the ideal candidate:

• Analytical with strong Microsoft Excel knowledge. Power BI &/or Anaplan experience a bonus!
• Good organisation skills and ability to communicate effectively as part of a team and with customers.
• 3+ years demand planning experience in FMCG.
• The energy and self-motivation to work within a rapidly growing business that is constantly evolving with changing prioritise, with a flexible and can-do attitude.
• Pro-active, identifying issues as or before they arise.
• A track record of influencing and building relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to work under pressure, meet targets and deadlines.

about us: 

 itsu is the healthy eating, Asian inspired quick service retail & grocery brand with over 70 stores in the UK and a leading grocery business across Europe and beyond. Renowned for its best-in-class food made fresh in every shop every day, itsu has huge global ambitions with a commitment to continue to open many more stores and intensify the growth of its already thriving grocery arm. With its best-is-class healthy food, latest technology, innovation, and talented workforce, itsu is the future of fast food.

itsu [grocery], which this role falls under, takes the itsu brand into supermarkets, health food stores, online, wholesale and internationally with products such as crispy seaweed thins, frozen gyoza & bao, brilliant’broth, rice’noodles & miso’easy to name a few…

itsu [grocery] is looking for a senior demand planner to join our supply chain team. You will work closely with the sales team to manage the demand forecast for our key accounts, as well as being key to the S&OP process of the business. The successful candidate will be analytical, detailed and have a passion for efficiency.

D&I statement: 

itsu [grocery] is committed to building a diverse, equitable and inclusive organisation. We encourage applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply for all of our opportunities.

When applying for a role with us, please remove your: full name, name of University/School, address, email address and any photos of you on your CV and covering letter. non-anonymised CVs may not be reviewed. 

Scope of the role:

• Reporting to the head of demand, work with the sales team to generate timely and accurate demand plans for all product categories in your customer accounts on a weekly/monthly/promotional basis.
• Owner of forecast accuracy KPIs for your customer accounts. Drive root cause identification and corrective actions at SKU level. Challenge the sales forecast to drive excellent DPA and eliminate bias.
• Assist in the development of demand planning & S&OP processes to complement and challenge the wider business; maximise the robustness of the forecast given to supply planning, such as NPD project launch planning.
• Build strong relationships internally & externally, taking a collaborative approach to forecasting and other projects.
• Conduct regular reviews of customer level data (e.g. EPOS, stock holding) to help assist and challenge the sales team in their forecasting
• Ensure business information platforms such as Power BI are updated with customer ROS/stockholding information. Help to develop these platforms to provide insights for the demand team and wider business.
• Provide guidance to other demand planning team members.
• Work with the wider supply chain team to find efficiency savings and reducing cost-to-serve.

what we offer:

• Competitive salary
• Competitive bonus scheme
• 25 days holiday + bank holidays  (two bank holidays are interchangeable for other religious holidays)
• Health insurance
• Company pension scheme
• Hybrid working (2 days wfh)
• Opportunity to work from abroad 
• 50% employee discount in itsu shops
• Free itsu lunch 
• Discounts at major retailers
• A sizeable training budget to support your ongoing development

itsu