If you've ever worked somewhere where production planning felt like a daily guessing game, you'll know how painful bad information, late changes and overly optimistic schedules can be.
This isn't one of those places.
This is your chance to join a manufacturing business that actually treats planning as the engine room of operations - not an admin task, not a blame magnet, and not something that gets ignored until it's already gone wrong. If you like bringing order to chaos without needing to shout to be heard, you'll feel right at home here.
What You Will Do
- Build production schedules people can actually follow - based on real customer orders, capacity and material availability.
- Work closely with Materials, Engineering and Operations so everyone moves in the same direction for once.
- Monitor progress, spot bottlenecks early and adjust plans before things fall over.
- Use demand forecasts and historical trends to help the business make decisions instead of educated guesses.
- Maintain accurate records of WIP, inventory and activity so planning stays credible.
- Work with Process and Quality Engineers to reduce waste and improve flow.
- Occasionally join customer meetings when planning expertise is needed (you won't be doing sales).
What You Will Bring
- Experience in production planning, supply chain or manufacturing operations.
- Strong analytical skills and confidence using ERP systems and Excel (more than SUM and VLOOKUP).
- The ability to stay organised and calm when everyone else is panicking.
- Clear communication skills - because a plan only works if people understand it.
- Knowledge of lean principles is desirable but not essential.
- A degree in Business, Engineering or Supply Chain - or 3+ years proving you don't need one.
Planning is one of those roles where you rarely get praised when things go right - but everyone notices when they don't. Here, you'll actually be backed by people who understand the value of proper planning and want you involved early, not after the mess has already been made.
You'll be supporting production across aerospace, defence, automotive, medical and other high-spec sectors - environments where precision and timing matter.
Location
Gloucester. Monday to Friday, 37 hours per week. No shifts.
Security Clearance Requirement
This role requires UK Security Clearance (SC) or the ability to obtain it.
To be eligible, you must have been a continuous UK resident for the last five years and be willing to undergo the vetting process.
BPSS alone is not sufficient for this position.
Interested?
If you're tired of firefighting disguised as production planning, and want a role where the business listens to the data rather than ignoring it, then this is worth a conversation.
Apply today and see whether this is the upgrade you've been waiting for.
Your CV will be forwarded to Jonathan Lee Recruitment, a leading engineering and manufacturing recruitment consultancy established in 1978. The services advertised by Jonathan Lee Recruitment are those of an Employment Agency.
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