Senior Manager - Distribution Planner - IIM/ISB/MDI/FMS

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Sr. Manager - Distribution Planner owns distribution planning and network design for Mankind Pharma's CFA network in the O9 planning tool, covering 48 CFAs, 5 Depots, and ~40,000 SKU - CFA intersections across ~2,200 SKUs. The role's primary mandate is ensuring CFA stock availability in all scenarios - through target-norm setting, rigorous stock-out RCA/CAPA discipline, network design and realignment, and disciplined day-to-day coordination with Sales, Supply Planning, and Demand Planning to manage forecast volatility, M0 exceptions, unplanned schemes, and festive disruptions.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. CFA Stock Availability & Target Norms:

- Own CFA stock availability in all demand scenarios as the primary charter of the role - zero stock-outs at CFA level.

- Finalize and maintain target inventory norms for all ~2,200 SKUs, ensuring stock availability is held as per approved norms.

- Own the monthly MIS / dashboard showcasing stock availability and norms adherence, presented in SNOP to senior leadership.

2. Stock-Out RCA & Lost Sales Management:

- Conduct Root Cause Analysis (RCA) for every stock-out case and prepare the corresponding CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Action) document.

- Perform deep-dive Lost Sales analysis, identifying systemic causes and driving closure through the CAPA process.

- Ensure no stock-outs occur at CFA locations through proactive planning and exception management.

3. Distribution Planning in O9:

- Execute distribution planning using O9 across 48 CFAs and 5 Depots, at a division-wise level covering approximately 40,000 SKU - CFA intersections.

- Manage day-to-day replenishment planning, ensuring system recommendations translate into accurate, executable dispatch plans.

4. Network Design & Evaluation:

- Evaluate the current network - Plant / 3P / Owned Factories - Depot - Satellite Depot - CFA - for efficiency and service adequacy.

- Evaluate and maintain priority logic for all CFAs.

- Realign CFA mapping from Satellite Depots as network conditions evolve.

- Evaluate Direct Dispatch opportunities from Plant / 3P / Owned Factories directly to CFA, bypassing unnecessary transit legs.

5. Stakeholder Management & Exception Handling:

- Maintain close working relationships with Sales, Supply Planning, and Demand Planning teams.

- Manage the impact of low forecast accuracy and daily M0 exceptions raised by the sales team.

- Handle unplanned schemes and festive-period disruptions, adjusting distribution plans in real time.

- As the final safeguard in any disruption scenario, manage target-norm inventory at CFA level and plan regular CFA-to-CFA movements - in coordination with the sales team - to ensure timely stock liquidation.

6. Projects & Systems:

- Lead and manage cross-functional projects, including:

1. Inward Portal Enhancements

2. TLB (Truck Load Builder)

3. SAP TM (Transportation Management) implementation

4. Unified Allocation Portal - order capturing for Sample & Promotional Items

5. Central Hub design - based on ideal network design principles

6. End-to-End Space & Capacity Planning, on a year-on-year basis

7. TMS (Transportation Management System) evaluation

KEY RESULT AREAS (KRAS):

Performance is anchored on CFA stock availability as the primary result area, supported by disciplined norms management, network design, and RCA/CAPA rigor.

- CFA Stock Availability: 48 CFAs - Zero stock-outs at CFA level across all demand scenarios; stock held as per approved target norms.

- Target Norms Finalization: 2,200 SKUs - Target inventory norms finalized and maintained for the full SKU base, refreshed on a defined review cycle.

- Distribution Planning Coverage (O9): ~40,000 SKU - CFA intersections - Division-wise distribution planning executed in O9 across 48 CFAs and 5 Depots.

- Stock-Out RCA & CAPA: 100% of incidents - Root-cause analysis and CAPA documented for every stock-out and lost-sales event; recurring causes closed at source.

- Network Design & Realignment: Ongoing - Plant/3P/Owned - Depot - Satellite Depot - CFA network evaluated; CFA-to-Satellite-Depot mapping realigned; Direct Dispatch opportunities identified.

- CFA-to-CFA Liquidation: As required - Regular CFA-to-CFA movements planned with sales to liquidate excess/aging stock on time.

- SNOP MIS & Dashboard: Monthly - Stock availability and norms-adherence dashboard presented to senior leadership at SNOP.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIS):

Performance will be tracked and reviewed against the following KPI framework across four pillars - Cost, Service, Productivity, and In-Process (Internal). Case Fill Rate / OTIF (highlighted) is the primary service KPI for this role, given its direct link to CFA stock availability.

- COST: Freight Cost / Net Revenue (%) - % of net revenue - Freight cost as proportion of net revenue. Headline logistics cost efficiency.

- COST: Freight Cost vs Budget (%) - Variance vs annual budget - Freight spend variance against annual budgeted cost by lane and division.

- COST: Transport Cost per Case () - Per-case freight cost - Cost per case shipped. Actionable freight efficiency metric at lane level.

- COST: PTL vs FTL Ratio (%) - Part-load vs full-load % - % of shipments dispatched as part-truck vs full-truck. Higher PTL = inefficiency.

- COST: Load Utilisation (%) - Truck & Depot - Vehicle + DC utilisation - Vehicle: volume transported / capacity. Depot: used space / available space.

- COST: SC Losses - COPS, Outside Ideal Network, Detention (L) - SC-controllable losses - Controllable losses outside ideal network - COPS, detention, and related charges.

- SERVICE: Case Fill Rate / LOS - CFA to Stockist (%) [OTIF] - OTIF - CFA to Stockist - On-time in-full delivery from CFA to stockist. Core last-mile service KPI.

- SERVICE: Vehicle Placement Adherence (%) - Vehicle availability vs requirement - Actual vehicle placements vs planned requirement. Separates dispatch plan from execution.

- PRODUCTIVITY: Log Ops - Network Savings: Pre & Primary + Direct Dispatch (L) - Freight savings - Savings from direct dispatch and pre-primary route consolidation vs standard routing.

- PRODUCTIVITY: Log Ops - Warehouse / Depot Utilisation (%) - DC space efficiency - Used space vs available space at DC/depot. Tracked vs annual target for cost negotiation.

- PRODUCTIVITY: Log Ops - Gift & Sample Depot Efficiency (%) - Dispatch vs allocation - % of allocated gift sets / samples actually dispatched from depot.

- IN-PROCESS (Internal): POD TAT (days) - Proof-of-delivery cycle - Proof-of-delivery cycle time. Drives claims and reconciliation speed.

- IN-PROCESS (Internal): OTD to Stockists (%) - On-time delivery to stockist - On-time delivery performance from DC/CFA to stockist.

- IN-PROCESS (Internal): SRN & Claims Settlement TAT (days) - Returns & claims cycle time - Time to close SRN and settle claims. Financial exposure metric.

CANDIDATE PROFILE:

Education:

MBA graduate from a Tier-1 institute; equivalent qualifications from Tier-2 and below institutes considered with additional experience.

Experience:

- Minimum 4 years of Distribution Planning experience in Pharma and FMCG for candidates from Tier-1 institutes.

- Minimum 8 years of Distribution Planning experience in Pharma and FMCG for candidates from Tier-2 institutes and below.

- Hands-on experience managing sales-team exceptions and unplanned forecast changes for the current (M0) month.

Skills & Competencies:

- Strong working knowledge of the O9 Planning Tool for distribution planning.

- Exceptional proficiency in MS Excel, including Macros and SQL, for MIS preparation and analysis.

- Demonstrated ability to lead SNOP (Sales & Operations Planning) meetings with senior leadership.

- Strong analytical rigor - able to independently drive RCA and CAPA processes for stock-outs and lost sales.

- Excellent stakeholder management skills, able to work effectively with Sales, Supply Planning, and Demand Planning teams under pressure.

- Comfortable managing ambiguity - unplanned schemes, festive disruptions, and low forecast accuracy are routine, not exceptional.

REPORTING & WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

Reports To: Mr. Ashish Nigam, Lead - Distribution Planner (AGM).

Internal Stakeholders: Sales, Supply Planning, Demand Planning, CFA & Warehousing Operations, IT / Digital (for O9, SAP TM, and portal projects).

External Stakeholders: CFA partners, technology/system implementation vendors (as relevant to ongoing projects).