WHAT DOES A DEMAND MANAGER DO?

Published: Oct 14, 2024 – The Demand Manager oversees initiative validation and delivery flow assessment to optimize the delivery pipeline. Collaboration with the Portfolio Manager ensures project alignment on the Outline Delivery Plan while supporting business owners until initiatives are approved or placed on the backlog. The manager also facilitates technical and business requirements, manages backlog prioritization, and reports progress to senior stakeholders.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Demand Manager

1. Demand Manager Role Purpose

  • Relationship Management: Build and develop relationships with key stakeholders, creating positive engagement through proactive expectation management.
  • Business Requirements Gathering: Work with various stakeholders to capture business requirements and initially shape initiatives.
  • Project Representation: Act as the face of ITS Demand for all technology initiatives from ideation through to ITS Project implementation.
  • Process Ownership: Own the process, tools, and information required for management and governance of ITS Demand.
  • Risk Identification: Identify risks, issues, duplication, interdependencies, and related impacts, and help to communicate these with key stakeholders.
  • Process Improvement: Continuously improve and streamline ITS Demand processes, procedures, information, tools, and key relationships for the betterment of the Firm.
  • Demand Monitoring: Manage and monitor the sales demand planning impacts through the planning horizon via continuous review and assessment of the demand management forecast.
  • Collaboration: Maintain a constant relationship with the sales, marketing, finance, and supply chain teams to understand the demand forecasting drivers.
  • Forecast Development Support: Provide support in developing seasonal demand forecasts and anticipate customers' reactions to the promotions and discounts.
  • Forecast Challenge: Challenge the forecasts from the sales teams, considering historical data, seasonality, market trends, promotions, budgets, etc., with relevant data analysis.
  • Accuracy Improvement: Improve the forecast's accuracy in coordination with sales, marketing, and supply chain teams.

2. Demand Manager General Responsibilities

  • Project Oversight: Takes a holistic view of all current and historic projects across the organization.
  • Requirements Evaluation: Evaluate requirements and determine appropriate scheduling.
  • Demand Forecasting: Provides demand forecasts for IT services.
  • Collaborative Work: Works collaboratively with the Agile Delivery Team and Scrum Masters.
  • Velocity Measurement: Measures and reports the velocities of the Cross-Functional Sprint Teams and forecasts upcoming availabilities.
  • Technology Planning: Plans and leads major technology assignments.
  • Performance Evaluation: Evaluate performance results and recommend major changes affecting short-term project growth and success.
  • Leadership and Mentorship: Provides leadership, mentorship, and guidance to junior personnel.
  • Demand Management: Ensure that the demand is accepted by delivery teams.
  • Process Improvement: Record and improve PMO processes and ways of working, identify areas for improvement, and own and deliver that improvement where appropriate.

3. Demand Manager Key Accountabilities

  • Demand Monitoring: Manage and monitor the sales demand planning impacts through the planning horizon via continuous review and assessment of the demand management forecast.
  • Relationship Management: Maintain a constant relationship with the sales, marketing, finance, and supply chain teams to understand the demand forecasting drivers.
  • Forecast Development Support: Provide support in developing seasonal demand forecasts and anticipate customers' reactions to promotions and discounts.
  • Forecast Challenge: Challenge the forecasts from the sales teams, keeping in view historical data, seasonality, market trends, promotions, budgets, etc., with relevant data analysis.
  • Accuracy Improvement: Improve the forecast's accuracy in coordination with sales, marketing, and supply chain teams.
  • Demand Planning Leadership: Lead the monthly Demand Planning Meetings.
  • Demand Plan Development: Develop, modify, and communicate both short and long-range demand plans to Supply Planning.
  • Communication Facilitation: Act as the pivotal communication point for supply and service constraints between brand companies and the business team.
  • Product Availability Updates: Update sales and marketing teams about product availabilities.
  • KPI Management: Drive and report forecasts and inventory KPIs.

4. Demand Manager Roles and Details

  • Data Analysis: Analyze available data and prepare useful reports on hotels, Food and Beverage, and society, and give advice and recommendations.
  • Revenue Maximization: Identify and pursue all areas of revenue maximization for all revenue streams.
  • Commercial Analysis Integrity: Responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the commercial analysis and evaluations of decisions within all revenue streams.
  • Inventory Management: Responsible for managing inventory, pricing, rate types, and restrictions through the revenue management system.
  • Budgeting and Forecasting: Budgeting and forecasting (within accuracy limits) and managing the results (topline and distribution costs).
  • Revenue Strategy Partnership: Partner with the Hotels and Sales team to implement proactive revenue-generating strategies.
  • Market Strategy Identification: Identify key market strategies for incremental revenue through analysis.
  • Market Segmentation Optimization: Optimize market segmentation with a focus on direct business growth.
  • Business Partner Collaboration: Partner with local business partners/online travel agents to maximize collaborations and be first in their minds.
  • Commercial Reporting: Prepare commercial reports for inclusion in management presentations.

5. Demand Manager Functions

  • Initiative Management: Manage the process that takes in initiatives, validates concepts, and assesses delivery flow and flow sizing of initiatives.
  • Project Alignment: Work with the Portfolio Manager to line up the projects on the Outline Delivery Plan to bring through the Flow Assessment Process, ensuring the front end of the delivery pipeline is optimized.
  • Business Owner Support: Support business owners through the front end of the delivery process until the initiative is approved for delivery or placed on the Portfolio backlog.
  • Demand Criteria Compliance: Ensure initiatives meet the demand criteria.
  • Delivery Partner Support: Support delivery partners in managing what flows through to the delivery teams, shaping and prioritizing for delivery, and assigning resources to the ODP (Outline Delivery Plan).
  • Requirements Facilitation: Facilitate the creation of technical and business requirements to agreed specifications.
  • Collaboration with Delivery Teams: Work closely with appropriate delivery managers, analysts, and architects to ensure demand is prioritized and scheduled in line with business requirements.
  • Business Case Development: Collaborate with Finance and the business owner to produce a business case or benefits profile on each initiative.
  • Backlog Prioritization Management: Actively manage the prioritization ranking of the backlog and work in collaboration with the Portfolio Manager on the rolling multi-year portfolio plan and ODP (Outline Delivery Plan).
  • Progress Reporting: Report on progress to senior stakeholders.
Relevant Information
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