Demand Planning Manager

About the Role

As our new Demand Planning Manager, you will play a key role in shaping and delivering an accurate global demand plan that helps ensure products are available in the right place, at the right time, and at the right cost. Reporting to the Head of Inventory Planning, you will support and guide a team of planners while working closely with colleagues across Sales, Publishing, Content Operations, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and regional hubs.

You will contribute to demand forecasting for all titles (frontlist and backlist), helping to optimise product availability and manage stock levels effectively. The role includes analysing historical trends, understanding demand drivers, developing statistical forecasts, and refining models to support business objectives. You will facilitate monthly Demand Review Meetings, share insight on forecast performance, and help maintain alignment with key KPIs such as forecast accuracy and bias.

Collaboration is central to this role: you will support your team’s development, encourage effective information flow across stakeholders, and work in partnership with Supply Planning to translate demand into balanced inventory strategies. You will also help drive continuous improvement by enhancing forecasting systems, processes, and SOPs, and by contributing your expertise in demand planning across the organisation.

We operate a hybrid working policy that requires a minimum of 2 days per week in the Oxford office.

About You

• You will demonstrate strong leadership qualities and decision-making ability and will be a strong communicator to all levels.
• Able to demonstrate proficiency in analysis, forecasting and forecasting methodologies with an understanding of their financial and operational impacts.
• Experience working cross functionally to deliver results within an end-to-end value chain.
• Have working knowledge of demand planning software, with recent knowledge of SAP APO and / or IBP strongly desirable.
• Able to demonstrate strong decision-making skills.
• Strong communication skills demonstrated through ability or communicate at all levels and a proven problem solver.
• Proven track record of looking for ways to continuously improve and can demonstrate ability to deal with ambiguity and remain calm under pressure.
• Preferred sector experience will include publishing, retail, consumer goods, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.

Benefits

We care about work/life balance here at OUP. With this in mind we offer 25 days’ holiday that rises with service, plus bank holidays and Christmas closure (3-days) and a 35-hour working week. We are open to discussing flexibility in respect to working patterns, dependent on role. We also have a great variety of active employee networks and societies.

We help make your money go further by contributing to your pension up to 12%, offering loans and savings schemes through our partnership with Salary Finance, in addition to travel to work schemes and access to a wide range of local discounts.

This role comes with the added benefit of a discretionary annual payment.

Please see our Rewards and Recognition page for more information.