Sr. Demand Planner, Chocolates

Job Location: ​Parsippany​

Company description

Ferrero is a family-owned company with a truly progressive and global outlook and iconic brands such as Nutella®, Tic Tac®, Ferrero Rocher®, Raffaello®, Kinder Bueno® and Kinder Surprise®. As the love for our brands continues to grow, so too does our global reach. Represented in 55 countries, with products sold in more than 170, the Ferrero Group is loved by generations around the world. The secret to our global success? Nearly 35,000 dedicated employees who celebrate care and quality to craft a business, careers and brands we are proud of. Join us, and you could be one of them. 

Diversity Statement

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 of 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.

About the Role:

The Sr Demand Planner will be responsible for generating demand plans, understand demand drivers for proactive collaboration across Sales Forecasting, Brand Marketing, Trade marketing, Supply Planning and Finance; will support monthly S&OP process for assigned brands. The goal of this position is to continuously improve service levels and simultaneously reduce finished goods inventory through accurate forecasting. Key to this role will be anticipate and understand the needs of different stakeholders across the company relative to forecasting, turning assumptions into actionable plans and providing insight into demand drivers.

Main Responsibilities:

• Develop demand forecasts (operational forecasts) at multiple levels of aggregation for multiple time horizons as part of a demand planning function.
• Support the monthly S&OP process, maintain baseline / statistical forecasts, collecting Sales, trade marketing and brand Marketing forecast drivers and highlighting changes and drivers in the plan to key stakeholders. Review historical sales trends, research demand drivers, prepare forecast data, develop statistical forecast models, and evaluate forecast results
• Review promotional and distribution plans with trade marketing
• Track Forecast KPI’s including bias, accuracy and forecast value add. Use these KPI’s to drive improvements.
• Coordinate cross-functional research activities to reconcile significant variances and refine the forecast model to reflect updated sales, trade marketing and marketing assumptions.
• Utilize a collaborative consensus approach by working with sales, marketing, trade marketing and finance to obtain and ensure that current and accurate information are used for demand forecasts.
• Use and maintain the Demand Planning software as the primary forecasting system tool.
• Provide input to the Supply Planning organization in developing inventory strategies on existing items, new product launches and product phase-in/ phase outs.
• Closely coordinate and communicate customer action plans with supply planning and deployments.

Who we are looking for:

• Thorough understanding of demand management, robust analytical skills, strong communication and influencing skills to bring diverse teams to consensus.
• Minimum 4 years of Supply Chain work experience, with at least 2 of those with a focus on Demand Planning, preferably in the food & beverage or fast-moving consumer goods industries
• Demonstrated success in driving continuous improvement initiatives in customer service levels and waste reduction
• Skilled in relationship management within your team, Supply Chain, Sales, Marketing, and most important our customers to drive a continuous improvement mindset across the supply chain and the entire organization.
• Strong knowledge of advanced analysis techniques and forecasting models
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Excel (vlookup, pivot tables, macros), power point.
• Bachelor’s Degree in logistics or business
• Proficiency with SAP APO and familiarity with Blue Yonder (JDA) is preferred

How to be successful in the role and at Ferrero:

Consumers, quality and care are at the heart of everything we do. So, to be successful at Ferrero, you’ll need to be just as consumer and product centric as we are - dedicated to crafting brilliant results for consumers around the world. 

Ferrero N.A. provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics.

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