Hierarchical Reporting
Reports to the Cluster Head of Revenue Operations & Commercial Infrastructure within the Commercial Management & Intelligence (CM&I) Department, which reports to the CM&I Director.
Cluster Context
Revenue Operations & Commercial Infrastructure is the commercial backbone of CM&I. The cluster owns the forecasting methodology, commercial performance dashboards, the CRM platform, and the commercial data standards used by Sales, the Tribes, Finance, Operations, and ExCo.
The cluster covers three domains:
- Revenue Operations
- Commercial Infrastructure (CRM and commercial systems)
- Forecasting
The team consists of a total headcount of 7 FTEs.
Operating Model
The cluster is evolving from a support and request-handling model to a business partnership model. This includes:
- A defined service catalogue;
- A published delivery cadence;
- A designated owner for every KPI and recurring output;
- A structured intake process for requests outside the service catalogue.
Each member of the cluster acts as the dedicated business partner for a defined group of commercial stakeholders and is accountable for outputs the business can act upon.
Within each domain, team members act as back-ups for one another, based on documented methodologies and shared tools.
Role Context
The Revenue Planning & Budget Manager owns bpost’s annual commercial planning cycle: the bottom-up sales forecast, the construction of the revenue and volume budget together with Finance, and the translation of that budget into customer and team targets.
The role is central to CM&I’s predictability agenda, transforming commercial ambitions into concrete figures that the organization uses to plan its activities.
Objective
Lead the end-to-end commercial planning cycle across B2B, B2G and the Product Tribes, including methodology, planning calendar, guidelines, submission standards, consolidation, budget construction and target allocation.
The process is managed through clear governance principles, defined rules and quality controls.
The role goes beyond collecting and consolidating submissions. It challenges the assumptions behind each forecast, aligns differences with Finance and delivers a plan that is jointly owned by Sales, Operations and Finance.
The Revenue Planning & Budget Manager is the single business partner for the Sales organization and the Tribes regarding planning and budgeting: one point of contact, one calendar and one methodology.
Forecast accuracy is measured, communicated and continuously improved from one cycle to the next. It is the primary performance indicator for the role.
Main Responsibilities
Ownership of the Bottom-Up Forecast Cycle
- Lead the annual planning cycle, including forecast rounds, budget construction and target allocation across B2B, B2G, the Tribes, NPD and hunting activities.
- Define and maintain the forecasting methodology:
- Account-based forecasting for the Top 60 customers representing approximately 80% of revenue.
- Model-based estimation of the remaining customer base using historical trends and market assumptions.
- Publish the planning calendar at least one cycle in advance, including deliverables, owners and deadlines.
- Define submission standards and quality gates.
- Train and support Sales teams throughout the forecasting process.
Budget Construction and Revenue Allocation
- Own the commercial component of the annual budget process together with Finance.
- Consolidate customer-level budget allocations across the full portfolio.
- Provide management with a clear understanding of the composition of the plan.
- Align budget assumptions with the latest business outlook and run reforecasting exercises throughout the year.
- Produce budget documentation for Finance, Sales Management and the CM&I Director.
- Ensure a seamless handover between the commercial budget and operational planning.
Assumption Governance and Commercial Challenge
- Challenge commercial assumptions before consolidation.
- Facilitate structured challenge sessions with Sales Directors and Tribe Leads.
- Maintain a structured assumption log for every planning cycle.
- Reconcile commercial assumptions with Finance assumptions.
- Escalate unresolved gaps to the Cluster Head with clear recommendations and options.
Target Setting and Allocation
- Translate the approved budget into customer, team and individual targets.
- Own hunting targets and the commercial logic supporting them.
- Ensure every target can be traced back to its originating budget assumption.
- Model allocation scenarios together with the Revenue Performance Manager.
- Support the roll-out of targets across the Sales organization with practical management materials.
Planning Tools, Standardization and Scalability
- Own the forecast and budget tool from a business perspective.
- Eliminate manual consolidation activities wherever possible.
- Standardize planning inputs and outputs.
- Document methodologies and processes to ensure transferability and continuity.
- Prepare the extension of the planning model to bnode entities.
Forecast Accuracy
- Measure and publish forecast accuracy after each cycle.
- Conduct structured reviews of planning deviations.
- Translate lessons learned into improvements in methodologies, guidelines and training.
- Report forecast accuracy trends to the Cluster Head and CM&I.
Business Partnering, Service Discipline and Cross-Cover
- Act as the dedicated business partner for assigned Sales teams and Tribes.
- Assess incoming requests against the cluster’s service catalogue.
- Convert recurring ad hoc requests into standardized outputs.
- Act as designated back-up within the Revenue Operations domain.
- Maintain the documentation required to enable effective cross-cover.
Process Ownership
Responsible for the annual commercial planning cycle covering B2B, B2G, Product Tribes and NPD, from bottom-up forecasting through budget construction and customer and team target allocation, with a progressive extension to the bnode entities.
Autonomous Decisions
- Define forecasting and budgeting methodologies.
- Determine planning granularity and segmentation logic.
- Publish planning calendars, submission guidelines and quality standards.
- Lead challenge sessions with Sales and the Tribes.
- Prioritize the functional roadmap of the forecast and budget tool.
- Define and communicate the forecast accuracy framework.
Decisions Requiring Alignment
- Final budget assumptions and reconciliation with Finance.
- Final allocation of targets across Sales teams and Tribes.
- Changes to target-setting logic used within incentive schemes.
- Extension of the planning model to bnode entities.
Budget Responsibility
No direct budget responsibility.
The role owns the process that produces bpost’s commercial revenue and volume plan, as well as the target allocation derived from it.
