Group Demand & Supply Manager

The Group Demand and Supply manager ensures optimal product availability and working capital efficiency through integrated demand and supply planning and execution across the network, enabling accurate forecasting, planning, stock on-shelf-availability, visibility, and alignment to commercial strategy.

Minimum Requirements…

Essential:

• Degree in Supply Chain, Commerce, Engineering, Statistics, or related field or min 8 years experience in demand planning, supply chain or inventory management.
• Strong analytical skills with experience in data analysis and inventory system technologies (e.g. SAP ; F&R; UDF).
• Proven experience leading planning, replenishment, or inventory optimisation teams in a large retail, FMCG, or pharmacy environment.
• Experience working across commercial, supply chain, and operational functions

Responsibilities

Tactical and value delivery

• Own the integrated demand and supply planning process across imported, locally sourced, manufactured and private label products, aligning demand forecasts, replenishment, and supply plans to business targets.
• Drive forecast accuracy and bias reduction through structured planning methodologies and continuous improvement.
• Drive inventory optimisation across product lifecycle stages, including new, high growth, established, core, seasonal, promotional, slow-moving, and clearance.
• Translate commercial plans (promotions, pricing, assortment changes) from CCO teams into actionable demand and supply plans
• Enable visibility of stock position, risks, and opportunities across the network to support proactive decision-making
• Balance service levels, stock availability, and working capital through scenario planning and trade-off decisions
• Management of purchasing ‘Open-to-Buy’ in line with working capital targets and parameters.
• Drive continuous improvement in planning accuracy, replenishment logic, stock health, and inventory productivity.
• Manage and oversee technology products for inventory optimisation and replenishment execution.

Leadership and collaboration

• Lead and develop the Inventory optimisation teams, including demand, supply, replenishment and functional specialists to ensure alignment and execution excellence.
• Facilitate structured planning forums to align commercial, supplier and logistics stakeholders to ensure effective planning and execution of local, import and private label supply.
• Partner with CCO stakeholders including category management, buying, commercial intelligence, space& assortment, retail media, promotions and private label.
• Cross functional collaboration with x Bigly, Supply chain, DC’s, IT, Finance, Retail& Pharmacy Ops and Admin.
• Provide insights and recommendations to senior stakeholders on demand, supply, and inventory performance

Governance and risk

• Establish and enforce planning governance, standards, controls, rules, policies and processes across forecasting and supply planning and execution across the network.
• Monitor and mitigate risks related to demand volatility, stock-outs, overstock, and supply disruptions.
• Ensure integrity of forecasting inputs, planning systems, and data across the planning process.
• Track and manage performance against forecast accuracy, service levels, and inventory metrics.
• Maintain system, operational and inventory master data integrity and related risks.

Key Skills

• Strong retail, forecasting, inventory, supply chain planning expertise.
• Deep understanding of demand planning, replenishment, stock optimisation, inventory and working capital management.
• Strong commercial acumen and ability to translate commercial inputs into executable, operational, inventory plans.
• Advanced technical, analytical and systems knowledge and thinking capability.
• Strong leadership and cross-functional stakeholder management
• Understanding of AI and machine learning applications in demand forecasting, replenishment, and inventory optimisation.

Key Performance Indicators

• Forecast accuracy and forecast bias.
• Stock on-shelf availability, stock-out rate and lost sales impact.
• Inventory turnover rate and days of inventory on hand.
• Working capital/ inventory value.
• Excess, obsolete and slow moving stock.
• Pricing and promotion execution accuracy.
• Article and site master data accuracy and completeness.
• Optimisation and performance of master data, inventory and replenishment technology products.