Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) Team Leader

Job Description:

About the role

The Global Supply Chain Function is creating a Business Technology Centre (BTC) which has its main hub in Pune, India and a secondary hub in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that will service the Asian markets. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in a new global organisation that has a customer-centric and streamlined design at its core, and that seeks to fully integrate all geographies and the many internal functions that sit within Supply Chain. The global function is passionate about standardisation and digitalisation with the goal being the creation of a digitalised end-to-end supply ecosystem that empowers teams to make data-driven decisions and share and demonstrate consistent data seamlessly. The BTC will bring together Sales & Operations Planning activity and decision-making delivering greater agility, reducing duplication and enabling Global Supply Chain to respond to business and customer needs more quickly, and to improve crisis management responsiveness!

The Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) Team Leader will support the onboarding of a team of planners and provide day-to-day guidance to the team. They will be responsible for creating an open and supportive environment where people can learn and develop in their roles and chip in to the growth and success of the BTC. Strong communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills are critical for this role. The team leader has responsibility for driving the S&OP process across different markets within the region, and ensures there is close alignment between Sales, Operations, Finance and the Supply Chain teams to optimize inventory levels, enhance service levels and drive overall business efficiency and strategic planning. The incumbent must demonstrate excellent organisational and facilitative skills as they will be leading team members in monthly planning meetings and communicating with colleagues and leaders from across the business. They must be comfortable challenging the status quo and voicing a different perspective to leadership and offer alternative ideas. Central to this role is the ability to analyse business needs based on capacity and capability as well as being able to identify trends or issues quickly to drive problem solving and find data-driven solutions that enable the business to meet their forecasts and targets.

This position requires experience with digital planning and forecasting tools (e.g. Kinaxis or Integrated Business Planning (IBP), together with good analytical skills and ideally some knowledge of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems (e.g. SAP ECC or /S/4). The role holder must be skilled at fostering collaborative working relationships across the global supply chain function, and cross-functionally with colleagues in Pune and other markets.

What you will deliver (responsibilities)

Team Leadership

• Demonstrable experience leading and developing teams; given this will be a new team experience in building and supporting teams as they grow would be highly valued.
• Experience in handling and measuring performance and conducting employee performance reviews
• Highly skilled at fostering open and supportive communication that meets the needs of all team members, and adept at creating inclusive and open work environments.
• Adept at providing guidance and support to individuals and understanding when there is a need to be more hands-on and involved.
• Skilled at providing feedback and ongoing coaching to their teams.

Sales & Operations Planning

• Lead and facilitate the monthly S&OP process for the business, ensuring appropriate input, outputs and discussions happen on a regular cadence; which includes consensus discussions enable and drive actions and decisions for internal business planning within Demand, Supply and Management.
• Work closely with Sales & Marketing teams to ensure that promotions, and new product forecasts are included in the aggregate of demand.
• Facilitate monthly business review meetings and provide all vital materials and inputs to enable leadership to make informed decisions regarding resource allocation and plans to mitigate supply imbalances
• Collaborate closely with Supply Planning teams to prepare medium to long term Supply Projections including capacity plans, supplier risks, and other insights to drive and advise the Supply Review meeting and business discussions.
• Leverage planning tools to gather data for analysis and supervise key indicators to ensure alignment with financial planning and identify any gaps or discrepancies in the plans.
• Drive continuous improvement of best-in-class demand planning and S&OP processes, working closely with the Global Centre of Excellence (CoE) for implementation.
• Champion best practices and standardised processes for S&OP across the regions and share findings and insights to drive recommendations for change.
• Measure, control and improve S&OP planning accuracy using clearly defined and agreed performance metrics (e.g. forecast accuracy, forecasting biases or capacity constraints) to challenge assumptions and enable appropriate amendments to the next planning cycle.
• Provide performance reporting and dashboards to leadership to feed into annual strategic planning cycles.

What you will need to be successful (experience, job requirements & qualifications)

Education

Bachelor's degree in Supply chain management, Economics, Business Administration, or related field

APICS certification

Professional Experience

Minimum of 15 years of proven experience including 5 years of leading the S&OP function, with an excellent understanding of the end-to-end planning cycle (preferably gained from working within a global business environment) from demand through to supply and inventory planning. The role holder must be an expert user of digital planning tools (such as Kinaxis Maestro or IBP).

Requirements

Demonstrated ability to lead, empower and develop a team of planning professionals (ideally within a global environment) including performance management and fostering an open, inclusive and encouraging work environment.

Prior line management experience is essential for this position.

Experience in performance management, including setting objectives, providing feedback and conducting performance reviews.

Ability to resolve conflicts, cultivate collaboration and build a positive working environment.

Expertise in S&OP - preferably with experience leading the function in a global or international business.

Highly organized individual who has strong facilitative skills.

Good analytical and problem-solving skills with a clear ability to analyse complex data and identify trends.

Excellent Communication and Interpersonal skills being able to communicate optimally with partners and colleagues at all levels, and to work efficiently with a diverse set of partners.

Willingness to challenge the status quo and voice a different perspective or idea.

Proficient in digital tools (ideally Kinaxis) and ideally some exposure to ERPs (SAP ECC, S4 Hana).

Curious approach that is passionate about problem-solving and finding solutions using data and analytics to enable the business to grow.

Good coaching and mentoring skills to enhance team members' capabilities and support the growing team.

Experience with recruiting and onboarding teams (desirable).

You will work with

The wider Supply Chain planning team, Regional Planning teams, S&OP managers and S&OE delivery leads across the function, teams and colleagues from across the business including Finance and Sales.

Why join bp

At bp, we support our people to learn and grow in a diverse and challenging environment. We believe that our team is strengthened by diversity. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment in which everyone is respected and treated fairly.

There are many aspects of our employees' lives that are meaningful, so we offer benefits to enable your work to fit with your life. These benefits can include flexible working options, a generous paid parental leave policy, and excellent retirement benefits, among others!

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

Travel Requirement
Negligible travel should be expected with this role

Relocation Assistance:
This role is eligible for relocation within country

Remote Type:
This position is not available for remote working

Skills:
Agility core practices, Analytical Thinking, Commercial Acumen, Communication, Cost Management, Creativity and Innovation, Decision Making, Digital Fluency, Inventory Management, Negotiation planning and preparation, Resilience, Risk Management, Sourcing strategy, Supplier Performance Management, Supply Chain Development, Supply chain management, Sustainability awareness and action

Legal Disclaimer:

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics like race, religion, color, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, veteran status or disability status. Individuals with an accessibility need may request an adjustment/accommodation related to bp's recruiting process (e.g., accessing the job application, completing required assessments, participating in telephone screenings or interviews, etc.). If you would like to request an adjustment/accommodation related to the recruitment process, please contact us.

If you are selected for a position and depending upon your role, your employment may be contingent upon adherence to local policy. This may include pre-placement drug screening, medical review of physical fitness for the role, and background checks.