Job Description
Demand & Supply Planning Manager
About Solidcor
Solidcor is a rapidly growing Fire-Door Manufacturer, specialising in the production of certified fire doors and life safety products for residential, commercial and public sector buildings across the UK.
Operating with a market-leading 10-day delivery promise, Solidcor plays a critical role in supporting national fire compliance programmes that combines precision manufacturing, accredited processes and supply chain discipline to deliver safety-critical products at scale.
As the business continues to grow, the ability to translate demand into reliable, forward-planned supply decisions is essential to protecting service levels, reducing reactive firefighting and enabling operational scale.
Role Purpose
The Demand & Supply Planning Manager owns the end-to-end planning loop — converting sales demand into approved material, inventory and purchasing plans that ensure the right materials are available at the right time.
This is a hands-on, decision-making role operating both strategically and operationally.
You will work deep in the detail of planning data while leading cross-functional planning rhythms — making evidence-based trade-offs when demand, supply and service priorities conflict.
Key Accountabilities
Demand & Supply Planning
• Own the rolling 12–16 week demand and supply plan, integrating sales pipeline data, historical consumption and operational capacity constraints
• Translate demand forecasts into time-phased material, inventory and purchasing requirements
• Define and maintain planning assumptions including lead times, safety stock levels, reorder logic and risk buffers
• Identify forward material constraints and escalate risks with clear options and mitigation recommendations
Inventory & Availability Ownership
• Own inventory policy and stock availability strategy, including ABC classification and protection of critical components
• Declare and manage inventory confidence levels, adjusting plans and buffers where system accuracy is imperfect
• Prevent stockouts and last-minute expediting through forward visibility and disciplined planning
• Quantify the impact of demand volatility, forecast error and data inaccuracy on service and cost
Physical inventory transactions, stock booking and cycle counting sit with Warehouse Operations. This role owns planning decisions rather than stock movements.
Purchasing & Supplier Coordination
• Approve purchasing priorities in line with the agreed supply plan
• Place or authorise purchase orders to protect production continuity
• Work closely with suppliers to confirm delivery schedules, manage lead time risk and improve reliability
• Monitor supplier performance including OTIF and lead time adherence
• Provide data-led insight to support annual supplier price negotiations
Cross-Functional Planning Leadership
• Lead the weekly planning cadence across Sales, Operations, Production and Warehouse
• Challenge demand assumptions constructively to ensure planning integrity
• Align stakeholders around a single, agreed supply plan
• Act as the planning authority when priorities conflict, escalating where thresholds are breached
• Provide operational leadership with visibility on risks to the 10-day delivery commitment
Systems, Data & Continuous Improvement
• Use Unleashed as the system of record for planning and purchasing decisions
• Drive improvements in master data quality including lead times, BOMs and units of measure
• Identify where system or process breakdowns undermine planning effectiveness
• Support the transition from reactive, manual workarounds to scalable planning processes
Experience & Capability
Essential:
• Proven experience in demand, supply or materials planning within a manufacturing environment
• Strong understanding of how demand, inventory and lead times interact
• Experience translating forecasts into purchasing and supply decisions
• Hands-on use of ERP / MRP systems for planning and procurement
• Comfortable working with imperfect data and building pragmatic planning models
• Confident engaging, influencing and constructively challenging Sales, Operations and Production stakeholders
• Experience operating within a fast-growing or operationally evolving business
• Familiarity with Unleashed or comparable ERP systems
• Exposure to BOM-driven manufacturing environments
Benefits
• Competitive Bonus Scheme
• Lunch, snacks and refreshments all provided
• Unlimited Holiday provision
• Company events and dedicated social budget