Demand Planning & Automation Manager in City of London

About Us: Hi there! We’re Wild. We’re on a mission to remove single-use plastic from the bathroom, armed with our refillable, natural and scent-sational deodorants, body wash, haircare and lip balm – and we’ve only just started. We launched in 2020 and as a high-growth company, we’re already one of Europe’s fastest-growing start-ups. As a high-growth startup, we move fast. We don’t need someone to write code from scratch; we need someone who can harness the world’s most powerful AI tools to build the systems that keep us scaling.

The Mission: Wild is scaling at a pace that renders traditional spreadsheets obsolete. We are looking for a forward-thinking Demand Planning Manager to lead our forecasting strategy and bridge the gap between traditional S&OP and the future of AI-driven supply chain management. You will own the global demand signal across DTC and Retail channels, leveraging machine learning and automation to turn complex data into commercial gold.

Key Responsibilities

• Forecasting & S&OP Excellence

• Cycle Ownership: Own and coordinate the full monthly S&OP cycle. This includes leading forecasting sessions, forecast accuracy reviews, and bottom-up/top-down reconciliation against the business plan.
• Global Inputs: Own DTC and retail global forecast inputs to ensure accuracy, completeness, and commercial alignment across all territories.
• Retail Intelligence: Translate account management EPOS data and buyer insights into precise operational order forecasts for retail customers.
• Financial Alignment: Manage bottom-up consensus and reconcile against top-down financial targets. You will clearly articulate gaps, risks, and volume-value opportunities to the leadership team.

• Technical Interrogation: Interrogate large and complex datasets confidently. You will identify the specific metrics and outliers that move the dial rather than just reporting on surface-level data.
• AI Tool Building: Build and continuously improve demand planning reporting. You will use AI and automation tools to surface trends, anomalies, and actionable insights faster than traditional methods.
• Eradicate Manual Work: We operate on the principle that if a human is doing a task more than twice, it should be automated. You will build AI agents or automated workflows to eliminate repetitive manual data entry.
• Continuous Improvement: Drive improvements in forecast accuracy and bias measurement. You will embed a culture of quantitative rigor and relentless iteration across the team.

• Proactive Management: Actively manage stock risks across the portfolio. You will proactively flag sudden demand changes to the Supply Planning team to drive the right inbound decisions.
• Risk & Opportunities: Monitor stock cover, aged stock, and write-off risk. You will own the Risk and Opportunities register and drive resolution through cross-functional workstreams.
• Lifecycle Transitions: Support range review processes to ensure clean transitions between old and new SKUs with no gaps or overlapping demand signals.

• Team Leadership: Manage the Demand Planning Executive day-to-day by setting priorities, reviewing outputs, and developing their technical and commercial capability.
• Influencing without Authority: Act as a strong cross-functional collaborator with Commercial, Finance, and Supply Planning. You will influence behaviour and drive alignment across the business.
• Strategic Communication: Communicate complex planning challenges clearly and concisely to senior stakeholders. You will focus on making recommendations rather than just presenting problems.

What we need from you

• Core Experience: A strong retail demand planning background with proven experience translating EPOS and account-level forecasts into operational plans.
• The Quant Mindset: A demonstrable ability to manipulate and interrogate large datasets using tools such as Excel, Google Sheets, SQL, or BI platforms. You are comfortable with statistical forecasting methods.
• S&OP Expertise: Experience coordinating S&OP or IBP cycles in a fast-paced consumer goods environment.
• AI & Automation: Hands-on experience using AI or automation tools to improve reporting speed, accuracy, or insight generation. You are excited by the prospect of using cutting-edge tech to solve supply chain problems.
• High Agency: You don’t wait for a manual. You see a mess and you build a tool or a process to clean it up.
• Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to synthesise complex data into clear narratives for senior audiences.
• Leadership: Experience managing or mentoring junior team members and a proven ability to thrive in an ambiguous, high-growth environment.
• FMCG/D2C Interest: You love the idea of using cutting-edge AI to help a physical, sustainable product reach more bathrooms globally.

What you’ll get from us:

• 25 days holidays + bank holidays + 9 extra remote working days
• Hybrid working, 3 days a week in our shiny new London office
• 4% Company Pension
• Mental well-being support through Spill
• Private healthcare through Vitality
• Weekly early finishes and social events
• Annual L&D budget
• Free breakfast
• Free & discounted Wild products
• 2 x team volunteering days and 2 x personal volunteering days

Ready to become a Wild thing?! At Wild, we know that diversity drives innovation and creativity. We are committed to creating and maintaining a workplace where all employees feel valued and empowered to bring their most authentic selves to work. We recognise that diversity goes beyond visible differences such as race, gender, age, and ethnicity and encompasses a broad spectrum of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and abilities. We encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply! If we can make any adjustments to help you to perform your best in the process, please let us know!