Demand Planner (Food/Non-Food/Fresh)

About the role

Grandiose is a UAE-based retail brand known for creating a distinctive shopping and dining experience. As a growing premium grocery retailer, the company is hiring a Demand Planner for its Supply Chain team, with responsibility across Fresh, Food, and Non-Food categories.

Role purpose

The position is focused on building dependable demand forecasts and inventory plans for food-related assortments, including Ambient, Fresh, Chilled, and Frozen lines. The goal is to keep product availability high, limit waste, and maintain stock at efficient levels across stores and e-commerce channels.

Key responsibilities

You will be expected to create SKU-by-store forecasts, study sales patterns and external demand drivers, coordinate promotion planning, and support replenishment and supplier decisions. The role also involves monitoring inventory health, reducing expiry-related losses, and contributing to reporting and performance tracking across multiple channels.

Demand forecasting

• Build demand projections at SKU and store level for food categories.
• Review historical sales patterns, seasonal demand shifts, promotion effects, and event-driven changes.
• Maintain forward-looking forecasts on a weekly and monthly basis.
• Monitor forecast accuracy and work toward continuous improvement.

Category planning

• Manage demand planning for Fresh Food such as fruits and vegetables, bakery, and meat.
• Handle Chilled, Frozen, and Ambient grocery assortments.
• Pay close attention to products with short shelf life, highly variable demand, and differences between imported and locally sourced items.

Promotion and event planning

• Partner with commercial and category teams to estimate uplift from promotions.
• Prepare for seasonal surges and special trading periods.
• Help prevent stock-outs during major events.
• Review how actual post-promotion sales compare with planned demand.

Replenishment and inventory support

• Convert demand forecasts into replenishment requirements.
• Work with the replenishment team to confirm DC availability and store allocation.
• Support automated replenishment processes where applicable.
• Balance stock cover, safety stock, and availability targets.

Waste and stock optimization

• Maintain efficient days of inventory and appropriate safety stock levels.
• Reduce near-expiry inventory and food wastage.
• Ensure products are managed according to FEFO principles.

Supplier coordination

• Align forecasts with supplier lead times and minimum order quantity constraints.
• Identify supply risks and potential gaps early.
• Support procurement with order planning and vendor performance review.

Multi-channel planning support

• Ensure planning supports retail stores, dark stores, and online q-commerce platforms.

Data analysis and reporting

• Use Excel, Power BI, and preferably SAP ERP to analyze demand and inventory data.
• Generate insights on sales trends, out-of-stock drivers, and demand volatility.
• Maintain dashboards covering forecast versus actuals and availability performance.

Key performance measures

• Forecast accuracy percentage.
• On-shelf availability percentage.
• Food waste percentage.
• Days of inventory cover.
• Fill rate in coordination with supply and replenishment teams.

Skills and competencies

• Strong knowledge of food retail operations and category behavior.
• Analytical, data-led decision making.
• Solid understanding of demand planning and inventory control.
• Advanced Excel and reporting capabilities.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across functions.

Preferred background

The ideal candidate should have 4 to 8 years of experience in demand planning or supply chain roles within FMCG, supermarkets, or food retail. Experience managing high-SKU complexity and perishable stock is preferred.