference—driving innovation, influencing strategy, and ensuring our business thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Location & Flexibility: This hybrid role is based in Stockley Park, West London, with an in-office presence from Tuesday to Thursday and flexible remote work on Monday and Friday.

Key Deliverables:

• Lead a high-performing team of Planners delivering an accurate demand & market distribution plan for the regional business, utilising the agreed planning methodologies & systems, baselining & enriching consumer demand to deliver an unconstrained rolling forecast & then executing S&OE plans in market, optimising inventory health & cash.
• Own the signal being passed from their region to supply chain, ensuring Performance delivery on Forecast Accuracy, Bias & Forecast value add.
• Execute regional demand management cycles (DMR, S&OE), co-pilot the regional commercial leader to drive the DMR (Demand Review) & S&OE (Sales & Operational Execution) with commercial leadership, get approval of recommended forecast, define R&Os, and actions that the commercial teams will take to drive or influence demand, along with the demand drivers & assumptions to underpin this demand.
• Ensure Regional action plans are in place and actioned to mitigate out-of-stock supply risk or excess inventory.
• Partner with the statistical modelling team to ensure optimal baseline forecasts are available for regional demand planning teams, that all adjustments and assumptions are recorded, e.g., channel trends, seasonality, promotions.
• Ensure multiple variables which shape the demand forecast are available & used consistently, standardise way for respective region, e.g., business unit level Shipment (Sell in), POS (Sell out), SIT, Share data, promotional plans/mechanics, cannibalisation.
• Partner with Global Supply Planning to implement inventory policy & optimize it across the region.
• Represent the market requirements on parameter setting, such as safety stock, cycle stock & other inventory drivers, lead as the market voice in the global policy conversation on adjustments and amendments to support the business.
• Roll out the inventory policy in market and implement technology/systems improvement to integrate policy into the market planning environment & ensure optimal flow & allocation.
• Collaborate extensively with partners (GPL’s, regional Sales, Marketing, Global planning, Supply Chain teams) throughout the region & wider global network to sense & shape demand, driving rigour & discipline in aligning assumptions & demand drivers.
• Partner with Category demand planners, Global brand owners to ensure effective communication with Market demand planning, ensuring top-down strategies are understood within the region, whilst also providing the Market Group demand planners with clarity of key initiatives across the full forecasting horizon, product lifecycle against which to plan demand, on transition plans for refreshed items & like-items for new.
• Participate in regional and global forums representing Demand & Market Distribution.
• Work in close relationship with the Global IBP Owner, utilising IBP, S&OP tools to be able to bring guidelines/targets to the commercial function across the region.
• Drive continuous improvement across planning, contribute to product rationalization, and portfolio optimization.
• Drive process health improvement in Demand cycles, process, people, tools, and data.

Team Management:

• Lead, develop, and retain talent through development, coaching, and engagement.
• Provide guidance, direction, and development planning.
• Lead the team performance in accordance with Hasbro’s People Management Processes.
• Ensure the team has the resources and support needed to deliver in their role and achieve objectives.

Critical Leadership Experience & Skills:

• Break the Mold: Able to demonstrate significant experience of innovative thinking in demand planning and forecasting, challenging conventional approaches, and driving process improvements that set new standards for excellence.
• Take Charge: Leads with confidence, influencing senior stakeholders and commercial leadership teams to deliver impactful business outcomes.
• Matrix of Leadership: Thrives in international matrix environments, collaborating across regions, functions, and cultures to align strategies and drive unified results.
• Friendship is Magic: Fosters strong partnerships with internal and external stakeholders, building trust and open communication to shape demand collaboratively.
• Be Legendary: Sets the benchmark for planning excellence through mastery of demand/supply methodologies, inventory policy deployment, and product lifecycle forecasting.
• Knowledge is Half the Battle: Leverages deep expertise in forecasting models, market analysis, and economic indicators to anticipate performance issues and inform strategic decisions.

Industry Experience:

• Experienced in international matrix environments.
• Industry knowledge & application of relevant forecasting models, or FMCG/Toy/Fashion-oriented industry preferred.
• Experienced in shaping demand, taking into account economic indicators and market trends that can impact forecasting accuracy.