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Demand Lead

(Publishing industry and S&OP experience will be an added advantage)

Job Summary

The Demand Lead will be responsible for leading a team of Demand planners ,Developing accurate demand forecasts, analyzing market trends, and collaborating with various departments to ensure optimal inventory levels and supply chain performance. This role is crucial in supporting our mission to deliver high-quality products/services to our customers promptly and efficiently. Experience in demand planning or supply chain within the publishing industry is preferred.

Key Responsibilities

Forecasting and Planning:

- Produce and review the generated statistical forecast, compare past forecasts with actuals, analyze exceptions, review signal performance, evaluate scenario result deltas to actuals, gather risks and opportunities, and finalize the unconstrained demand forecast.

- Develop and maintain demand forecasts using historical data, market trends, and sales insights.

- Collaborate with sales, marketing, and finance teams to gather information for accurate forecasting.

- Utilize statistical tools and software / Excel for demand planning.

Inventory Management:

- Monitor inventory levels and ensure alignment with demand forecasts.

- Identify and mitigate potential inventory shortages or excesses.

- Optimize inventory levels to balance cost and service levels.

Data Analysis and Reporting:

- Support development of reporting which shows forecast changes, history vs forecast shifts (e.g., anticipated shifts in trend or sales momentum for products or customers), future events considered, and history considered exception and normalized.

- Analyze sales data, market trends, and economic indicators to refine demand forecasts.

- Generate reports and dashboards to communicate demand plans and inventory status to stakeholders.

- Provide actionable insights and recommendations to improve demand planning processes.

Cross-functional Collaboration:

- Incorporate stakeholder inputs to justify forward perspective; support demand review meetings by collecting inputs from stakeholders, providing analysis, and creating draft presentations.

- Work closely with procurement, production, and logistics teams to align supply chain activities with demand forecasts.

- Lead Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) meetings (consensus forecast development, R&O, etc)

- Coordinate with product development and marketing on new product launches and promotions.

Continuous Improvement:

- Identify opportunities to enhance forecasting accuracy and supply chain efficiency.

- Adopt best practices and technologies in demand planning.

- Participate in process improvement initiatives and projects.

Crisis and Exception Management:

- Review and resolve for crisis (potential stock outs, risks, etc.) with other functional/downstream teams, monitor progress to action plans, documenting updates through issue resolution.

- Provide exception management in case of critical input failures (e.g., batch job failure, system malfunction, and application issues).

Qualifications

Education:

- Bachelor's degree in engineering or supply chain management.

Experience:

- Lead: 10 to 13 years of experience in Demand planning , forecasting ,purchasing or S&OP

Skills:

- Team handling skills , Able to guide the team to achieve the organization Goals

- Strong understanding of demand/supply planning, inventory management, obsolescence management, and sales and operations planning.

- Strong understanding of supplier management and procurement.

- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

- Ability to influence decisions by working across different organizational functions beyond supply chain.

- Proficiency in supply planning & purchasing software, MS Office,

- Advanced level in Excel.

- Excellent communication skills (English as primary language).

- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities.

- Attention to detail, presentation and organizational skills.

Location

Chennai, India