East-West Seed is the market leader for tropical vegetable seeds in Asia and is rapidly expanding in Africa. The privately-owned company has played an important role in the development and improvement of high-quality vegetable varieties in tropical countries. East-West Seed develops vegetable varieties that are adapted to tropical markets and growing conditions and generate increased yield and productivity for farmers. In addition, the company educates farmers and helps them to maximize their yield and income through better knowledge of vegetable production.

East-West Seed is one of the 10 largest vegetable seed companies in the world, with a leading position in Southeast Asia and rapid expansion into India, and designated parts of Africa. It also has set out an ambitious growth strategy to expand our leading position in the vegetable seed industry in Tanzania. to ensure an accurate and unbiased forecast to efficiently allocate company resources and ensure high levels of service to customers, we welcome an experienced Supply and Demand Planner to become part of our highly successful team.

The Country Demand Planner owns the Demand Planning process and leads S&OP to ensure an accurate and unbiased forecast to efficiently allocate company resources and ensure high levels of service to customers.  Manages the volume Demand Plan at all horizons and all levels of granularity and is responsible for forecast accuracy and bias.  Collaborates closely with Sales, Marketing & Finance to achieve a consensus Demand Plan constrained by Supply

Forecasting of future Demand

l  Owns the process to create a robust volume Demand Plan for all horizons and all levels of granularity

l  Partners with Sales & Finance to ensure Financial Forecast and volume forecasts are aligned and connected.

l  Leverages internal and external data as well as statistical tools and models to forecast the future including baseline, uplifts, and impactors.

l  Collaborates with all relevant functions to gain the best possible insight into future volumes and reach a consensus forecast

l  Challenges and aligns cross-functionally on forecasts for new products, items being discontinued, and promotions.

l  Analyses the past forecast to identify variances and works with Sales and Marketing to understand these and adjust the future forecast.

l  Responsible for delivering high Demand Plan accuracy and low Forecast Bias.

Improve Forecast Accuracy

l  Propose and execute measures to improve the quality of the Demand Plan

l  Perform detailed analysis on past forecast accuracy to identify areas for improvement and then execute improvement projects

l  Collaborates with other Country Demand Planners to share best practices and stays aware of external developments in forecasting methodologies/tools

l  Leverage and pilot innovative tools or techniques to improve forecast accuracy - proactively takes the initiative to be an innovator and a pioneer 

l  Lead the S&OP process to align on unconstrained and then constrained plans, both in volume and value in close collaboration with Sales, Marketing, and Finance on constraining for the forecast.

l  Clearly identify risks and opportunities not included in the forecast.

l  Leads the S&OP activities to align on the future forecasts for major events such as the 4 Year Business plan, Production Windows, and Annual Business Plan.

Cross-functional collaboration

l  Guide Sales and Marketing on risks/opportunities not included in the forecast and align on risk mitigating supply strategies.

l  Partner with Sales and Marketing to ensure a clear events calendar is available.

l  Develop models to better predict the impact of events and then provide guidance to Sales and marketing on optimizing trade and promotional spending.

l  Partner with Customer Facing Supply Chain on Collaborative Planning with customers

l  Play a strong role in the New Products process to ensure robust forecasting of demand and agile adjustment of the forecast after launch.

l  Collaborate with the Global Supply Chain team to take the Demand Planning & S&OP processes forward and piloting potential tools/models to enhance forecasting.

Ensure Supply

l  Plans Supply at all horizons and at the appropriate granularity (from 4-year business plans to weekly requirements), always maintaining a detailed Supply Plan for 12-18 months.

l  Creates demand-driven Supply Plans for all stages of the chain (dispatch, finished goods, fill & pack, cleaning, production).

l  Responsible for ensuring high Order Fill Rate and achieving this with the efficiency of spend.  Maintains Reason Codes to provide guidance on supply misses and analyses the results to take corrective action.

l  Leads the supply side of S&OP to validate the ability to supply the Demand Plan (for monthly S&OP, Annual Business Plan, Production Windows, and 4 Year Business Plan)

l  Partners with Demand Planner on S&OP Risks and Opportunities not in the Demand Plan and aligns on appropriate supply approaches

l  Is the once source of guidance for supply-side activities (Plant, Warehouse, Production) with all Demand Plans translated into Supply Plans by the Supply Planner

l  Balances service, cost, and inventory decisions with a passion for delivering high service with efficiency of spend.

l  Monitors Supply Chain KPIs and takes action to ensure performance and identify areas of improvement.  Collaborates with Demand Planning and Plant to identify broader improvements to increase service or reduce cost.

l  Makes tactical choices in times of short supply or capacity on which items to prioritize.  Liaises with Sales and Marketing to agree on priorities and is the sole source of guidance for the supply-side activities.

l  Drives continuous improvement in the planning process, fully leveraging systems and tools, coaching any Master Planner or Dispatch Planner as the senior Planner of the Country.

Inventory Planning & Management

l  Sets MIN MAX inventory levels to achieve the desired service level and avoid excess inventory

l  Collaborates with Customer Facing Supply Chain to set the inventory aspects of the service strategy, determining what level of inventory to hold at each location and in each format (Finished Goods, Bulk, etc.) to ensure agility.      

l  Responsible for inventory management, liaising with Quality to ensure on-time release and assessment of inventory not meeting quality standards, ensuring inventory stays between MIN and MAX, and addressing aging / excess inventory.

l  Responsible for the management of Slow Moving and Obsolete inventory (SLOBs).  Identifies aging inventory promptly and agrees on action plans across functions to address each issue.,  Takes the lead on execution and monitoring progress / intervening where needed to minimize write-offs and avoid continuing to carry inventory without a future sales forecast.

l  Supervising the store team and ensuring there is always a continuous improvement among the team and inventory activities.

Capacity, Dispatch & Production Planning

l  Manages the capacity of Production, Plant (Processing, Fill & Pack), and Warehouse(s) to ensure the published Supply Plan is feasible.

l  Provides Dispatch Requirements to the Warehouse / Logistics / EXIM teams and monitors execution performance.

Event Management

l  Plans and executes the flow of supply for new products, discontinuations, and promotions, to maximize service, increase agility and balance the risk of write-offs.

l  Collaborates closely with  Sales, Marketing, Plant, and Production to agree on realistic plans and monitor execution.

l  Experienced (average of 5 years) in Supply Planning and Demand Planning or similar roles in the agriculture or consumer industry

l  Business insight: strong understanding of the wider business, industry, and market dynamics.  Is able to apply this knowledge into strategy/tactics development and spot potential opportunities/risks

l  Functional knowledge is an expert in Supply Planning and Inventory Management.  Can explain both to others.  Equally comfortable in technical detail and with strategy

l  Hands-on: can get into details and do things themselves, not just issue instructions from a desk

l  Strategic mindset: can build a robust plan supported by a clear, logical strategic framework; able to anticipate and visualize future scenarios

l  Financial acumen: very comfortable with complex numbers and understands financial analysis

l  Strong sense of accountability: thinks and acts like an owner

l  Drive for results: passionate to deliver results and is not easily daunted by challenges, strong execution capability

l  Balances stakeholders: able to consider different views of stakeholders and makes balanced, well-thought-out  decisions

l  Effectively communicates: able to package and deliver messages in a clear and convincing manner and able to influence the right action from an audience

l  Agility: is comfortable to shift style or ways of working depending on the business situation; can thrive in an organization where structure/process is still being developed

l  Driven by the need to achieve meaningful results and be part of a purpose-driven organization