Planning Manager

Who we are and what we’re looking for

Yuppiechef is South Africa's premier kitchen and homeware omnichannel retailer. Based in Westlake, Cape Town, our big vision is to build the world's best shopping experience and to be leaders in omnichannel retail.

After recently being acquired by the Mr Price Group we are in a stage of growth where an experienced Planning Manager will lead our planning teams to drive forward our processes as well as our product portfolio's performance. Our Planning department spreads their focus across both the in-store and online shopping experiences of our customers and is critical in ensuring a delightful shopping experience. We focus on having the right product, at the right price, in the right place and at the right time.

What your role looks like

You will lead the demand and forecasting planning for your categories, working closely with the Planners in your team. Your ability to cross-collaborate with other business teams is key. You will bring alignment at a strategic level and effectively translate this to your team to bring about real operational action.

Your ability to drive forward stock analysis and scenario planning will benefit our goal to tactically achieve our sales trajectories and minimize lost opportunities. You will need to be able to define, streamline drive forward new processes to enable the planning team to meet their KPI’s.

Who you’ll be working with

Our Planning team does not work in isolation and a love of building strong reciprocal relationships with our Merchandising teams, Marketing team, Planners and external Suppliers must be a key part of your working style. You will work along teams of dedicated and passionate people who all feel the effects of mis-aligned focus or unachieved targets and consistently re-evaluate how to achieve our goals.

Who you are

Besides being an exceptionally talented demand Planner with a working knowledge of complex inventory based environments, we are looking for a teammate who feels success when their team is well led and developed. Managing people, their satisfaction & drive in their roles must be a passion for you and seeing others grow and develop must bring you joy. Planning is about detail, accuracy and a lot of detective work when it does not all add up, you must be energized by the variety that each day can bring. Our businesses value of Growth is defined as “never wanting to stand still” which means there is constant innovation, change and improvement of processes and systems. You should be excited about being part of a team that questions, develops and improves on processes as needed.

What experience and skills you need for the role

If you are an experienced Planner who has worked in a complex retail inventory environment supplying to both internal and external customers, this role may be for you. Our internally developed and powerful systems will be leveraged by your experience and drive to constantly improve.

Ideally, you should have:

- At least 10 years of experience in a planning environment with predominant focus on retail.
- A minimum of 2 years experience in successfully managing planners with at least a management ratio of 1:3
- Exemplary numerical skills with the ability to logically analyze as well as scenario plan from the data provided.
- Demonstrated responsibility in validating and executing on large purchase decisions
- Highly comfortable working across numerous computer based programmes as well as building your own databases in excel
- This role directly impacts the financial performance of the business and so a strong understanding of business finance terminology and metrics is essential
- Understanding of how retail metrics are influenced by decisions taken by a Planning function.
- Strong relationship and communication skills effectively demonstrated across various internal and external customer groups.
- Experience in retail / eCommerce and a passion for the products we sell is clearly beneficial.
- Experience in special projects and process development

**Environment, Pay and Benefits**

**Environment**:

- Our offices and warehouses are in Westlake Business Park, Cape Town.
- There is flexibility in the role, but the majority of every working week will be “on-site” to help build strong working relationships

**Pay and Benefits**:

- We pay competitive, market-related salaries based on skills and experience, and a discretionary profit share or other incentives based on the company's performance.
- Your salary is based on a “Total Cost To Company” model and includes:

- Medical Aid (Discovery) contributions
- Group Life Cover
- Retirement Annuity
- Employee Assistance Programme
- 17 Days Paid Annual Leave increasing to 20 days with length of service