Career Opportunities: Demand Forecast Analyst

About Almarai and the Role

Almarai, headquartered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is recognized as the world’s largest vertically integrated dairy and the region’s largest food and beverage manufacturing and distribution company. The company is ranked as the #1 FMCG Brand in the MENA region and holds a market leadership position across all its categories within the GCC. Almarai employs over 46,000 individuals, servicing approximately 110,000 retail outlets. In 2023, the company reported a net income of SAR * Billion on sales of SAR ** Billion. This full-time Demand Forecast Analyst position is based in Makkah, King Abdullah Economic City, or Rabigh, and requires 2-5 years of experience.

Role Purpose

The Demand Forecast Analyst is responsible for preparing demand forecasts for the Seafood Business. This role focuses on continuously improving forecast accuracy by considering various factors such as historical sales patterns, trends, seasonality, past and future events (including sales and marketing plans), economic conditions, weather, government regulations, and competitive activities. The analyst will utilize the PROCAST system, a specialized forecasting software, to achieve these objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure demand planners maintain the IBP system with clean and up-to-date data.
• Reconcile all SKUs weekly, by depot, and accurately set up new SKUs.
• Ensure immediate reflection of any changes in product or geographic hierarchy within the system.
• Accurately capture future and past events in the IBP system.
• Update rolling 18-month forecasts on a weekly-monthly basis, broken down by week, depot, and SKU.
• Submit and ensure the incorporation of regional/local level events into the forecast through bottom-up forecasting.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or a related field.
• 3-5 years of experience in a similar business planning/forecasting role.
• Prior experience within a chilled FMCG multi-SKU environment is preferred.
• Experience with forecasting tools such as IBP or SAP.

Required Skills

• Excellent communication skills.
• Strong analytical abilities for data interpretation and forecasting.

Application Process

This full-time position offers an opportunity to contribute to a dynamic multinational team dedicated to furthering growth plans for the Almarai group. The salary for this role will be discussed during the interview process.