Forecasting & Planning Analyst

DeepL is Germany's best-known AI company. We develop neural networks to help people work with language. With DeepL Translator, we have created the world's best machine translation system and made it available free of charge to everyone online. Over the next few years, we aim to make DeepL the world's leading language technology company. Our goal is to overcome language barriers and bring cultures closer together.

What distinguishes us from other companies? DeepL (formerly Linguee) was founded by developers and researchers. We focus on the development of new, exciting products, which is why we spend a lot of time actively researching the latest topics. We understand the challenges of developing new products and try to meet them with an agile and dynamic way of working. Our work culture is very open because we want our employees to feel comfortable. In our daily work we use modern technologies - not only to translate texts, but also to create the world's best dictionaries, and solve other language problems.

When we tell people about DeepL as an employer, reactions are overwhelmingly positive. Maybe it's because they have enjoyed our services, or maybe they just want to get on board with our quest to break down language barriers and facilitate communication.

What will you be doing at DeepL?

The Forecasting & Planning Analyst (Workforce Manager), working as part of the Customer Support Operations team, is responsible for optimising the efficiency and effectiveness of the Customer Support team to ensure exceptional customer service delivery. This role requires meticulous planning, analysis and coordination of staffing resources, scheduling, forecasting and real-time monitoring to meet service level objectives and maintain high customer satisfaction.

The Forecasting & Planning Analyst will work closely with various stakeholders including Customer Support Lead, Customer Support Team Lead and Customer Support Specialists to ensure the smooth operation of the workforce management process.

• Develop and maintain brand new accurate short-term and long-term forecasts for contact volumes, average handling time, and other relevant metrics.
• Analyse historical data, trends, and seasonality patterns to refine forecasts and effectively allocate resources.
• Collaborate with relevant stakeholders to determine appropriate staffing levels based on forecasted workload and service level targets.
• Create efficient and effective staff schedules that align with forecasted workloads, considering support specialist availability, skills, and contractual obligations.
• Optimise scheduling practices to minimize overstaffing or understaffing situations and ensure optimal support specialist utilisation.
• Proactively identify and address service level issues, support specialist adherence challenges, and other operational concerns in collaboration with leads and team leads.
• Generate regular reports on support team performance, including service level attainment, agent productivity, and adherence to schedules.
• Prepare comprehensive reports for management, highlighting workforce management achievements, challenges, and proposed strategies for improvement.

What we offer

• Make an impact! We break down language barriers worldwide and bring different cultures closer together.
• Experience the excitement of a rapidly growing scale-up. Over the last year we doubled in size with employees located across UK, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, and Japan.
• We've got your back. We are an experienced, highly committed team with transparent decision-making processes. We cherish collaboration and efficiency, but the human approach, trust, empathy, and inclusivity are just as important.
• Flexible work arrangements: with office hubs in Cologne, Berlin, London, and Amsterdam, you choose where and how you work. We offer fully remote work from UK/DE/NL/PL, no strings attached, no 'to be reviewed' - DeepL is a remote-positive company now and forever.
• Regular innovative team-building events - internationally, as well as whole company events.
• The opportunity to shape a product experience for an unlimited market with a diverse customer base (international customers, from start-ups to large corporations).
• Hack-Fridays - Every month we have a dedicated, interruption-free day on a company-wide scale to work on a project of your choice.
• Stay healthy - We offer private health and travel insurance that comes with a bonus you can spend on vision, dental or any other needs.
• With our people-centric approach, we value Life-Domain Balance and mental well-being! Therefore, we offer 30 days of holiday and provide a mental well-being app with access to psychologists, group sessions, and self-guided learning tools.
• Annual education budget to advance your skills with courses & qualifications of your choice.

About you

• Experience in workforce management, preferably in a contact centre or similar environment.
• You have successfully implemented and managed workforce management strategies ideally in a fast-growing start-up or scale-up environment.
• You have proven experience of producing accurate interval workload forecasting models using statistical techniques.
• You have a strong understanding of workforce management software and tools is essential along with concepts and best practices.
• Proficient in data analysis and reporting. You will be able to analyze historical data, create forecasts, and generate reports to optimize staffing levels and resource allocation.
• You will have experience in creating and managing staff schedules that meet service level targets while minimizing costs.
• You will have a strong understanding of forecasting and scheduling methodologies and the ability to create accurate short-term and long-term forecasts for channels such as call volume, chat, and email.
• You are a strong communicator that can interact with different teams, including Customer Support, Support Operations, People & Culture, Business Intelligence and other key stakeholders.
• You will be adept at problem-solving and making real-time adjustments to optimize staffing and resource allocation.
• Strong understanding of various contact center technologies, including phone systems, help desk platforms, and call routing systems.
• Ability to thrive in a start-up environment - you move quickly, think strategically and are superb at tactical execution.
• Fluency in English - other languages are a plus.

We are looking forward to your application!