Associate Manager Demand & Supply Planning Temp

About the Role

Nestlé is seeking an Associate Manager Demand & Supply Planning (Temporary) to join their team in Makkah, with operations covering Jeddah and Makkah. This full-time role focuses on leading bottom-up consensus demand plans for specific categories within the Cluster, ensuring efficient alignment across commercial and operational stakeholders. The primary objective is to maintain end-to-end operational efficiencies, guarantee product availability with desired freshness, optimize inventory levels, and consistently achieve service levels to support efficient growth and increased market share.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the Monthly Business Planning Cycle (MBPC) to establish a consensus bottom-up demand plan for an 18-month horizon, aligning with Cluster, Category, and Channel dynamics. This involves leading pre-alignment meetings and sign-off meetings with Cluster heads, sales, Customer Development Teams (CDT), and marketing teams.
• Utilize Sellout/IMS data to construct bottom-up consensus demand plans by category, district, and SKU, ensuring trade coverage adheres to agreed stock cover policies. This includes analyzing sales out bias by SKU and district to inform forecasting decisions.
• Conduct advanced price elasticity simulations in collaboration with commercial teams to model multi-scenario volume implications across product portfolios, identify potential risks or opportunities, and enable data-driven decision-making.
• Collaborate with District sales senior managers to perform in-depth analysis of second-tier wholesalers, aiming to enhance forecast accuracy and improve demand projection precision across the distribution network, particularly before price adjustments.
• Work with commercial teams to manage Integrated Commercial Planning (ICP) and develop baseline demand forecasts for new product launches and promotions, ensuring realistic baseline and uplift assumptions in coordination with market size, competitor pricing, APOS ambition, drop size, and competitor performance.
• Manage Product In/Product Out (PIPO) end-to-end plans monthly to prevent out-of-stock situations or overstocking, based on MBPC outcomes, supply alerts, and previous month's performance.
• Connect with sales support regarding monthly landing and assess its potential impact on replenishment and full-year sales, implementing proactive measures to optimize performance and trade stock cover.
• Ensure timely supply with appropriate freshness while maintaining optimal inventory levels by coordinating with various functions (clearance team, category supply planners, DSP category managers, logistics) to provide commercial teams with visibility on product availability.
• Contribute to reducing bad goods through Monthly Stock Review (MSR) meetings with relevant stakeholders, ensuring action plans are reflected in MBPC, provisions are made by the finance team, and escalating risks when necessary.
• Continuously monitor KPI evolution (OG%, tonnage growth, DPA M-1, M-3, bias, COF, Stock cover, and Bad goods) to improve service level and accuracy via the MBPC process while reducing end-to-end costs.
• Maintain and communicate the Demand Planning Accuracy (DPA) learning log to the Cluster, Category, and Analytical hub, providing information on deviations versus actuals by reason code.
• Coordinate with the local Advertising & Promotion (A&P) team to ensure timely execution and availability of promotional stocks in line with standard operating procedures.
• Support order fulfillment management, reason code assignment for out-of-stock incidents, and develop action plans to improve customer satisfaction and mitigate issues.
• Govern the end-to-end process of monthly pallet projections, collaborating with warehouse and logistics stakeholders to ensure warehouse space availability aligns with anticipated demand fluctuations, build-ups, and supply chain contingencies.

Qualifications and Experience

• Candidates should possess 2-5 years of relevant professional experience.
• Demonstrated ability to lead demand planning processes and collaborate with cross-functional teams.
• Experience in data analysis, forecasting, and inventory management.

Work Environment and Location

This is a full-time temporary position based in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, with responsibilities extending to Jeddah. The role involves working within a dynamic environment that requires close collaboration with various commercial and operational teams across the Cluster.