Demand & Inventory Planner

No Relocation Assistance Offered
150180 - Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa

Do you want to come to work with a smile and leave with one as well? In between those smiles, your day consists of working in a global organization, continually learning and collaborating, having stimulating discussions, and making impactful contributions

If this is how you see your career, Colgate is the place to be

Our dependable household brands, dedicated employees, and sustainability commitments make us a company passionate about building a future to smile about for our employees, consumers, and surrounding communities. The pride in our brand fuels a workplace that encourages creative thinking champions experimentation and promotes authenticity which has contributed to our enduring success.

If you want to work for a company that lives by its values, then give your career a reason to smile...every single day.

**Job Purpose**:

- Execute CP Demand Planning Fundamentals for RSA products to deliver against case fill, inventory and DPA targets.
- To manage preparation, alignment, and communication of a high quality Demand with a planning horizon of 18 months and play a key role in the Monthly Discipline process
- Work with Customer Development to understand Customer plans, launches, distribution changes, fast tracks. Highlight and fix significant negative forecast trends.
- Identify and, together with SNP, help resolve key supply issues and constraints within the medium term horizon
- Set inventory budget & Ensure inventory actuals/forecasts are in line with budgets. Assess risk to case fill and suggest periodic changes to inventory profile.
- Manage SLOB and excess inventory through working with commercial and Marketing teams
- Work with Marketing on forecasting, planning and execution for all NPD and soft transitions

**Main Responsibilities**:

- Support new products planning and /life cycle planning - Lead Contact for CS&L in Category Gateway Process
- Work cross functionally through the Gateway Process to finalise pipeline volume for new products.
- Track/measure actual shipments & conduct post launch analysis.
- Build and review collaborative demand plan
- Prepare & participate in Colgate business planning discipline process to develop an aligned demand plan. Gaps & opportunities are identified, quantified & addressed. Business performance for most recent month, quarter, YTD vs. plan is reviewed.
- Ensure alignment of final demand plan to supply plan. Evaluate changes to demand, inventory, and customer backlogs. Identify resource constraints, potential solutions, and impact on “unconstrained demand plan”.
- Ensure demand plan forecast is translated into a inventory plan with clear safety stock management and target setting.
- Monthly management of SLOB process with commercial. Action plan for all SLOB items and proactive discussion with SNP around SLOB generating MOQ SKU’s.
- Monitor orders and shipments on a regular basis. Understand sources of significant changes & flag to commercial and supply chain partners.
- Measure, report, and drive improvement accuracy for the total subsidiary, and category level categorised by new products, regular items, & promotional items. Sources of Demand Planning bias are identified, addressed, and eliminated.
- Build organisational capability & drive change management
- Partner with Brand teams and Retail Marketing to achieve portfolio simplification.

**Required Qualifications**:

- Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Mathematics, Finance or Logistics.
- Minimum 5 years of experience in demand planning or customer service/logistics role in Consumer Goods or Manufacturing.

**#LI-Hybrid**

Equal Opportunity Employer
Colgate is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, veteran status (United States positions), or any other characteristic protected by law.

Colgate-Palmolive is a leading global consumer products company, tightly focused on Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care and Pet Nutrition. Colgate sells its products in over 200 countries and territories around the world under such internationally recognized brand names as Colgate, Palmolive, elmex, Tom’s of Maine, Sorriso, Speed Stick, Lady Speed Stick, Softsoap, Irish Spring, Protex, Sanex, Elta MD, PCA Skin, Ajax, Axion, Fabuloso, Soupline and Suavitel, as well as Hill’s Science Diet and Hill’s Prescription Diet.