Demand Planning Manager

**Snapshot of a Day-in-the-Life**: People:

- Work with one peer and Director to actively manage the entire talent strategy of Demand Planning including scouting, recruitment, onboarding, investment and development of our talent
- Provide direct coaching and feedback to direct reports to support their day-to-day responsibilities as well as their ongoing personal development
- Manage career planning of direct reports through annual PAD process and MySuccess platform
- Actively participate in the annual LTR process to develop broader ML Supply Chain talent
- Create and foster strong working relationships with cross functional partners in Sales, Supply Planning, Customer Supply Chain, Sales Operations, S&OP, Marketing, and in some cases the external Customer

Process:

- Deploy critical thinking, strategic vision and team building to drive the continuous improvement of our short-range demand planning function
- Lead the Retail Canadian Demand Planning team to support existing Consensus, Vitals and BBNF processes with our Commercial partners
- Responsible for creation and maintenance of the 18-month rolling baseline forecast in IBP
- Use statistical modeling in IBP with other Excel-based tools and analytics to generate the baseline demand forecast
- Work collaboratively with sales and other cross-functional partners leading the team to generate the lift forecast driven by commercial activity
- Understand the product lifecycle of the portfolio, from new launch to rationalization, and forecast accordingly
- Understand inherent risks in forecasting decisions and guide the cross-functional team to manage and mitigate appropriately
- Collect, manipulate, and analyze data and performance metrics providing the organization with appropriate and timely feedback and insight
- Provide other functional areas (including Sales, Finance, and other Supply Chain departments) with key demand information adjusting the communication accordingly
- Maintain customer-related demand information: distribution, listings/de-listings, transitions etc. and reflect appropriately in the forecast
- Where relationships exist, work directly with our customer’s replenishment teams to glean insights into future demand
- Responsible for monitoring KPIs including forecast accuracy, bias, Forecast Value Add, having a strong understanding of issues/gaps to targets, and leading initiatives to improve
- Be the expert and Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for the demand forecast for your respective portfolio.

Technology:

- Own the lifecycle maintenance in IBP/SAP for Launch items (base + lift forecasted) that turn into Mature (all-in forecasted)
- Own and maintain CVC-level master data in IBP including horizon flags and VMI settings
- Partner with IS to continue development of our PowerBI platforms (Market IQ/Supply Chain IQ)
- Continue to explore additional functionality from IBP to be operationalized into standard process at MLF

**What You’ll Bring**:

- University degree
- 5+ years of progressive experience in at least one of the following areas: Supply Chain Planning, Forecasting, Sales, Marketing, or a related discipline
- 2+ years of experience leading a high performing team
- Strong desire and ability to live the Maple Leaf Values
- A deep understanding of Forecasting, Supply Chain, and commercial processes in a CPG company, preferably with perishable goods
- An expert knowledge of inventory management principals and the impact of Demand Planning within the organization.
- Thorough understanding of and experience with IBP
- Excellent attention to detail and analytics, adept at comprehending and working with large quantities of data from a variety of sources to support decision-making
- Sound decision making skills with the ability to make judgment calls in ambiguous situations when data is incomplete
- Superior interpersonal skills: ability to work well with others in a collaborative environment
- Excellent verbal and written communicator, with the ability to tailor the communications to the relevant audience
- Ability to work well under pressure and multitask, maintaining poise and a positive attitude in a changing environment
- Demonstrated ability to rapidly learn and operate as well as lead and coach in a fast pace, dynamic environment
- Strong leadership skills with the ability to build and grow a team
- Drive and flexibility to work as required to fulfill business needs
- Strong business acumen and excellent computer skills, especially Microsoft Office and SAP
- Process and Systems oriented
- Experience with six sigma methodologies, concepts, and tools would be an asset
- APICS, CPIM, or other certification is valued

**What We Offer at Maple Leaf Foods**:

- Being part of a high-performance, people-focused company that has an inspiring and unique vision to become the most sustainable protein company on earth, and a deep commitment to sustainable protein across North America.
- An inclusive company culture and a work environment that keeps