Demand Planner in Carlisle

As proud bakers and chocolatiers and custodians of iconic global brands, we don’t compromise on the quality of ingredients in our products or on the people we hire. We are looking for entrepreneurial spirits who share our passion for bringing happiness to our consumers and who embody our Winning Traits. To succeed at pladis you need to be purpose-led, resilient and positive because we expect pace and agility, we insist on collaboration and demand accountability. If that is your thing, then pladis offers global ambition, a clear Vision and roadmap for success, challenge, and unrivalled opportunities to learn and make an impact.

Site Introduction

In 2021, pladis proudly opened the doors to our vibrant global hub, the MIU Campus. Located in the heart of Chiswick Park, West London, just a short 5-minute walk from Gunnersbury Station, our campus is nestled within 33 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens, offering a welcoming and inspiring environment for all. Chiswick Park is home to both our UK and Global Corporate teams, bringing together diverse teams across the business.

Reporting to the Demand Planning Manager, you will work closely with the commercial and central demand planning teams. You will be responsible for identifying short, medium, and long-term trends & deviations within the forecast at a SKU-customer level. Collaborating with the account manager and central demand planners, you will ensure the forward forecast is robust. In the short term, you will work closely with the Collaboration Managers and Customer Service team providing visibility of promotional performance & support mitigating actions required to deliver a high level of customer service.

• Own the base and promotional forecast for your customer portfolio at a customer-SKU level, working with the account team and collaboration manager to maximise forecast accuracy.
• Identify trends and understand reasons for notable forecast deviations in the short and medium term to support forecast change decisions.
• Conduct formal weekly demand review meetings with Account Managers to review and amend short and medium term forecasts, focusing on new product launches, post promotional performance, distribution changes & future promotional phasing.
• Review future promotional demand prior to internal sign off.
• Attend the short term weekly alignment meetings in conjunction with the collaboration manager and account manager to agree changes to the short-term forecast.
• Work with the collaboration manager to deliver 98.0% inbound service level for your accounts.
• Maintain master data in the demand planning forecast management tool.
• Review customer order placement daily and challenge significant deviations to the forecast.

Bring your experience!

Essential

• Highly numerate and analytical.
• IT literate with strong Excel capability.
• Understanding of both supplier-customer engagement and end-to-end supply chain planning processes.
• Capable of chairing / running forecast review meetings with internal colleagues and external customers.
• Ability to negotiate and influence at a Senior level.
• Able to prioritise workload & cope with pressure in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams.

Desirable

• Proven experience of working for an FMCG manufacturer in the role of demand planner.
• Full awareness and understanding of the Sales & Operational Planning Processes.
• High degree of understanding of the business drivers and factors that impact on related KPIs.
• Understanding and appreciation of master data.

Interview Process

• Initial Telephone call with Talent Acquisition.
• 1st stage interview – 45 minutes competency-based interview based on our company values and your experiences.
• 2nd stage interview – 90 minutes – a technical interview to understand your skill set/case study or presentation interview.

pladis does also use both Psychometric and Aptitude tests to support our processes so you may be asked to complete these as part of your process. Some processes may differ, but we will keep you updated!

Benefits

• Annual Incentive Plan (AIP) – this is the business’s annual bonus scheme.
• Opportunity to self-enrol into Health Cash Plan.
• Private medical Insurance (if eligible by grade).
• Enhanced parental leave and a supportive phased return-to-work program to help colleagues balance family and career.
• Stakeholder Pension Scheme.
• Life Assurance Cover ~ upon enrolment to Stakeholder Pension Scheme.
• 25 days + bank holidays.
• Holiday Enhancement Scheme.
• 1 Volunteering Day per year.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Discounted gym membership – Carlisle and Chiswick only.
• Discount and Cashback Scheme – make your everyday spending work hard for you on major high street brands, supermarkets and services.
• Access to Employee Assistance Programme.
• Financial Wellbeing Support.
• Access to great training and development opportunities.

Our Values

• Purpose led – We’re energised and guided by our purpose to bring happiness with every bite.
• Agile – We’re ever evolving, we never stand still, always improving for our customers and our consumers.
• Positive – We’re highly motivated, optimistic, courageous, and we inspire each other to be better.
• Resilient - We’re persistent in the face of setbacks, quick to adapt, learn and move forward.
• Collaborative – We gain strength from operating as one pladis, winning and succeeding together.

pladis is an equal opportunities employer, committed to hiring a diverse workforce. All openings will be filled based on qualifications without regard to race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, age, religion or any other classification protected by law.

We operate a strict Preferred Supplier List. If you are a recruitment agency and wish to submit candidates to be considered for this vacancy, you must have agreed to, and signed, our terms of business. We will not accept CVs from any other sources other than those currently on our PSL. We will not pay a fee for any candidate that has not been represented by a provider on our PSL.