Sr. Demand Planner
A Sustainable, Forward Thinking Protein Company
Maple Leaf Foods is a leading meat and plant-based protein company, employing over 11,500 people and publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. We are proud of our roots, which trace back well over 100 years, but our vision and purpose are decidedly forward looking. As we pursue our vision to become the most sustainable protein company on earth, we are committed to creating shared value – creative business value through addressing some of the world’s most critical social and environmental challenges. Our goal is to build a more sustainable food system, which provides nutritious affordable food, operates within planetary limits, cares for animals responsibly, and meaningfully engages with our communities to advance a more just society. We are advancing bold changes within Maple Leaf and more broadly within society to pursue our vision. We deeply believe this is the sustainable path to growth.
Our job is to make great food
Maple Leaf Foods embraces a strong values-based culture, where our people are deeply engaged in work that is purposeful, fast-paced and challenging. We cultivate an open, non-bureaucratic and inclusive workplace that fosters safety and transparency, along with individual leadership and accountability. Each Maple Leaf team member has a voice and plays an active role in helping all of us achieve our goals with passion and discipline. We support one another to grow professionally, to learn new skills and to take on challenging experiences in the spirit of continuous improvement.
Raise the Good in Food
We have united behind a shared purpose – to Raise the Good in Food. This spans a dramatic transformation of our flagship Maple Leaf brand, replacing anything artificial with simple, natural ingredients; investments and process changes to reduce our environmental footprint by 50% by 2025; building a diverse and inclusive culture where all talent thrives; becoming a leader in animal care; and advancing food security through our charitable foundation, the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security. .
Our Leadership Values
Eight core values guide us in everything that we do.
Do What’s Right
Shared Value
High Performance
Diverse and Inclusive Teams
Disciplined Decision Making
Our Accountability
Intense Curiosity
Transparency and Humility
The Opportunity
The Demand Planning team is responsible for generating and maintaining both lift and base forecasts in IBP on a 78-week rolling horizon. Senior Demand Planners are members of our Customer Business Teams (CBT’s) working very closely with sales and other cross functional partners and customers to ensure the Supply Planning team has the best possible forecast information to drive inventory optimization.
To be successful in the role, the Senior Demand Planner must possess the business acumen and interpersonal skills to build and maintain relationships with our commercial and operations teams as well as other internal and potentially external stakeholders. Resourcefulness, creative problem solving, critical thinking, and expert data analysis are exhibited by the Demand Planning team daily.
A snapshot of some of the exciting things you will lead and do:
Responsible for creation and maintenance of the 18-month rolling sales forecast in IBP.
Use statistical modeling in IBP with other Excel-based tools and analytics to generate the baseline demand forecast.
Work very closely 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 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, 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.
What we have to offer you:
Be part of a company with an inspiring and unique vision, with a deep commitment to sustainability and expanding its leadership in sustainable protein across North America
Professional and career development opportunities, supported by our commitment to talent development through our partnership with the Ivey School of Business.
Competitive Health and Wellness benefits that start on your first day of employment
Defined Contribution Pension Plan
Commitment to Learning – courses, resources and tools provided to all employees
Employee Assistance Program
What you will bring:
Strong desire and ability to live the Maple Leaf Values.
University degree and / or professional designation required.
3+ years of experience in demand planning role with exposure to IBP.
Prior experience in other areas of supply chain planning or inventory management is preferred.
Strong Excel modeling, pivot table manipulation, and analysis skills.
Ability to think strategically and execute tactically with a persistent preciseness and a high level of comfort in analyzing data.
Ability to stay organized and work independently while also being a team player exerting diplomatic influence across the organization.
Understanding of supply chain processes and interaction with marketing, sales, finance, and manufacturing / operations.
Excellent analytical skills - proficient at analyzing large amounts of information and drawing fact-based insights quickly with a high degree of accuracy.
Ability to assess both short-term and strategic, long-term impact of alternative courses of action.
Strong business acumen combined with exceptional communication skills including the ability to provide business insight to multiple levels of management with appropriate level of detail.
Proven track record of collaborating successfully with internal and external stakeholders
Strong negotiation and influencing skills
Proven ability to achieve results in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities and deadlines.
Experience with six sigma methodologies, concepts, and tools would be an asset.
Experience in Power BI is preferred.
We thank all applicants for their interest in exploring employment opportunities with Maple Leaf Foods; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Applicants may be subject to a background check and must meet the security criteria designated for the position.
Championing diversity and inclusion is a critical component to advancing our collective purpose and vision, living the Maple Leaf Leadership Values, and delivering winning results. Accommodation is available upon request for applicants with disabilities in the recruitment and assessment process and when hired; please contact our Talent Attraction Team at
accommodations@mapleleaf.com.
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