Business Planner (Supply Chain team) (Freelance)

JOB SUMMARY 

Play a key role in:

• Top Down Long term planning (5-18 months), 
• Capacity planning based on demand uncertainty / scenario planning 
• Demand Supply reconciliation (1-18 month), 
• Innovation planning for product switches and innovations, 
• Business Tradeoffs between Growth Opportunities, Working Capital and Operational Costs. 

Works closely together with upstream Supply Chain on short and long term delivery, Procurement & Innovation coordinators on Innovation planning, the Forecasting Excellence team on Forecasting and continuous improvement, and with sales on demand uncertainties.
 

YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES 

Supply Chain: 

• Dispatch Rate and Obsoletes – using available data and analytics to generate business insights and action plans for different scenarios. 
• Managing appropriate stock levels, driven by forecast uncertainty insight (event mgt, season mgt, Assumptions risk and opportunity planning). 
• Part of the project team for implementation of next generation planning systems. 

Service: 

• Drives the service performance to the agreed service targets 
• Collaborates with forecast excellence team & CCBT (cross category business team) to define the constrained plan and risk mitigation plans 
• Collaborates with European category teams to identify supply constraints and opportunities 
• Drives the demand and supply reconciliation long term (through capacity planning) and mid-term (4wks+) 
• Prepares handover of mid-term plan to the Customer Support Squad for execution (1-4 wks) e.g. list of key events, risks and opportunities and risk mitigation 

Innovations / switches: 

• Translate the innovation forecast for the full horizon (5-18 months) into our planning systems. This in cooperation with CCBT team (volume and risk & opportunities) 
• Collaborate with Procurement & Innovation on innovation and launch planning for the go to market 
• Check feasibility of timings and production capacity of innovations and switches. 
• Translate phasing in and out plan in planning system in cooperation with Category, Forecasting Excellence, and Customer teams. 

Business Partner 

• Identifies the key trade-offs in running operation, events, and product launches and proposes options to the planning manager and the CCBT lead (trade off cost/ cash/ service) 
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with Sales, Trade Category Management, Brand Building, and Finance business partners for forecast optimization purposes and perfect execution of product launches. 
• Understanding of the drivers of the business in order to communicate and share the SC information in the properly and effectively 

Business Waste 

• Provide transparency about potential risks and obsoletes regarding innovations, delisting’s and relaunches. 
• Focus on prevention and solving of obsoletes through proactive risk mitigation (including approval of the business) 
• Represent Supply Chain with respect to obsolete related topics. 

KEY REQUIREMENTS AND SKILLS 

• Education with relevant Master Degree (e.g. SC management, technical) 
• Minimum 3 years of relevant (FMCG) experience 
• Strong analytical capabilities, ability to work with big portfolio’s, building on modelling skills, and profound system thinking, 
• Operational experience in and knowledge of the Supply Chain 
• Digital mindset & technology savvy (beyond SAP and Excel, i.e. AI/ML) 
• Capability to resolve Strategic and Tactical planning challenges as well as day to day problems 
• Interpersonal skills: convincing, engaging, deal making, influencing skills 
• Effective communication skills for WL1-WL4 
• Language skills: NL/BE: fluency in Dutch and/or French and proficient of English; 
• Other relevant experience such as factory, marketing or sales 

COMPETENCIES 

• Practical creativity: can-do mindset 
• Analytical ability 
• Entrepreneurial behavior 
• Influencing others 
• Ability to learn