Job Title: Manager – Demand Forecasting & Revenue Growth Management (Hygiene, Baby & Beauty)

Job Purpose: Drive profitable revenue growth and demand accuracy for the Hygiene, Baby, and Beauty Category portfolios by integrating advanced demand forecasting with Revenue Growth Management (RGM) tools and strategies. This role ensures an optimal balance between volume growth, pricing power, promotion effectiveness, assortment optimization, and margin protection in a dynamic FMCG environment shaped by inflation, retailer consolidation, and shifting consumer preferences.

Key Responsibilities

Demand Planning & Forecasting

• Develop, own, and continuously improve integrated demand forecasts (short-term: 1–6 months; long-term: 7–30 months) at SKU, channel, and customer level for Personal Care, Homecare, and Baby Care categories.
• Lead the monthly Forecast Consensus IBP meeting, collaborating with Supply Chain, Sales, Marketing, and Finance to align forecasts with business plans, promotional calendars, and new product launches.
• Analyze historical sales, POS data, syndicated data (Nielsen, Kantar, etc.), shopper insights, and external factors (weather, economic trends, competitor activity) to enhance forecast accuracy (target: >65% at SKU level).
• Identify and mitigate demand risks, including stockouts, overstocks, and obsolescence, particularly for seasonal or promotional SKUs in baby care and homecare.

Revenue Growth Management (RGM)

• Design RGM systems, processes, and execute strategies across five core levers: pricing, promotions (ROI optimization), assortment/product mix, pack-price architecture, and trade terms/distribution.
• Conduct regular price elasticity, promotion effectiveness, and margin leakage analyses to recommend actions that maximize net revenue and gross margin.
• Optimize trade spend efficiency, ensuring promotional investments deliver positive ROI while supporting category growth and brand health in modern trade, general trade, and e-commerce channels.
• Support portfolio rationalization and innovation pricing for new product launches.
• Partner with Sales Channel Leads, Category & Brand Management, and Trade Marketing Teams to embed RGM thinking into annual business planning, brand plans, and customer joint business plans (JBPs).

Analytics, Insights & Reporting

• Build and maintain dashboards (Power BI/Tableau) tracking key RGM and demand KPIs: forecast accuracy, revenue growth, gross-to-net realization, promotion ROI, price/mix impact, and category profitability.
• Leverage consumer/shopper insights and advanced analytics (including AI/ML where available) to identify growth opportunities and risks in Personal Care (e.g., haircare/skincare trends), Homecare (Dishwash), and Baby Care.
• Provide clear recommendations and "what-if" scenarios to senior leadership and cross-functional teams.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Implementation

• Act as a business partner to Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Supply Chain teams.
• Build business tools that influence decisions on pricing, promotions, and assortment.
• Provide commercial insights that support customer negotiations on trade terms and promotional calendars with key retailers.
• Drive capability building by training commercial teams on RGM principles and tools.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Demand forecast accuracy (MAPE or similar metrics)
• Revenue growth vs. target (value and volume)
• Gross margin improvement and protection
• Promotion ROI and trade spend efficiency
• Net revenue realization (reduction in leakage)
• Successful implementation of RGM initiatives (e.g., pricing or pack changes)

Qualifications & Experience

Education: Minimum B plain KCSE; a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Management, Statistics, Business, Economics, or any other related discipline.

Work Experience: 4–6+ years in FMCG/CPG, with at least 2–3 years in Demand Planning/Forecasting combined with Revenue Management or Commercial Analytics. Direct experience in Hygiene, Baby, and Beauty categories is highly preferred. Proven track record of delivering profitable growth through RGM levers in a multi-category environment. Strong exposure to East African or emerging markets is an advantage.

Skills & Competencies:

• Deep expertise in demand forecasting tools and methodologies (statistical and judgmental).
• Solid foundation in statistics, advanced analytical skills, and practical experience with visualization tools (e.g., advanced Excel, Power BI/Tableau) and data analysis languages including SQL, Python, and R.
• Familiarity with SAP ERP (BWP, APO, ECP), RGM software, or AI-driven tools is an added advantage.
• Commercial acumen with strong understanding of pricing, promotions, and trade dynamics in FMCG.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to translate complex analytics into actionable business insights.
• Data-driven mindset with attention to detail and ability to handle ambiguity.
• Exceptional analytical abilities to compile, structure, examine, and present substantial data sets with precision and thoroughness.
• Ability to critically evaluate data to derive meaningful, actionable insights.
• Superior communication and presentation capabilities, adept at simplifying complex data insights for audiences without a technical background.
• Proficiency in English; additional local languages are a plus.

Reporting Structure

This role reports to the Head of Revenue Growth Management.

Contacts:

• Heads of Sales
• Head of Marketing
• Head of Sales Operations
• Trade Marketing Managers
• Category Brand Managers
• Brand Managers
• Regional Sales Managers
• Key Accounts Managers
• Territory Sales Managers & Customer Development Executives
• 3rd Party Agencies
• Customer Service Teams
• Supply Chain Teams

Internal & External Relationships: Trade Marketing Teams, Sales Teams, Marketing Teams, Customer Service Teams, Customers, Sales Operations Teams, Supply Chain Teams.