Category Planning Analyst

Based in Karachi, National Foods Limited is expanding its footprint and strengthening its core assets, including its brands, financial stability, and global presence. The company is committed to sustainable growth and aims to establish itself as a globally recognized and respected organization. This role is integral to supporting the revenue planning and trade execution cycle by ensuring accurate demand validation, managing trade expenditures, and equipping field teams with timely stock and target information to enhance commercial efficiency and execution excellence.

Key Responsibilities

- Review and validate Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) outputs against Commercial Demand Review (CDR) session discussions, reconciling any discrepancies to ensure the accuracy of demand signals before passing them to downstream planning and execution teams.
- Compile and validate bottom-up planning files by cross-referencing inputs with CDR outputs, ensuring alignment and resolving inconsistencies to establish an accurate and actionable demand baseline.
- Validate topline revenue, volume, and tonnage figures across categories and SKUs to confirm the consistency and accuracy of commercial plan outputs prior to execution.
- Validate and finalize warehouse stock splits against primary and secondary targets to ensure smooth inventory transitions and uninterrupted supply flow across the distribution network.
- Develop and maintain primary and secondary target splits in line with Annual Operating Plan (AOP) and budget parameters, ensuring fair and commercially sound distribution of volume objectives across clusters and field teams.
- Lead end-to-end visibility of primary stock availability within the value chain, proactively providing field teams with timely and accurate stock information to prevent supply gaps and maintain seamless commercial execution.
- Develop and maintain annual and monthly trade offer files by translating approved budgets and allocations into structured, actionable trade investment plans aligned with commercial priorities and cycle objectives.
- Track and monitor trade expenditure against yearly and month-to-date (MTD) budgets, delivering timely and precise spend analysis to support Revenue Planning Managers and Perfect Store Managers in making informed commercial decisions.
- Align monthly trade provisions with Finance, conducting thorough year-to-date (YTD) and MTD variance analysis, and maintaining close coordination to optimize trade spend within approved budgets and commercial guardrails.
- Coordinate and drive seasonal planning network meetings by delegating tasks across cross-functional teams, tracking progress, and ensuring timely and seamless execution of seasonal commercial plans.
- Collaborate with Area Business Managers (ABMs) to ensure timely planning, deployment, and execution of consumer promotions across clusters, monitoring compliance and resolving bottlenecks to maximize promotional effectiveness and sell-out.
- Own the end-to-end price increase process by validating timely implementation in SAP and Salesflo systems, ensuring compliance in Modern Trade, and tracking adherence to safeguard commercial integrity and prevent revenue leakage.

Required Qualifications

- Proven experience in revenue planning, trade execution, or commercial operations within a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) environment.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to validate and reconcile complex data sets related to demand planning, trade expenditure, and inventory management.
- Proficiency in SAP, Salesflo, or similar ERP and trade management systems.
- Excellent coordination and communication skills to work effectively with cross-functional teams and field staff.
- Ability to conduct detailed variance analysis and budget alignment in collaboration with finance teams.
- Demonstrated capability to manage multiple priorities and drive execution excellence in a dynamic commercial environment.

National Foods Limited is an equal opportunity employer, committed to providing a workplace free from discrimination. All qualified applicants will receive consideration regardless of age, color, origin, disability, race, religion, gender, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.