Business Process Expert – Demand Planning; Plan To Forecast

The Demand Planning BPE is responsible for shaping, measuring, and continuously improving Demand Planning process elements within the P2F (Plan-to-Forecast) value stream to deliver business value (service, growth, cost, inventory, and agility). The role reports into the P2F Business Process Owner (BPO) and partners with the Business GPO to manage the current process (ensuring proposed changes align to the intended future state), define the future end-to-end process vision and roadmap, ensure high-quality, well-controlled and user-centric processes are created, and drive the transition from current state to future state through disciplined execution, strong governance, and effective change delivery.

A key focus of this role is embedding SAP/IBP capabilities relating to Demand Planning and ensuring effective integration of demand signals and consensus forecasts into S/4

HANA and downstream planning and execution (e.g., supply planning, replenishment, and customer service). The BPE supports the BPO in maximising value delivery through rigorous performance management, adoption oversight, and continuous improvement activities—ensuring committed benefits are realised and sustained.

• Collaborate with the Business GPO, other BPE’s and relevant functions (e.g., Commercial, Marketing, Revenue Growth Management, Market/Sales teams, Customer Service, Finance, Planning CoE, Planning Hubs/Operating Units) to ensure Demand Planning process design meets requirements and strategic objectives across planning horizons (strategic, tactical, and operational).
• Facilitate workshops to gather input, feedback, and socialise recommendations with functions/operating units to refine and finalise process design in partnership with the BPO, Business GPO and other BPEs.
• Document “to be” processes; and support evaluation of “as is” processes identifying bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and duplication.
• Define how Demand Planning connects end-to-end, including:
• Translation of demand insights across horizons (e.g., long-range demand outlook → mid-term consensus forecast → short-term demand signals and adjustments).
• Integration points between demand generation activities (e.g., promotions, launches, seasonality, pricing changes, portfolio actions) and the demand plan.
• Interfaces between Demand Planning outputs (e.g., baseline forecast, uplift assumptions, consensus forecast, exceptions) and downstream processes (e.g., supply planning/IBP, allocation rules, customer service priorities).
• Establish clear governance routines and decision rights for forecast shaping and approval (e.g., consensus processes, escalation paths, assumption management).
• Drive decisions through relevant governance forums, ensuring decisions are communicated to stakeholders in a timely manner.
• Align designs with programme timelines and milestones, ensuring coordination with other functional areas and interdependent programmes (including data, tooling, master data, and deployment waves).

• Support the BPO and Functional Leaders in evaluating preparedness of their functional area for programme delivery, identifying gaps and proposing solutions.
• Support the business change team in understanding people implications for the change and defining and delivering relevant interventions to create conditions for successful adoption.
• Create appropriate documentation for new processes; partner with Training & Adoption to develop role-based training/upskilling for demand planners and cross-functional contributors to support adoption and benefit realisation.
• Support process and business readiness for SAP-enabled Demand…