Sr. Demand Planning Manager

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 more than 50 countries, with products sold in more than 170, the Ferrero Group is loved by generations around the world. The secret to our global success? 40,000 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.

About the Role:

The Sr. Demand Planning Manager will lead a team of Demand Planners and oversee the cross-functional Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process for the Ferrero Mainstream Chocolate (FMC) Portfolio, which includes iconic brands like Butterfinger, Crunch, Baby Ruth, and 100 Grand. The goal of this position is to continuously improve service levels while simultaneously reducing finished goods inventory through accurate forecasting. Key to this role will be anticipating and understanding the needs of different stakeholders across the company relative to forecasting, turning assumptions into actionable plans and providing insight into demand drivers to leadership.

This position is based in our Parsippany, NJ office and is onsite 3 days a week/ remote 2 days a week.

Main Responsibilities:

• Manage a team of Demand Planners
• Develop demand forecasts for FMC products, totaling over $500M in net sales, at various levels of aggregation and across multiple time horizons.
• Coordinate demand activities across two production facilities, managing approximately 150 SKUs.
• Use and maintain the Demand Planning software as the primary forecasting system tool. Primary tools include SAP APO for end-to-end planning and JDA Blue Yonder for statistical forecast management
• Lead monthly S&OP process for FMC business including maintaining 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.
• Track Forecast KPI’s including bias, accuracy and forecast value add. Use these KPI’s to drive improvements.
• Partner with Supply and Deployment Directors to conduct periodic reviews of results and where needed implement enhancements or corrective actions
• Coordinate cross-functional research activities to reconcile significant variances and refine the forecast model to reflect updated sales, trade marketing and marketing assumptions.
• Interact with sales, marketing, trade marketing and finance to understand demand forecast drivers.
• 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.
• Provide input to the Supply Planning and Deployment Planning organizations in developing inventory strategies on existing items, new products, and product phase-in/ phase outs.
• Closely coordinate and communicate customer action plans with supply planning and deployment.
  
  

Who we are looking for:

• Prior management experience, preferably in Demand Planning or related function
• Demonstrated success in implementing KPIs and continuous improvement initiatives
• Bachelor’s Degree in Logistics, Operations Planning, Engineering, or a related field preferred
• 5-7 years’ experience with fast moving consumer goods or equivalent
• 5-7 years’ experience in Demand Planning or forecasting role
• Proficient Microsoft Office (Excel, Powerpoint)
• Demonstrated proficiency in statistics, forecasting and forecasting methods with an understanding of their financial and operational impacts.
• Experience with SAP APO & ECC or similar applications
• Experience with Forecasting tools as Blue Yonder or equivalent.
  
  

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.

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.

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.