Demand Planner (f/m/d)

No Relocation Assistance Offered

Job Number # – Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

Overview

Who We Are

Colgate-Palmolive Company is a global consumer products company operating in over 200 countries specialising in Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care, Skin Care, and Pet Nutrition. Our products are trusted in more households than any other brand in the world, making us a household name!

Join Colgate-Palmolive, a caring, innovative growth company reimagining a healthier future for people, their pets, and our planet. Guided by our core values—Caring, Inclusive, and Courageous—we foster a culture that inspires our people to achieve common goals. Together, let's build a brighter, healthier future for all.

As a Demand Planner (f/m/d) you are the proactive owner of the end‑to‑end demand and inventory planning process for a given category and subsidiary. You build, challenge, and communicate the demand plan, secure alignment across functions, and actively manage inventory levels (including SLOB) for your portfolio to meet business, service, and cash objectives. You are the primary interface between the commercial teams and the category supply chain and are expected to continuously simplify and improve processes, going the extra mile to deliver best‑in‑class results.

Responsibilities

• Build & Own/Lead End‑to‑End Demand & Inventory Plan: from forecast creation, through supply follow‑up, to stock availability in the warehouse
• Regularly interact with Sales and Marketing teams to gather customer plans and promotional activities and translate them into a robust demand plan
• Compare commercial inputs vs. demand forecast and promotional plan (Final Net Forecast) and proactively challenge deviations, gain alignment with the commercial team, and prepare and actively participate in the Monthly Demand Alignment process, presenting not only numbers but clear insights - act as a true business partner in decision‑making
• Synchronize Supply & Demand: ensure full alignment of the final demand plan with the supply plan, securing optimal service and inventory and proactively identify and communicate supply risks and propose mitigation plans
• Daily/weekly/monthly track actuals vs. assumptions: measure, report, and improve key KPIs (Forecast Accuracy, Bias, Service Level, Inventory, SLOB, Sell-Thru, etc.)
• Support New Product and Life Cycle Planning by partnering across key teams to confirm pipeline volume and the first six months of demand for new items, tracking and analyzing actual shipments against documented assumptions, and managing and communicating SKU performance and life cycle changes with relevant stakeholders
• Monitor inventory levels by SKU and category, ensuring an optimal balance between customer service, cash, and obsolescence risk - proactively identify and reduce SLOB inventory through early risk detection and cross‑functional action plans (promotions, reallocation, relaunch, delisting, etc.)
• Act as a digital and simplification champion: use digital tools/AI to generate insights, spot trends, risks, and opportunities – but also to improve, automate and simplify processes, driving smarter, leaner ways of working in demand and inventory planning

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Engineering, Finance, Logistics or equivalent experience; MBA is a plus
• 3–5+ years of experience in Consumer Goods/FMCG in Demand Planning, Customer Service & Logistics, Co-packing/Customization or Finance/Commercial Finance with strong planning exposure
• Experience with SAP APO‑DP/Kinaxis and/or additional digital/analytics tools (e.g. AI tools, BI tools, advanced Excel, Sigma/DOMO, dashboards) are a strong plus
• English and German language proficiency

Skills/ Ways of Working

• Strong analytical skills, data‑driven mindset, and decision‑making ability
• Highly proactive, anticipates issues and opportunities instead of reacting to them
• Excellent communication and influencing skills; able to translate complex data into clear, actionable messages for commercial, supply chain, and finance stakeholders
• Team player who offers constructive feedback, actively seeks input from others, and is not afraid to challenge assumptions
• Strong ownership and accountability, with a clear “go the extra mile” attitude to deliver superior business and customer outcomes

Our Commitment to Inclusion

Our journey begins with our people—developing strong talent with diverse backgrounds and perspectives to best serve our consumers around the world and fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels a true sense of belonging. We are dedicated to ensuring that each individual can be their authentic self, is treated with respect, and is empowered by leadership to contribute meaningfully to our business.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Colgate is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, marital status, veteran status (United States positions), or any other characteristic protected by law.

Reasonable accommodation during the application process is available for persons with disabilities. Please complete this request form should you require accommodation.