Demand Planner in Castleford

At Valeo Foods UK we bring together a family of much-loved UK food brands supported by the scale and ambition of a global investment partner. From Kettle’s bold crunch to Rowse’s natural sweetness, through to Matthew Walker and Barratt Sweets, our portfolio blends heritage, craft and category-leading innovation. Alongside our branded portfolio, we are also one of the UK’s largest suppliers of private label products, partnering with major retailers to deliver quality and category expertise that meets the needs of millions of households every week. As a business, we’re on a journey of transformation. We’re strengthening our operations, driving quality and investing in our people. It’s an exciting, fast-moving environment where heritage meets new thinking, and where every colleague contributes to shaping the future of food across the UK.

We are looking for a Demand Planner to join our team, they will be responsible for all forecasting activities associated with a defined set of customers and products. Create and maintain forecast models, management information and be the key liaison for customer supply chain, working closely with Commercial and SOP teams.

• Collaborate with Commercial to maintain timely and accurate 18 month rolling forecast at multiple levels of aggregation and time horizons as part of a demand planning function for your portfolio of SKUs and customers.
• Review historical sales trends, research demand drivers, prepare forecast data, develop statistical forecast models, and evaluate forecast results.
• In close co-operation with the Commercial teams, create, monitor and revise forecasts for all or part of the Snacks portfolio ensuring accuracy measures are met and continuously improved.
• Establish close working relationships with key customers in order to improve forecasts and optimise inbound supply, including regular customer facing reviews.
• Maintain a collaborative approach to forecasting to maximise benefits for both parties.
• Actively participate in Integrated Business Planning meetings generating reports and providing demand projections for the horizon, analysed by working with Sales, Marketing and Finance.
• Ensure due diligence and rigour in IBP Forecast Challenge meetings.
• Analyse trends and promotional volumes to make adjustments and recommendations to cross functional groups where necessary.
• Maximise customer service level via effective liaison with the production planning team and monitoring of daily forecast/demand.
• Provide input to the Supply Planning organisation in developing inventory strategies on existing items, new product, and product phase-out.
• Maintain integrity demand planning systems and software.
• Prepare and maintain relevant reports and KPI’s pertaining to demand planning process.

• Strong Analytical Skills / Numerate
• Excellent Communication and Facilitation Skills
• Ability to Work with Large Amounts of Complex Data

• Work experience in a supply chain planning environment.
• Experience in FMCG supply chain preferred.
• Broad knowledge of forecasting, product distribution, and inventory control.
• Good IT skills, including advanced Excel.
• Maths or Business qualifications an advantage.