Commercial Planning Manager - 12 month FTC

We are looking for a Commercial Planning Manager on a 12 month FTC, to lead the planning and delivery of market-winning commercial plans, ensuring budgeted volumes are achieved while maximising forecast accuracy and balancing demand with available supply. This role plays a critical part in driving business performance by owning the planning and sell-in performance across defined brands and categories.

Working closely with Sales, Marketing, Finance, Trade Marketing, Category Development and Supply Chain teams, you will provide valuable commercial insights, challenge assumptions, and influence decision-making across the business. You will also take joint ownership of the weekly Area volume call, aligning senior stakeholders behind a clear and accurate forecast before providing comprehensive updates to the UK&I Regional leadership team.

This is an exciting opportunity for an analytical and commercially minded professional who thrives in a fast-paced FMCG environment and enjoys translating data into actionable business decisions.

As Commercial Planning Manager, you will lead the planning cycle across Trade Marketing, collaborating with Strategy & Planning to ensure robust processes, clear timelines and successful delivery of key business milestones.

You will own the Sales Planning process, building and implementing planning timetables, ensuring deadlines are met, and challenging commercial assumptions through insights gathered from Category Development, Customer Category and Commercial Strategy teams.

Working closely with Finance, Supply Chain, Marketing and Sales, you will contribute to the development of Budget, SAF and S&OP plans, providing meaningful analysis on performance, future opportunities and areas of risk. You will confidently challenge plans where required to ensure the business delivers against its ambitions.

A key focus of the role will be managing the 0–18 month rolling forecast across your assigned brands and categories. You will analyse performance drivers and risks, lead monthly brand and account review meetings, and ensure forward forecasts remain accurate and aligned with business objectives.

You will also oversee seasonal SKU planning, NPD launches and product changes, ensuring demand is accurately forecasted and commercial plans are fully aligned with category ambitions and supply timelines. Working closely with Sales, Marketing, Category and Supply Chain teams, you will identify and resolve challenges that could impact performance.

The role is responsible for balancing demand and supply by developing commercial scenarios, managing surplus stock risks, and supporting cross-functional decision-making to maximise profitability and product availability.

You will lead the weekly short-term forecasting process, coordinating inputs from Sales, Finance and Supply Chain teams to create an aligned volume outlook. This includes presenting weekly updates to UK&I regional leadership, providing clear commentary on performance, forecast changes and variance against budget and prior year results.

You will continuously seek opportunities to enhance planning effectiveness and challenge existing ways of working through innovation and best practice.

You are a highly analytical and commercially aware planning professional with experience operating within an FMCG environment. You have a strong understanding of forecasting, operational planning and commercial performance management, combined with the ability to influence and challenge stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.

You are comfortable working with large data sets and are highly proficient in Excel and Power BI. Your strong understanding of the UK grocery and retail landscape enables you to translate market trends and performance insights into actionable plans that drive business results.

You have a proven ability to manage multiple priorities, lead cross-functional discussions and deliver clear, data-driven recommendations. You thrive in collaborative environments and enjoy building strong relationships across Sales, Marketing, Finance, Trade Marketing and Supply Chain teams.

Experience within Sales, Supply Chain or Category Management environments, along with knowledge of Nielsen or Circana data, would be advantageous.

Most importantly, you are a proactive problem solver with excellent communication skills, a continuous improvement mindset and a passion for driving commercial success through effective planning and forecasting.

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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 about Ferrero at ferrero.com.

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.
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