Job Title: Demand Planner – Consumer Products Division (CPD)

Location: Woodmead, Johannesburg, South Africa

Division: Consumer Products Division (CPD)

Reports To: CPD Supply Chain Manager 

Position Summary

At L'Oréal, we empower beauty that moves the world. As a Demand Planner for our Consumer Products Division (CPD)—home to iconic brands such as L'Oréal Paris, Garnier, Maybelline New York, and Dark & Lovely—you will be at the heart of our operations.

You will act as the key pivot point between Marketing, Sales, Finance, and Supply Chain. Your mission is to build, challenge, and continuously optimize the sales forecasts for your portfolio of brands. By combining rigorous statistical analysis with market intelligence gathered from cross-functional teams, you will ensure high product availability (Service Level) for our retailers while keeping inventory levels healthy and cost-effective.

Key Responsibilities

1. Demand Forecasting & Analytics

•   Statistical Baseline Generation: Develop historical baseline forecasts using statistical models, clean history of anomalies, and manage demand signals.
•    Forecast Maintenance: Maintain and update forecasting tools (e.g., FuturMaster, SAP IBP) on a weekly and monthly horizon.
•   Gap Analysis: Continuously analyze past performance gaps (Forecast Accuracy and Bias) to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.

2. Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) Consensus

•   Cross-Functional Collaboration: Lead the monthly S&OP consensus meetings with Sales, Marketing, and Finance.
•   Challenging the Business: Critically evaluate and challenge commercial inputs, market trends, promotional uplifts, and listing assumptions using data-driven arguments.
•   Financial Alignment: Ensure the unit forecast aligns with the financial trends, budgets, and commercial trends, highlighting any risks or opportunities to the leadership team.

3. Launch & Promotional Planning

•    New Product Innovations (NPI): Work closely with Marketing to build pipeline assumptions for new launches, monitoring initial sales vs. forecasts (sell-out vs. sell-in) to adapt replenishment plans quickly.
•   Promotional Forecasting: Collaborate with Key Account Managers to model promotional demand, display units, and custom retail packs, ensuring perfect execution on the retail floor.

4. Inventory & Portfolio Optimization

•  Service Level Management: Ensure optimal stock availability to achieve target Fill Rates (On-Time, In-Full - OTIF) for major retail accounts (e.g., Clicks, Dis-Chem, Shoprite, Pick n Pay).
•  Stock Health Control: Monitor inventory health, identify slow-moving and obsolete stock (SLOBs), and proactively work with Sales and Marketing on clearance actions.
•  Catalogue Rationalization: Participate in regular product portfolio reviews (SKU rationalization) to optimize the complexity of the CPD brand catalogue.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

•  Forecast Accuracy (FA%): Measured at different lag levels to ensure planning precision.
•  Forecast Bias (FB%): To minimize systemic over-forecasting or under-forecasting.
•  Customer Service Level (Fill Rate / OTIF): Ensuring on-shelf availability for retail partners.
•  Inventory Days of Supply (DOS): Managing capital tied up in stock.
•  Obsoletes & Write-offs: Keeping inventory waste to an absolute minimum.

Requirements & Qualifications

Education & Experience

•   Education: A Bachelor’s Degree or BCom in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Statistics, Economics, Business Science, or Industrial Engineering.
•   Experience: 3 to 5 years of solid experience in Demand Planning or Supply Chain, specifically within the FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) or retail sector.

Technical Skills (Hard Skills)

•  Advanced MS Excel: Expert level (VLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, Pivot Tables, Power Query) is highly critical.
•   Planning Systems: Proficiency in SAP (APO / IBP) or specialized forecasting systems like FuturMaster is strongly preferred.
•   Data Visualization: Experience with Power BI or Tableau is a distinct advantage.
•    Professional Attributes (Soft Skills)
•  Analytical Rigour: A strong affinity for numbers, trends, and data-driven problem-solving.
•    Assertiveness & Influencing Skills: The ability to present clear facts to challenge commercial assumptions and align multiple stakeholders with diverging goals.
•  Agility & Resilience: Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment where market dynamics and retail requirements change rapidly.
•   Communication: Strong verbal and written communication skills to articulate supply chain risks to non-technical business partners.

What L'Oréal South Africa Offers

An exciting, fast-paced environment in our modern offices based in Woodmead, Johannesburg.

A culture that thrives on entrepreneurship, innovation, and continuous learning (via our custom L'Oréal Upskilling platform).

Competitive salary packages with comprehensive benefits.

Generous staff discounts on our world-class portfolio of cosmetic and beauty products.

Strong career growth prospects with opportunities to move into key supply chain management roles or transfer internationally.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and take pride in a diverse environment. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital status, medical condition or disability. We adhere to all local Labour Relations legislation.