Senior Manager Demand Supply & Forecasting

Key Responsibilities

1. Team Leadership & Development:

• Lead mentor and develop a team of Demand and Supply Planners fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture.
• Define clear roles responsibilities and performance metrics (KPIs) for the team aligned with SCM objectives.
• Champion the Day in the Life Of (DILO) best practices for planners ensuring standardized and efficient daily and weekly workflows.
• Act as the primary point of contact and escalation for the planning team providing guidance and resolving complex issues.

2. Demand Planning & Forecasting:

• Oversee the demand planning process ensuring the generation of accurate statistical forecasts at the Demand Forecasting Unit (DFU) level.
• Guide the team in managing forecast exceptions analysing historical sales data and incorporating market intelligence to refine forecasts.
• Collaborate with Category Management and Sales to integrate promotional plans and pricing programs (e.g. Metro Mail Buy More Pay Less - BMPL) new product introductions (NPI) and product lifecycle (PLC) changes into the demand plan.
• Drive continuous improvement in forecast accuracy and bias utilizing tools like EDGE Analytics for root cause analysis.

3. Supply & Inventory Management:

• Supervise the supply planning process within our Metro Demand and Supply Planning (MDSP) system to ensure high availability while optimizing stock levels.
• Oversee the creation and management of purchase orders (POs) and sales orders (SOs) including the approval process for manual order requests (MORs).
• Implement and monitor inventory strategies including the Smart Safety Stock (SmartSS) methodology to balance between service levels inventory and E2E costs.
• Manage different supply chain flows including Direct Store Delivery (DSD) Central Stock (CS) and Break-Bulk Cross-Docking (BBXD) ensuring optimal configuration and execution.
• Collaborate with the Supplier Collaboration team to improve On-Time In-Full (OTIF) performance and resolve supply-side issues.

4. Process & System Optimization:

• Act as a key user and subject matter expert for the MDSP (Blue Yonder) platform driving its adoption and effective utilization.
• Identify opportunities for process automation and efficiency gains leveraging tools like our AI-powered EDGE MAiA.
• Ensure master data integrity for all planning-relevant fields (e.g. lead times MOQs sourcing rules calendars) by working closely with Master Data Management (MDM) and IT teams.
• Participate in the design and implementation of new planning functionalities and system upgrades 

5. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Reporting:

• Lead and participate in key S&OP (Sales & Operations Planning) meetings including Demand Best-Practice and Demand Consensus meetings to align all stakeholders on a single integrated plan.
• Communicate supply chain performance risks and opportunities to senior management and other departments.
• Utilize the Replenishment Dashboard and other BI tools to monitor KPIs and provide actionable insights to the business.

Qualifications :

• Education: Bachelors or Masters degree in Supply Chain Management Logistics Business Administration or a related field.
• Experience:
  • Minimum of 5-7 years of experience in demand and supply planning preferably within the retail wholesale or FMCG industry.
  • At least 2 years of experience in a leadership or team management role.
  • Proven track record of improving key supply chain metrics (e.g. availability inventory turnover forecast accuracy).
• Technical Skills:
  • Essential: Hands-on experience with advanced planning systems.
  • Strong preference for JDA/Blue Yonder Demand & Fulfillment (MDSP).
  • Proficient in using ERP systems and understanding data flows between systems.
  • Strong analytical skills with experience using BI and data visualization tools (e.g. Google Data Studio Tableau MSI).
  • Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel. Knowledge of SQL and experience with large datasets (e.g. Google BigQuery) is a significant plus.
• Soft Skills:
  • Excellent leadership and people management skills.
  • Strong analytical problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
  • Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across different functions and cultures.
  • Proactive results-oriented and able to thrive in a fast-paced dynamic environment.
  • Fluent in English; proficiency in German or another language is an asset.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time