Demand Planner

Founded in Japan in 1887, Kao is passionate about making a difference in people’s lives with our high-quality products and services to create a Kirei Life for all – a beautiful life that respects the needs of our consumers and customers as well as the planet. We never compromise on quality and craft our products with care for the consumer and the environment. As a company driven by purpose and strong corporate values, we pride ourselves to be listed among the World´s Most Ethical Companies since 16 consecutive years. Our corporate philosophy, the Kao Way, guides us in everything we do – acting with integrity, courageously driving innovation, and treating each other with trust and respect.

The role: We are seeking an experienced, detail-oriented and collaborative professional to take ownership of developing and maintaining accurate 12-month rolling forecasts for our distributors. In this role, you will work closely with distributors and internal stakeholders—including Sales, Marketing, and others to achieve consensus on forecast sign-offs. Youll play a critical role in bridging communication between global supply chains and local sales teams by sharing updates on supply constraints and ensuring smooth logistics operations.

What you will do: Leading Demand Planning process for our Middle East business :

• Develop and maintain accurate 12 month Rolling Forecast for all the distributors.
• Use statistical and analytical tools for developing the 12 months rolling forecast:
• Creation of naïve FC based on history in absence of data from distributor
• Enrich forecast with Market Sales , Promotions and sales projections.
• Consolidate and analyze Countries Forecast ;
• Get visibility of distributors inventory levels in order to predict their orders more accurately
• To agree & sign off consensus Forecast with Distributors & all KAO stakeholders (Sales, Marketing, etc.)
• Conduct Monthly meetings with the Distributors
• Conduct monthly meetings with Sales & Marketing teams to discuss and sign off forecast with Finance , Marketing and Sales department
• Creation of Reports on Monthly Basis
• Run forecasting KPIs reports, reflecting the Variance in the Forecast , Order and Dispatch & providing root cause analysis
• Phase in/Phase out
• Work with the Distributor on the Phase in and Phase Out, launch of NPD and reflect that in forecast
• Run/Lead Phase out Tracker to manage the Phase in and Phase out products in alignment with the distributors

What you will need:

• Bachelors degree or equivalent in numerical subjects or equivalent
• Supply Chain certifications e.g. APICS or IBF can be an advantage.
• 3 years min experience in demand planning within large FMCG companies
• Advanced Excel experience
• Previous ERP experience
• Statistical Forecasting software experience will be advantageous
• SAP knowledge would be an advantage

How we work: Having been selected among the World´s Most Ethical Companies for 16 consecutive years, we are a company with a purpose and strong corporate values. We never compromise on quality and craft our products with care for the consumer and the environment. At Kao, each employee can actively shape their job and their career. We work collaboratively to achieve our common goals, always aiming to deliver the best for our customers.

What we offer: A friendly and flexible work environment with competitive salaries, benefits package, ongoing development and the opportunity to enhance your skills and deliver tangible results. At Kao your voice will be heard. Your opinion really counts. We believe that change comes from taking opportunities into your own hands, so we value and reward entrepreneurial thinking and innovation.

Hiring Process: Kao embraces the diversity and the individual personalities of its people because we believe it is diversity that makes us strong. This is why we welcome applications from all areas of the global community.

Want to learn more: If you feel you are as unique as our products and want to find out why 33,000 people across the globe opted for a career with us please visit our Americas website (https://www.kao.com/americas/en/) or EMEA website (https://www.kao.com/emea/en/)

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