Demand Planner – Grocery Inventory – Talabat

Talabat Mart’s grocery operation depends on tight inventory management to hit its fast-delivery promise, and a Demand Planner focused on grocery inventory is responsible for maintaining the right stock levels across stores by forecasting demand and managing purchase planning to minimize both out-of-stock and overstock positions. This role is closely related to broader demand planning work but focused specifically on the operational discipline of inventory levels store by store.

The day-to-day work involves analyzing sales velocity and stock levels across multiple dark stores or grocery hubs, adjusting replenishment plans based on real-time and historical data, and working with supply chain and store operations teams to resolve inventory imbalances before they affect customer availability. Because grocery inventory includes perishable goods, this role requires particular sensitivity to shelf life and spoilage risk alongside standard stockout risk.

This role requires strong analytical discipline paired with an operational mindset: it’s not enough to build an accurate forecast in isolation, the planner also needs to make sure that forecast translates into the right purchase orders and store-level replenishment actions in practice. Close, regular communication with store-level and supply chain teams is essential to catch and correct inventory issues quickly.

This suits someone with a supply chain, inventory management, or retail operations background who’s comfortable working with granular, store-level data and who enjoys the operational rigor of keeping a fast-moving grocery network well stocked.

Grocery inventory management directly affects two of the most sensitive metrics in a quick-commerce business: out-of-stock rates, which frustrate customers and cost immediate sales, and spoilage, which erodes margin on perishable goods that can't simply be held until demand catches up. A Demand Planner who manages store-level inventory accurately protects both sides of that equation at once, keeping availability high for customers while minimizing wasted stock. Because Talabat Mart operates across multiple dark stores or grocery hubs, inventory imbalances in one location, too much stock sitting unsold while another store runs short, represent a real, avoidable cost if not caught and corrected quickly, making the granular, store-level nature of this role's work genuinely consequential. Perishable goods in particular carry a tight window for corrective action: a planner who catches an emerging overstock position early can act (through promotions, redistribution, or adjusted ordering) before the product spoils and the cost is locked in. In a competitive quick-commerce market where multiple platforms compete on both price and availability, disciplined inventory management at this level is a genuine source of margin protection and customer satisfaction simultaneously, making the role's day-to-day operational rigor directly material to the business's financial performance.

This role builds hands-on, granular inventory management experience in one of the most operationally demanding retail formats: fast-delivery grocery, where the tolerance for planning error is much lower than in traditional retail. Anyone who develops strong inventory discipline in this environment, balancing stockout risk against spoilage risk in real time, builds a skill set that's highly respected across supply chain and retail operations careers broadly, since it demonstrates the ability to manage genuinely tight operational constraints. Working within Talabat and the broader Delivery Hero Group also provides exposure to how a large, multi-market grocery delivery operation manages inventory at scale, giving early insight into systems and processes that a smaller, single-location retail operation wouldn't offer. The cross-functional coordination required with store operations and supply chain teams also builds practical stakeholder management skills that are valuable in any operations career. Quick-commerce grocery is one of the fastest-growing retail segments in the region, and inventory management experience specific to this model, particularly around perishable goods, is increasingly sought after as more retailers move into rapid delivery formats. People who build a strong track record in grocery demand planning typically progress into senior demand planning, inventory management, or supply chain leadership roles, either within Talabat or at other grocery and quick-commerce operators expanding across the region.

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, or a related field
• Experience in demand planning, inventory management, or supply chain analytics, ideally in grocery or retail
• Strong Excel skills; experience with inventory or ERP systems is a plus
• Analytical mindset with attention to detail across store-level and SKU-level data
• Understanding of perishable goods management and shelf-life considerations
• Strong cross-functional communication with supply chain and store operations teams
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, quick-commerce grocery environment