Demand and Supply Planning Manager

Requirements

Key responsibilities

Demand planning

Own the rolling demand forecast across all brands, SKUs, markets, and key customers.
Run a structured monthly forecast cycle with sales and commercial teams in each market, validating and challenging promotional uplifts, new listings, distributor orders, and baseline assumptions rather than simply aggregating them.
Reconcile sell-in, sell-out, and distributor stock-on-hand data to separate true consumer demand from pipeline fill.
Measure forecast accuracy and bias at SKU and market level, and close the loop with commercial teams on misses.

Supply planning

Convert the consensus demand plan into supplier-level purchase plans, accounting for production lead times, minimum order quantities, transit times, customs clearance, and shelf-life constraints.
Sequence purchase orders and shipments so stock lands in the right market, at the right time, with the right remaining shelf life.
Set stock cover targets by SKU and market, balancing service levels against working capital.
Monitor inventory ageing and escalate at-risk stock early, before it becomes a near-expiry liquidation.

S&OP and team leadership

Lead the monthly S&OP process, aligning commercial, finance, and supply chain around a single set of numbers.
Manage, coach, and develop the demand planner.
Build documented, repeatable planning processes and tools so the function runs on process rather than individual heroics.
Report a monthly planning scorecard to the CEO covering forecast accuracy and bias, service level, stock cover, ageing and near-expiry stock, and liquidation losses.

Qualifications & experience

• 7+ years in demand and supply planning within FMCG, ideally including import/distribution businesses rather than purely local manufacturing.
• Proven experience planning across multiple markets and/or through third-party distributors.
• A track record of constructively challenging sales and commercial teams on their forecasts; this role requires commercial backbone, not just analytical skill.
• Hands-on experience converting demand plans into purchase plans with international suppliers across varying production and transit lead times.
• Experience with shelf-life-sensitive categories strongly preferred.
• Prior experience managing or mentoring junior planners.
• Strong ERP proficiency (SAP Business One an advantage) and advanced Excel and analytical skills.
• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Engineering, Business, or a related field.
• Strong written and spoken English; Arabic is an advantage given the regional footprint.