Senior Demand Planning Manager at Ocado Retail in Hatfield, GB

Senior Demand Planning Manager

Contract type: Permanent

Location: Hatfield (Hybrid working - 3 days in the office)

Working hours per week: 40 hours - Full-time

Level: Manager

Reports to: Operations Excellence Lead

Application Closing Date: Friday 6th November

About us

Our mission is to deliver joy in every shop, through unbeatable choice, unrivalled service, and reassuringly good value. We’re also on a mission to empower our business with smart technology; we've recently launched our AI Academy, providing a tailored AI learning journey for every colleague.

We’re Ocado Retail, a market-leading joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S, and the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket, ocado.com. Not only is Ocado the only place to shop a full range of M&S food online, it’s also the home to the widest online supermarket range in the UK and a champion of small, independent brands. We’re also the brains behind Zoom by Ocado, our same-day grocery delivery service.

About the team and the role

Demand planning sits at the heart of getting the range right for our customers — the right stock, in the right place, at the right time, across a range of over 43,000 products.

As a Senior Demand Planning Manager, you lead a team of up to 4 demand planners, and also own the day-to-day forecasting and availability for an area of your own. This is a genuine player-manager role: part of your week is spent in the detail — forecasting, promotions, seasonal planning, supplier and stock decisions for your own area— and the rest driving a high-performing team, giving them feedback and enabling their growth.

Supplier relationships are a huge part of this role. You'll get to know your suppliers' businesses inside out, look forward with them to how you grow together, and hold them to a gold-standard delivery: in full, on time, every single week.

You set the standard. You're the person the team looks to for what best-in-class looks like.

What you’ll do

• Lead a team of up to 4 Demand Planners: give great feedback, have honest conversations that drive real improvement, and build a high-performing team that sets the standard for others to follow

• Set clear objectives for each member of your team, and support them to deliver against them

• Own the forecasting, availability, and performance for your category, working the day-to-day alongside your team to a gold standard and driving continuous improvement in the metrics

• Get to know your suppliers' businesses in depth, using that partnership to shape future growth together, and holding them to account for delivering what we need in full and on time, every single week

• Recruit, onboard and develop new Demand Planners, including career progression conversations that give people a genuine satisfaction in their growth at work

• Act as category expert for promotional, seasonal and event forecasting, planning to deliver best-in-class availability, stock holding and waste

• Deputise for your Category Demand Planning Manager in meetings and cross-functional projects when needed

• Build strong relationships with cross-functional teams - including commercial, analytics and logistics

• Challenge inbound flows, case sizes and other operational factors to deliver the best availability for customers at the lowest operational costs for Ocado and our supply base

• Balance hands-on delivery with people leadership day to day — this role asks you to excel at both, not to choose between them

Who you are

• A strong demand planner. A track record of gold-standard forecasting and availability management in a grocery or FMCG category, managing conflicting metrics like availability and waste to get the best outcome for both customers

• A natural coach. Genuinely motivated by developing people, unafraid of honest conversations, and skilled at giving feedback that raises performance

• Commercially minded. Understands how forecasting, availability and stock decisions feed the wider P&L, and makes trade-offs with the business's growth and cost in mind

• A relationship builder who isn't afraid to challenge. Confident getting close to suppliers and to buying, building genuine partnerships while holding both to a best-in-class standard

• Comfortable holding two things at once. Category ownership and team leadership, switching between hands-on detail and people management within the same day

• Resilient and adaptable. Thrives in a fast-growing, evolving business, and stays calm when priorities shift

• Analytical in nature. Question the why in every data point, ask great questions, and adapt to use our new AI tools to get to the answer or drive efficiencies wherever possible

What’s in it for you

By joining Ocado Retail, you’ll have the chance to experience life at the world’s largest online retailer, work with an amazing bunch of people who challenge what’s possible each day, and grow your skills and career in online retail. You'll also be part of our AI Academy, a dedicated learning journey designed to empower every colleague with the smart technology skills of the future.

If that’s not enough to tempt you, you’ll also get access to loads of great benefits to sweeten the deal. Here’s a taste of what we offer:

Health & Wellbeing: Private medical insurance with the option to add your family, Digital GP appointments, market-leading family policies, mental health support, discounted gym memberships, dental insurance, and more.

Spend & Save: Annual bonus scheme split between personal and business objectives, recognition with reward platform, up to 7% matched pension contributions, 15% Ocado discount, 20% M&S discount, free breakfast every day in the office, electric vehicle leasing scheme, and free shuttle bus from Hatfield station to the office.

Never miss the moments that matter: Hybrid working, 26 days holiday plus 8 flexible bank holidays, options to buy extra holiday, 2 weeks work from anywhere, and lifestyle break opportunities.

Our Hiring Process

Lucky for us, we receive a high volume of applications and genuinely appreciate the time and effort invested by every candidate. To ensure a fair and thorough process, every application is reviewed by a member of our team. If your skills and experience are a strong match, a Talent Partner will contact you to discuss the role and guide you through the next steps of our hiring process.

Your Application and AI

In the spirit of innovation, we welcome you to use AI tools in your application, just as we use them in our own business at Ocado Retail. However, as you leverage this technology, please don't lose sight of the most important element: your unique self. Your experiences, passions, and personality are what truly set you apart. Ensure that your application still authentically conveys who you are and why you're a great fit for us.

Everyone’s welcome

We’re an equal opportunities employer, which means that we make sure all potential colleagues are treated fairly and equally. We want to ensure everyone has a fair chance to apply; if you need this job description in an alternative format (e.g., larger print, different document type, etc.), please reach out to us at careers@ocadoretail.com, and we'll be happy to assist you. If you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know on the application form.