Demand Planner

A leading distribution business, that is part of a successful £900 million turnover group, is looking for a logical and organised Demand Planner to join their team. On offer is a starting salary of up to £30,000 alongside opportunities for professional developmentand progression in the future. Flexible working is available in this role with options to **work both from home and in the Bedford office**. We are looking for someone who lives in the Bedford area. **Role Responsibilities** The business you'll be joining has a strong reputation in their industry and operates from several key locations across the UK. As Demand Planner, your responsibilities will include: - Reporting to the Product Supply Chain Manager and being a part of the wider procurement, supply chain and inventory control team - Maintaining stock availability of UK sourced products to support sales demand - Managing supplier performance with approximately 60 suppliers - Inventory control of c.1000 SKUs across 2 sites working on SAP ERP software - Identifying and resolving any UK Supplier issues which may impact the operation and availability - Working closely with Commercial and Marketing teams on any promotional and contractual stock to understand priorities and market-specific requests - Looking at root cause analysis (e.g. availability, quality, slow-moving stock) and suggesting resolution of these issues through problem-solving and solution design - Creating capacity planning systems in conjunction with the Supply Chain Manager - Reviewing and maintaining availability on "Strategic suppliers" to keep availability of core lines above 97% when required **Requirements**To be successful in this Demand Planner role, you should be: - Ideally experienced in demand planning, purchasing and inventory control management, or be from a logistics, transport, distribution or warehouse supervision background with the ability to showcase organisation and planning skills. - Interested in supply chain functions and inventory control - An excellent communicator with strong negotiation skills - Decisive, logical and process orientated - A strong team player with high attention to detail, including the ability to spot errors and identify trends - Analytical with a working knowledge of Excel (including VLOOKUP) and the ability to understand analysis carried out by other team members