Category Planning Analyst

National Foods Limited is committed to growth and building its most valuable assets, including strong brands, financial resilience, global reach, and a steadfast dedication to sustainability and global recognition. We are seeking a detail-oriented professional to support our revenue planning and trade execution processes. This role involves validating demand forecasts, 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) output files against Commercial Demand Review (CDR) session discussions, reconciling any discrepancies to ensure accurate 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 discrepancies to establish a reliable demand baseline.
- Validate topline revenue, volumes, and tonnage across categories and SKUs to confirm the accuracy and consistency of commercial plans prior to execution.
- Validate and finalize warehouse stock splits against primary and secondary targets, ensuring 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 equitable 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 continuous 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 accurate spend analyses 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 analyses, and maintaining close coordination to ensure optimal use of trade spend within approved budgets and commercial guidelines.
- Coordinate and drive seasonal planning network meetings by assigning tasks across cross-functional teams, tracking progress, and following up to ensure 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, tracking compliance and resolving bottlenecks to maximize promotional impact 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 channels, and monitoring adherence to safeguard commercial integrity and prevent revenue leakage.

Required Qualifications

- Proven experience in revenue planning, trade execution, or related commercial planning roles within FMCG or similar industries.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to validate and reconcile complex data sets.
- Proficiency in ERP systems such as SAP and sales management tools like Salesflo.
- Excellent coordination and communication skills to work effectively with cross-functional teams and stakeholders.
- Ability to manage budgets, conduct variance analysis, and support financial alignment with commercial objectives.

National Foods Limited is an equal employment opportunity employer. We welcome applications from all qualified individuals regardless of age, color, origin, disability, race, religion, gender, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.