A mutually rewarding experience.

Work. Realize your ambitions. And realize there’s more to being in business than just making a profit. That’s the Mars philosophy. And the opportunity we offer every one of our Associates. An opportunity to take what you do and make it mean more for you, for those around you and for the planet.  What you get here is challenging, interesting work. You get the tools you need to do a great job and you get to have the best possible people on your side to help you do it. And at the same time as getting to find ways to do business better today than we did it yesterday and driving a great career, you also get to build a more enlightened business and drive sustainability.

Because it’s never just about a single person, a single project or a single brand. It’s about how you can grab everything that’s within your reach here and use it to pursue mutual, long-term gain. It’s about having ideas. And ideals. Being prepared to risk failure because the promise of success means we’ll all be a little better off. It’s that mix of integrity and ambition that makes Mars such a special place to work. And why working here is always about more than just a job.

About Mars, Incorporated 

Mars is a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love. With almost $35 billion in sales, the company is a global business that produces some of the world’s best-loved brands: M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, MILKY WAY®, DOVE®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, EXTRA®, ORBIT®, 5™, SKITTLES®, UNCLE BEN’S®, MARS DRINKS and COCOAVIA®. Mars also provides veterinary health services that include BANFIELD® Pet Hospitals, Blue Pearl®, VCA® and Pet Partners™. Headquartered in McLean, VA, Mars operates in more than 80 countries. The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom – inspire its more than 100,000 Associates to create value for all its partners and deliver growth they are proud of every day.

Job Purpose/Overview

The purpose of the CPFR Analyst will be to ensure on-shelf in-stock excellence of Royal Canin products,
thereby providing our consumers with the ultimate enjoyment of our products. This role is directly responsible for the administration and maintenance of all domestic customer accounts to ensure orders, deliveries and cash collection conform to the Royal Canin policies and processes. This role will be the liaison between customers and all stakeholders within Royal Canin including sales, marketing,finance and all functions within Supply Chain including planning, production and distribution.     

The CPFR Analyst is responsible for critical decisions and recommendations impacting both the customer and Mars finished goods inventory. Focus will be on managing the supply chain interdependencies between Sales, Demand Planning, Customer Service, Inventory Management, Operations Planning and the Customer to maximize on shelf presence. Strong analytical skills coupled with the ability to provide an influential business case will be essential to successfully gain support from key account partners for implementing product supply recommendations.

Key Responsibilities

•    Utilizing VMI/CPFR best practices to make recommendations to customer to eliminate out of stocks and maximize fill rates. Improve quality of customer orders through order suggestions to customer, highlighting overstocks, MOQ and lead time adherence. Ensure we deliver key metrics for inventory, service level and store in stocks. 
•    Lead Customer Centricity via weekly meetings with our customers. Serve as the point of contact for all assigned customers, exercising superior interpersonal skills inclusive of listening, empathy and persistence with regards to the customer relationship to achieve excellence in customer satisfaction.  Responsible for supporting critical decisions and providing recommendations impacting both the customer and Royal Canin finished goods inventory. Working directly with customer contacts to balance maximizing in-stock goals while minimizing inventory levels within both Royal Canin Canada and the customer’s supply chain network

•    Drive improved order forecast accuracy and case fill, through analysis of customer data such as POS consumption and inventory vs. order projections. Using order projections and forecasts to influence truck plan and allocation of number of trucks per customer.  Makes daily decisions on how much inventory to ship to meet customer demands. Perform weekly analysis of sales trends to determine appropriate forecast adjustments needed to ensure accuracy in order planning. Advocating for same with Integrated Planning. 
•    Support Perfect Order continuous improvement through adherence to MOQs, reducing LCC’s and other related root causes. Lead collaborative supply chain process to improve efficiencies and drive costs out of the replenishment process.
•    Work with 3PL warehouses to represent Royal Canin and ensure the highest quality of service to our customer. Responsible for communicating logistics situations that are customer impacting to all stakeholders.  
•    Responsible for Vendor Compliance Programs adherence and minimizing costs related to Fill Rates, Logistics and Load Quality where applicable. Align and aim for improvements with the assigned metrics and compliance programs and drive continuous improvement on performance against goals.  Identify potential risks and opportunities for improvements.  
•    Collaborate with other departments to drive proactive solutions and escalations to potential order conflicts such as delivery, shipping delays and out of stock situations. Specifically with sales, supply & demand planning to effectively communicate risks to customer orders and pipeline demand against forecast / production quantities to proactively identify potential shortages that impact customer fulfillment. While providing timely responses and communication to the customer
•    Manage item life cycle to maximize sales on new items and reduce unsaleables on discontinued items.  Working with Sales, acts as the lead for Supply Chain for innovation pipelines (product launches, discontinuations & packaging changes), including quantification & data requirements, load-in and transition timing, and accurate data addition of items to published reports.
•    Display agility and resourcefulness in the face of change to delivery business objectives while meeting applicable deadlines and providing outstanding customer service to both internal and external customers.
•    Become the functional expert for assigned accounts, order management processes and procedures.  Support all training as needed.
•    Work on a variety of assigned special projects, as required
•    Actively participate in Associate Engagement by achieving performance goals with respect to company requirements,  and contribute to the company’s culture through participation.
•    Attend and actively participate in team meetings, individual 1:1’s and performance meetings.  
•    Understand, track, and report KPI’s (Forecast Accuracy, Bias, CFR, etc.) to stakeholders as necessary
•    Business Process Owner on at least one project that will improve supply chain capabilities, reduce work, and maximize inventory mix at the customer level

Context and Scope

30% Deliver the Business & Communication        
    Manage customer orders to truck plan, hit the numbers at 100% compliance 
    Manage MOQs and full pallet ordering to drive LLC cost savings through effiencies   
    VMI Manage customer orders, to proactively protect fill rates 
    Escalations for risks to deliver the Business 
    Manage customer orders for innovations/ renovations/ promotions to protect fill rates
    Attendance at meetings, training program, discovery sessions
    Compliance Management, to drive Trade savings and improve service via Continuous improvement 
    Support work / Analytics as required to improve service via Continuous improvement 

60% Customer Centricity  
    Tier 1 Analytics & Centricity     
    Develop and implement on-going improvements for collaborative planning, forecast and replenishment process. 
    Advocate for Customer requirements. Support and collaborate with internal supply chain as needed

10%  Forward Looking Plan        
    Personal Development

    Engagement & Training, Communication

    High Performing Collaboration

Education and Professional Qualifications
•    Min 3 year degree/diploma or Equivalent Experience. 
•    Relevant industry experience essential 
•    Bilingual an asset, but not required

Knowledge/Experience
•    5+ years’ experience in customer service / order management and or other operational area.
•    Previous experience in supply chain essential
•    Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work in a cross-functional environment
•    Excellent to advanced computing skills with proficiency in Microsoft Excel and CRM tools
•    Strong skills in organizing work flow and materials and excellent time management skills
•    Able to view problems in a positive way and propose solutions to streamline operations
•       An open communicator adept and dealing with internal / external stakeholders
 

Mars is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the application process because of a disability, it is available upon request. The company is pleased to provide such assistance, and no applicant will be penalized as a result of such a request.