Overview

We are Recruiting!

Our client, a leading Food Processing Company company in Zambia, is looking for a Demand Planning Manager to join their team in Lusaka.

If you are interested or would like to know more, please click the link below.

Role purpose

To manage the end-to-end demand planning process and translate this data into a rolling demand forecast and a frozen short-term production plan. To indicate the need and consumption of raw materials, ingredients, packing materials and production capacity availability and drive accountability through plan-vs-actual performance reviews.

Core outputs

  • Rolling demand forecast in weekly periods (horizon aligned to lead times).
  • Weekly cross-functional agreed plan and frozen production plan for the next week.
  • Materials requirements and capacity/labor-hour estimates supporting the plan.
  • Weekly performance indicators: requested vs produced vs sold/fulfilled, with drivers and corrective actions.

Key responsibilities

1) Demand planning and forecasting

  • Collect and consolidate inputs from Sales, promotions, customer requirements, and market inputs.
  • Build and maintain a rolling weekly demand plan; segment where useful (key accounts vs general trade; depots; exports; etc).

2) Weekly planning and plan freeze

  • Facilitate the weekly planning meeting with Sales, Operations, Procurement, and Finance.
  • Present demand, constraints, and trade-offs; drive decision-making and issue the frozen plan.
  • Control changes to the frozen plan and track the impact on service, cost, and execution stability.

3) Materials and capacity feasibility

  • Translate the plan into raw and packaging materials requirements and replenishment triggers.
  • Model short-term capacity constraints (lines, shifts, maintenance windows).
  • Maintain full visibility of supplier lead times and risks; coordinate mitigations with Procurement.

4) Performance review and accountability

  • At week-end, reconcile requested vs produced vs sold/fulfilled (OTIF) and quantify variances.
  • Lead root-cause analysis for gaps (forecast error, supply constraints, execution issues, customer changes).
  • Drive corrective actions with Sales and Production and track completion.

5) Governance and continuous improvement

  • Maintain planning master data (SKUs, lead times, safety stock parameters, delivery time, etc).
  • Develop and improve planning templates, reporting, and meeting cadence (weekly + monthly S&OP where applicable).
  • Promote disciplined planning behaviors: single source of truth, decision logs, and escalation of risks early.

KPIs / measures of success

  • Forecast accuracy by SKU/category level.
  • Service level / fill rate and/or OTIF (depending on business definition).
  • Production plan adherence (actual vs frozen plan).
  • Stock-out rate and excess/slow-moving inventory.
  • Schedule stability (frequency and magnitude of last-minute changes).

Qualifications

Education

  • Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Purchasing & Supply, Logistics, Business, Economics, Statistics, Engineering, or related.
  • Added advantage: CIPS Level 4+ (Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply) and/or CPIM -Certified Planning and Inventory Management- (planning-focused).

Experience

  • 2–5 years in demand planning, production planning, inventory planning, supply planning, or procurement planning (manufacturing/FMCG -fast moving consumer goods-/distribution preferred).
  • Demonstrated experience working cross-functionally with Sales and Operations.
  • Food Safety Management System certified companies

Technical and behavioral skills

  • Strong Excel skills (pivot tables, robust formulas; Power Query preferred).
  • Comfortable working with ERP/MRP data (Dynamics/SAP/Sage/Oracle or similar).
  • Strong facilitation, communication, and stakeholder management; ability to challenge assumptions respectfully.
  • Analytical problem-solving; high attention to detail; integrity and accountability mindset.