Demand Planner

About the role

Colgate-Palmolive is seeking a Demand Planner for its South Africa operations in Hout Bay. The role is responsible for developing and executing the demand planning strategy, ensuring alignment between commercial teams and shared services, and driving accurate forecasts to support inventory and service goals.

Key responsibilities

• Align commercial processes with shared services and lead the monthly demand planning cycle.
• Gather customer plans, promotions, and new product information from cross‑functional teams.
• Compare actual demand with statistical forecasts, document assumptions and address gaps.
• Ensure the demand plan aligns with the supply plan and monitor inbound orders and shipments.
• Identify and resolve demand deviations through fast‑track processes.
• Measure and improve demand planning accuracy across categories, new products, and promotions.
• Analyse supply risks and communicate plans to commercial teams.
• Participate in new SKU pipeline development and conduct post‑launch analysis.
• Manage SKU lifecycle changes with cross‑functional stakeholders.

Required profile

• Proven experience in demand planning or supply chain forecasting.
• Strong analytical mindset with ability to interpret data and identify trends.
• Excellent communication skills to collaborate with commercial, supply chain and marketing teams.
• Ability to work in a fast‑paced environment and manage multiple priorities.

Required skills

• Experience with statistical forecasting methods.
• Proficiency in demand planning tools and Excel.
• Knowledge of supply chain processes and inventory management.
• Ability to conduct post‑launch analysis and SKU lifecycle management.