Supply Chain Planner
Location: South Manchester Salary: GBP45,000 Contract: Permanent Reporting Line: Supply Chain / Planning Leadership Environment: FMCG food manufacturing
Our client is a well-established, high-volume FMCG food manufacturer operating their UK production site. Due to internal restructure and growth, they are appointing a Supply Planner, owning medium- to short‑term production planning and capacity alignment across the business.
This is a hands‑on, technically demanding planning role requiring strong analytical capability, advanced Excel skills, and confidence working with imperfect data in fast‑moving manufacturing environments.
Core Purpose of the Role
To create, maintain and continuously optimise a feasible, capacity‑aligned production plan that balances customer demand, manufacturing constraints, labour availability, and inventory targets across multiple sites.
The role acts as the central planning authority, supporting site planners while retaining accountability for overall output, service performance, and plan adherence.
Key Responsibilities
* Develop and own the group production plan, translating demand inputs into executable site‑level outputs
* Conduct capacity modelling, load vs. capability analysis, and bottleneck identification across the manufacturing network
* Support and challenge site production plans to ensure alignment with group priorities and constraints
* Manage short‑ to medium‑term planning horizons, including scenario modelling and risk mitigation
* Analyse demand volatility and proactively rebalance plans to protect service and minimise inefficiency
* Maintain and improve MRP / ERP planning parameters, ensuring data accuracy and integrity
* Produce detailed planning reports, KPIs, and dashboards to support decision‑making
* Act as a key interface between Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Commercial, and Warehousing teams
* Drive continuous improvement in planning logic, assumptions, and execution discipline
Candidate Profile - Essential
* Proven experience in production planning / supply planning / capacity planning within FMCG manufacturing
* Strong exposure to complex manufacturing operations
* Advanced Excel capability (modelling, pivot tables, scenario analysis, large data sets)
* Solid working knowledge of MRP / ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, Navision, etc.)
* Highly analytical with the ability to translate data into clear, practical planning decisions
* Confident stakeholder manager, able to challenge constructively at site and leadership level
* Comfortable operating at pace in environments with short lead times and changing priorities
Desirable
* Food manufacturing experience, particularly chilled, short shelf‑life, or high‑throughput operations
* Experience supporting or feeding into S&OP / IBP processes
* Background in environments with high changeover, labour constraints, or tight capacity envelopes
Why This Role
* Genuine high‑level visibility and influence
* Broad operational exposure across the manufacturing site
* Opportunity to stabilise and improve planning maturity
* Suitable for planners who enjoy complexity, data, and operational problem‑solving
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