Lead Planner - Logistics Huddersfield Logistics Full time Permanent
Role: Lead Planner - Logistics
Company: Buy It Direct
Location: Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Salary: Up to £38, per annum, dependent on experience
Full Time - Permanent
Buy It Direct is one of the UK’s leading online retailers, offering great value across electrical appliances, tech, furniture, and lifestyle products.
Our continued growth is underpinned by a robust logistics and distribution network, ensuring customers receive excellent service nationwide.
We are now seeking a Lead Planner to play a key role in ensuring our distribution operation runs efficiently, reliably, and in line with customer demand. This is a great opportunity to help shape and continuously improve our planning function as Buy It Direct evolves and grows.
As the central point of control for planning, you will transform commercial forecasts into actionable operational plans that align capacity, resources, and network performance. You will maintain a real-time view of forecasted and actual volumes, supporting proactive decision-making that protects service levels, optimises fleet and carrier utilisation, and prevents bottlenecks before they arise.
Key Responsibilities
1. Lead strategic, tactical, and operational forecasting in collaboration with commercial teams.
2. Translate demand forecasts into Distribution Centre and final mile capacity requirements.
3. Develop weekly and monthly plans to support trailer movements, fleet capacity, and fulfilment targets.
4. Monitor volume performance against plan and respond effectively to changes in demand.
5. Oversee internal routing and planning systems, ensuring efficiency and issue resolution.
6. Provide regular updates to stakeholders on forecasts, plans, KPIs, and actual volumes.
7. Support large delivery requirements by identifying opportunities to optimise fleet or HGV resources.
8. Analyse customer order trends, supply chain data, and external factors to enhance forecasting accuracy.
9. Lead structured handovers, briefings, and coordination across planning support roles.
10. Carry out compliance-based activities linked to outbound performance, including audits and operational checks.
11. Maintain processes for outbound freight presentation, asset control, and performance monitoring.
12. Drive continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen planning effectiveness and network performance.
13. Provide analytical and operational support across the wider Logistics function when required.
Experience
The ideal candidate should have at least one of the following:
14. Experience in a planning or traffic desk role preferably with HGVs/Vans, containers, supply chain or production.
15. Proven track record of results in an equivalent warehouse, supply chain or delivery operations role.
16. University level education in a related field such as Logistics, Supply Chain, Business.
Skills
17. Strong analytical skills and confidence in interpreting operational data
18. Understanding of final mile delivery or distribution operations
19. Competence with Excel or Google Sheets, including working with large data sets
20. Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
21. Clear communication skills, able to work effectively with operational and non-operational stakeholders
22. Experience collaborating across teams such as operations, commercial, supply chain, and carriers
23. A proactive, solution-focused approach to problem solving
24. Familiarity with KPIs, compliance processes, and continuous improvement practices
25. Strong attention to detail, ownership, and accountability
26. A collaborative and adaptable working style
At Buy It Direct, we dare to be different. We've built this business from the ground up to become one of the UK's largest and fastest growing online retailers. We are proud of the products and services we provide across our six well recognised, award-winning online brands including Laptops Direct, Appliances Direct, Better Bathrooms and Furniture. We listen, learn and challenge the status quo, paying attention to the details that matter and want to delight our customers by putting them at the heart of what we do, to really understand what matters to them.
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