Associate Manager, Demand Planning

• Own and manage the end-to-end demand planning and forecasting process for the East Africa cluster
• Develop, maintain and continuously improve a rolling 24-month demand forecast at market, customer and product level
• Drive forecast accuracy improvement initiatives and proactively manage forecast bias through robust analytics and root cause analysis
• Lead the monthly Demand Review process and support Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) activities
• Collaborate closely with Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Finance and Supply Planning teams to ensure forecast alignment and business consensus
• Analyze historical sales trends, market intelligence, promotional plans, customer developments and new product launches to generate accurate demand assumptions
• Identify and communicate demand risks and opportunities, recommending mitigation and contingency actions
• Partner with Supply Planning to translate demand signals into supply requirements while highlighting inventory, capacity, availability and service risks
• Monitor and report forecast performance metrics and prepare demand planning insights for local, regional and leadership stakeholders
• Serve as key user and process owner for demand planning systems, ensuring data accuracy and integrity across planning tools

Qualifications & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain management, Engineering, Business Management, Mathematics, Statistics, Economics or a related field
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in Demand Planning, Supply Chain Planning, Forecasting or a related discipline
• FMCG and/or multinational company experience (per advert requirements)

Skills & Competencies:

• Analytical and forecasting skills with strong data orientation
• Cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder influence for fact-based decision making
• Continuous improvement, process standardization and digital transformation mindset
• Strong presentation and reporting skills to leadership stakeholders