Demand Planner

Package Description

Britax Childcare is an international market leader in the manufacture and distribution of child safety car seats and wheeled goods. The global market is divided into three regions: Europe, Americas and Asia Pacific.  Australia is the largest business in the Asia Pacific, known as Britax Childcare Pty Ltd and is headquartered in Port Melbourne. The primary brands are Britax, Safe-n-Sound, Steelcraft, Hipod and Babylove. 

The business operates under the following values:

• We care about protecting the dreams of our customers, our people, and our world. Realized by outstanding safety, fostering our employees with a commitment to improving lives.
• We trust in our products to protect the dreams of our customers all over the world. We trust in our people who come together with a common purpose, where differences make us better and enable us to create an environment where everyone belongs.
• We are curious because we ask questions and connect with our people, by listening thoughtfully, elevating their voices, and ensuring their dreams are our starting point.

POSITION OBJECTIVE:

The Demand Planner is responsible for all sales forecasting activities – by customers and products, and for the SF&OP processes.:

DUTIES & ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Develop, update and maintain demand (sales) forecasts by analysing multiple sources of information, including collaborative planning with key customers & internal stakeholders.
• Lead Sales, Financial & Operations Planning (SF&OP) and Collaborative Forecasting process with customers.
• Provide support and analyses as required by other business functions.

These incorporate 2 key areas:

1. Demand Planning / SF&OP:

• ​Review historical sales trends, research demand drivers, customer inputs, develop statistical forecast, and evaluate forecast results using forecasting software.
• Retrieve, validate and review customer Point of Sales (POS) data for forecasting and business intelligence purposes.
• Gather forecast information from customers, assess for veracity and work with customers to develop robust forecasts.
• Coordinate cross-functional review of forecasts to reconcile variances, anomalies and uncertainties to develop a consensus forecast.
• Maintain the forecasting software as the primary tool for forecasting. Create reports in the forecasting tool or via the business intelligence tool.
• Proactively provide input to the supply chain, sales, finance and other teams to optimise operations, inventory management and reporting. Provide ad hoc information or reports to various teams.
• Continually monitor and review forecasting performance metrics to improve forecasting models and / or processes.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships internally with relevant cross-functional teams whilst maintaining rigour and integrity of established processes.
• Lead the cross-functional SF&OP process to identify pain points, risks and opportunities.

       2. Other

• Support gathering, extraction, validation and transformation, collation, analysis and reporting of business, customer and market intelligence, including dashboards.
• Perform or support ad hoc data modelling, analysis and reporting as required by the business. 

COMPETENCIES, KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:

• Experience in demand planning, supply chain, or similar role with strong analytical and numerical skills
• Working with ERP Systems (eg AX, D365, SAP) preferable
• Using MS Office, with minimum Intermediate level Excel skills
• Familiarity with a Business Intelligence tool (eg MS Power BI) preferable
• Willingness & ability to take ownership and responsibility of the Demand Planning function and work independently.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, collating multiple types of data and information from multiple sources, and to analyse and prepare coherent information and reports
• Ability to set priorities, work under pressure and to strict timelines, and follow through with assigned tasks with limited supervision
• Excellent Oral and Written communication skills and ability to confidently liaise with internal stakeholders and customers

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Bachelors’ degree in business, commerce or a field relevant to the role.
• 2 to 3 years’ experience in demand planning, supply chain or other analytical role.