Chanel Demand Planning Assistant Manager

About Chanel

Chanel is one of the world’s most revered luxury houses, founded by Gabrielle Chanel and distinguished by an enduring vision of elegance, freedom, and modernity. As an employer, the House brings together métiers ranging from haute couture, fashion and leather goods to fragrance, beauty, watches, and fine jewelry, offering employees the opportunity to contribute to a legacy defined by exceptional craftsmanship and creative audacity. Chanel values excellence, discretion, collaboration, and long-term development, fostering an environment where talent is nurtured and heritage is continually reinterpreted for contemporary clients. Its teams are united by a commitment to quality, innovation, and the timeless spirit of the brand.

Role & Responsibilities

• Own the market demand forecast at SKU, channel and monthly level for the relevant planning scope, ensuring it is complete, unbiased, reasoned and supported by clear assumptions.
• Lead the local monthly S&OP process with the Market FBP General Manager, Finance, Marketing, Retail, Supply Chain and other relevant functions, ensuring it drives decisions rather than only reporting.
• Translate market knowledge, sales trends, campaign plans, product lifecycle dynamics, and client and channel insights into a robust demand signal for regional supply planning, global teams and business leaders.
• Improve forecast quality by applying standard forecasting methodology, cleansing demand, reviewing statistical outputs, challenging assumptions, documenting building blocks and explaining changes from previous cycles.
• Consolidate market risks and opportunities with Finance and business teams, connecting product forecasts, the latest financial outlook, sufficiency gaps and business-building actions.
• Serve as the market's source of truth on demand, balancing business ambition with planning discipline and local commercial realities.
• Ensure disciplined adoption of SHIFT ways of working, including 4CAST, standard calendars, KPI definitions, S&OP templates, pre-reads, decision sheets and follow-up action logs.
• Partner with Marketing and commercial teams on campaign forecast reasonability, readiness, launch assumptions, cannibalisation risks, phase-in and phase-out impact, and clear ownership of forecast recommendations.
• Collaborate with regional supply planning and local supply chain teams to connect demand signals with product availability, allocation priorities, inventory health, service risks and air freight reduction opportunities.
• Build market planning capability by continuously improving forecast analytics, stakeholder engagement, business storytelling and adoption of regional standards.
• Remain close to market activity while staying objective and disciplined in forecast recommendations.
• Turn data, assumptions and business signals into insights, scenarios and recommendations that support leadership decisions.
• Facilitate cross-functional discussions with Marketing, Retail, Finance and Supply Chain, constructively challenging stakeholders to align on the best plan for the market.
• Bring structure to complexity and connect commercial ambition, operational reality, financial discipline, service levels, inventory health and sustainability priorities.
• Act as a trusted business partner and market source of truth, ensuring forecasts reflect actual demand rather than aspiration or targets.
• Drive change and help teams adopt processes, systems and mindsets aligned with SHIFT objectives.
• Build consistent planning excellence across markets while preserving local market knowledge.
• Continuously improve forecasting practices through analytics, root-cause analysis, learning from past cycles and stronger cross-functional collaboration.

Qualifications

• At least 7 years of experience in Demand Planning, Forecasting, S&OP, Supply Chain Planning, Commercial Planning, Business Planning or related roles, ideally in beauty, luxury, fashion, retail or consumer goods.
• Strong understanding of demand planning principles, including forecast accuracy and bias, reasonability checks, demand cleansing, building-block forecasting, campaign forecasting and product lifecycle impact.
• Experience leading or contributing to S&OP, Integrated Business Planning, financial forecast alignment or cross-functional business reviews.
• Strong analytical capability, including working with large data sets, identifying trends, diagnosing performance gaps and translating analysis into business recommendations.
• Excellent stakeholder management and facilitation skills, with the confidence to challenge assumptions constructively and influence senior market stakeholders.
• Ability to balance market proximity with planning objectivity, ensuring forecasts are business-connected and unbiased.
• Strong communication and storytelling skills, including the ability to simplify complex topics and present clear insights, risks, opportunities and decisions.
• Experience with planning systems, ERP and BI tools; familiarity with advanced planning systems, Power BI, ERP or similar tools is an advantage.
• Strong ownership mindset, attention to detail, agility and ability to operate in a matrix and multicultural environment.
• Passion for the beauty industry and curiosity about client, product, channel and market dynamics.
• Fluent English is required; proficiency in the local market language is an advantage depending on the market.

Skills

Experience

At least 7 years in Demand Planning, Forecasting, S&OP, Supply Chain Planning, Commercial Planning, Business Planning or related roles; ideally within beauty, luxury, fashion, retail or consumer goods.

Culture

Chanel fosters a culture of timeless creativity, exacting craftsmanship, and quiet excellence, where employees are encouraged to uphold the house’s heritage while contributing to its continued innovation. The workplace environment is refined, collaborative, and deeply committed to quality, offering professionals the opportunity to grow within a globally respected maison that values discretion, artistry, and long-term vision.

About Cerulean

Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.