Demand Planner (S&OP)

About us Symrise is a global supplier of fragrances, flavors, food, nutrition, and cosmetic ingredients. Its clients include manufacturers of perfumes, cosmetics, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and producers of nutritional supplements and pet food. Its sales of € 4.7 billion in the 2023 fiscal year make Symrise a leading global provider. Headquartered in Holzminden, Germany, the Group is represented by more than 100 locations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, the United States and Latin America. Symrise works with its clients to develop new ideas and market-ready concepts for products that form an integral part of everyday life. Economic success and corporate responsibility are inextricably linked as part of this process. Symrise – always inspiring more… Your role Position Summary This role supports the North America S&OP demand planning process for Food & Beverages, with a primary focus on new pipeline opportunities. The role will build and own the process within S&OP to monitor pipeline opportunities in CX—defining when opportunities are included in the forecast and triggering engagement with Production Planning and Purchasing to ensure capacity and materials are in place. It will partner closely with finance to ensure that our long term top line financial goals are aligned with future forecasts. Based on historical data, trends, functional inputs and new product introductions, this role will provide visibility to future demand, lead consensus where required to improve forecast accuracy, reduce inventory risk and increase speed to market. It will be a pivotal role in integrating and collaborating as One Team across North America F&B, maximizing efficiencies across legal entities. Essential Duties and Responsibilities Support monthly S&OP process for NA Food and Beverage and serves as key contact and connection point between commercial and operations team Build and maintain the CX pipeline opportunity management process for S&OP, including stage/entry criteria, timing rules for forecast inclusion, and clear handoffs to Production Planning and Purchasing to secure capacity, materials and customer lead times. Collaborate closely with Sales Account Managers and BU’s to monitor projects and understand when we reach a critical level of confidence that will result in introducing new business to demand planning forecast Examine current process of bringing new projects to market, suggest improvements to ensure that all key Supply Chain and Ops stakeholders are receiving proper communication in order to deliver projects to customers on time while respecting lead times. Own and maintain the forecast in our planning systems (ForecastPro, Colibiri) Generate insights out of forecast, running actuals to forward forecasting analytics to understand the data, trend, seasonality, cycle etc. to improve the existing forecasting. Sense-check statistical forecasts and highlight any unexpected trends or projections. Challenge customer forecast where insights may show gaps Partner and communicate closely with Sales and Customer Service teams to understand customer behaviors and other key information that can influence forecast changes. Review and analyze forecast changes, conduct trend analysis, identifying risks / opportunities, and provide detailed analysis of changes, mitigation proposals. Ensures Monthly Consensus forecast from individual account S&OP process is maintained in proper ERP system to relay accurate demand signals to production planning Use of advanced tools/techniques to do data cleaning, researching and collection of new data/demand drivers both internal and external, feature engineering, feature selection, selecting best models/algorithm using the right evaluation criteria to generate the most accurate forecast. Close collaboration with Customer Service, Production Planning, QC, Production and Logistics to drive efficient inventory level and on time delivery. Partner with Inventory Manager to identify risks of SLOBs and mitigate excess/obsolete inventory Collaborate with cross-functional team to drive the overall management and execution Supply Chain projects like Inventory Task Force, Safety stock, forecast improvement, and reporting. Prepares Forecast Accuracy Report and KPI’s, identifying root cause of inaccuracies and coordinate actions for improvement Support the Supply Chain and Operations teams in any relevant reporting needs About You Required Qualifications Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Engineering, Supply Chain, or similar fields. Flavor and/or FMCG or related industry is an added advantage. 5+ years of experience within Demand Planning or Supply Chain Planning, experience in working with new business pipeline opportunities preferred 3+ years of experience with S&OP High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office. Demonstrated proficiency in statistics, forecasting and forecasting methods with an understanding of their financial and operational impacts. Self‑motivated, strongly disciplined and ability to collaborate with internal stakeholders and cross‑functional teams. Strong analytical skills, sound judgement and drive for excellence. Strong understanding of SAP and/or software related to demand planning is an added advantage. Experience with BI tools (MicroStrategy, Tableau) are preferred. Experience developing and managing SQL databases a plus (Alteryx, Access) Benefits Become part of our open and transparent culture. It will give you the opportunity to flourish and to develop inspiring experiences that contribute to the health and well‑being of consumers in 160 countries around the world. Putting our employees in focus fuels our strong company growth above market rates and makes us an excellent place to develop your career. Come join us and embark on a fascinating journey with Symrise. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, non‑disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need. Pay Transparency Disclosure: The expected annual salary range for this position is USD $84,500.00 – USD $103,500.00. Actual pay will be determined based on experience, qualifications, geographic location, and other job‑related factors permitted by law. A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and company performance. #J-18808-Ljbffr EMEA3 Recruitment