AFRICA Market Planning Manager at Mars

Job description

Job Purpose:

Responsible for leading inventory management, availability, and customer care & logistics for Africa markets. The purpose of the role is to engage in the design, planning, execution, control, and supervision of supply chain activities with the objectives of creating added value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging best practices in logistics, synchronizing supply with demand, and measuring performance. The Africa market planning manager will lead a team to deliver the right product, in the right place, at the right time to consistently meet our customers’ expectations.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop & Deploy SC strategy for Africa
  • Create a strategy based on the company’s core values, mission, and vision.
  • Lead the Market Planning team to develop short to medium term strategies to ensure Africa growth.
  • Take the initiative to recommend break-through ideas that will reduce cost / improve service and improve freshness.
  • Develop analytics, processes and data management capabilities, including WOWs and SLAs
  • Effectively plan what is to be achieved and involve all relevant stakeholders
  • Maintain markets product availability and provide required visibility to support sales delivery on weekly basis
• Lead, Develop & Engage Market Planning Team
  • Understand the dynamics of effective teamwork in order to attain higher levels of performance.
  • Build the Africa market planning organization capability through behavioural and functional development of the Supply Chain associates, in partnership with all related stakeholders.
• Ensure Excellence in Execution
  • Understand the systematic approach to closing of a process or system performance gaps, and identify and eliminate causes of quality below specifications, process variation, and non-value-adding activities.
  • Maintain / document and improve company processes.
  • Demonstrate ability to visualize the total process and aid in locating problem areas using process mapping, quality improvement, and visualization tools to locate, quantify, and correct root causes of problems.
  • Hold gains in process improvements by establishing key performance measurements, targets, and continuous process improvement initiatives to improve process quality on continual basis.
• Ensure Quality Customer Service
  • Responsible for the execution of the markets customer service operations through the 3PL service provider and internal market planning team.
  • Working closely with sales teams to establish work-streams with our trade customers to focus on improvement on customer service through the rights levels of collaborations.
  • Lead and drive TAS assessments (where applicable) and improvement plans for Supply chain initiatives with a clear roadmap, and the execution thereof.
  • Tracking and reporting of service levels to key trade customers and distributors and actions plans to improve.
  • The team will be required work closely with S&F to improve and maintain all systems tools and processes and ensuring the developments of the right level of expertise within the team.
• Stock Management & Product Availability
  • Drive superior customer service
  • availability on a periodic basis, across the Categories and Markets handled, while adhering to agreed stock covers.
  • Manage the pipeline stock levels and ensure a lean pipeline and efficient working capital.
  • Create and maintain a stock early warning system
  • Define ways of working with demand
  • Long term availability projection
  • Relationship management with Developing Middle East & Africa supply planning team
  • Work on developing SOPs, new KPI’s and SLAs
  • Monitoring volume changes

Education & Experience:

Education & Experience:

• A planning professional with an Engineering or economics degree or Masters in a relevant field such as supply chain management, planning or business management
• Strong technical and functional skills (8-10 years in supply chain – supply planning experience required)
• SAP (ATLAS) expertise is preferred
• Fluent English Language Skills (verbal and written)
• Proficient knowledge of Microsoft office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)
• Strong track record of developing and executing visions and strategies that clearly measure the performance against defined KPI’s, taking action to address gaps and strive for continuous improvement.
• Ability to navigate complex situations and challenge the status quo with a can do attitude. Self-reliant, decisive and resilient and able to respond and adapt to a fast moving, swiftly changing environment.