Job Description
The Head of Planning role will be responsible for ensuring the effective planning of the full portfolio of CDE Customer projects, from project go live through to project completion. Working collaboratively with project managers, operational leaders, and functional heads, they will drive planning excellence and govern all aspects of the planning department, ensuring projects are scheduled through engineering, procurement, manufacturing, assembly, installation and commissioning, taking into account capacity constraints, to successfully deliver to the Customer requirements.
The successful candidate will ensure that all projects are set up with realistic and achievable plans and that all plans are effectively controlled across each stage of the project/all departments. They will ensure that risks are captured and escalated, in a timely manner to allow them to be mitigated before they become issues, through effective data capture and communication across the project teams and stakeholders.
The focus of the role is creating, improving, and maintaining planning best practice across the business, while developing the planning team in line with business requirements and strategy. The role will advise, mentor, and develop the team, develop and report on departmental goals and focus relentlessly on delivering for our customers.
This job description is not exhaustive - other duties may be required to fulfil the requirements of the role
About The Role
Key Responsibilities
* Continuously monitor the health of the planning department and the level of planning expertise that exists within the current structure to identify the gaps between current practice and best practice. Implement changes to current practice to close gaps towards best practice in areas including but not limited to those outlined below.
* Own the planning budget to ensure that budgets are created in line with needs and actuals are delivered within budgets, including resource requirements and other direct departmental costs.
* Create and continuously review the success of a planning governance framework with the support of organisational sponsors. Ensure engagement and adherence to the implemented governance framework. The Governance Framework should have clear organisational structure and definition of roles and responsibilities as well as clear methods for measuring accountability and performance, including some form of regular internal stakeholder review to ensure that senior management are always aware of any project issues or roadblocks in time to be able to take decisions to try to mitigate any such issues.
* Facilitate and support improved inter-departmental integration and alignment with the framework across business functions to improve project delivery.
* Maintain current working knowledge of planning best practice. Strengthen learning and engagement throughout the business by creating communities of practice and knowledge management opportunities.
* Ensure that plans are created and approved in line with departmental capacities and that constraints are carefully considered and reflected in the capacity planning process. Operational plans should be consistently loaded across applicable work centres as far as possible, to level load resources, reduce turbulence of demand on key resources and facilitate resource utilisation decisions, especially when labour resources can be shared or utilised across multiple areas.
* Monitor the project portfolio performance on an ongoing basis, using reports, conversations, dashboards, and auditing techniques to ensure plans are effective, efficient and achievable, and to maintain strategic alignment. Ensure consistent, accurate and timely highlighting and communication of data across the business, with timely mitigation strategies to prevent risks developing into issues.
* Identify and implement the most appropriate data gathering practices for monitoring, controlling, and reporting project plan data. Collect and consolidate key performance metric data, as defined by the planning governance framework. Utilise these techniques to measure and communicate the health of the planning of our project portfolio and to make evidence-based decisions.
* Optimise the ERP system to best enable and support planning activities across the business.
* Where gaps are identified in the software or technology available to be able to complete data collection effectively or efficiently, work with the IT department to evaluate potential options and their benefits and propose the preferred solution, complete with business case to senior management for consideration.
* Provide clear information and guidance to business development and project managers on lead times for new quotes/potential projects, considering project complexity and expected available resources within each of the key resource areas. Support the creation of detailed project plans for contractual purposes as required by the business.
* Manage and mentor the planning team to ensure a people centric, positive, supportive, and empowering team culture. Manage a stepwise pathway towards improvement and development of the team, including training and personal development pathways to develop the skills and experience within the team. Provide advice and expertise to the team where required.
* Ensure that each team member has relevant objectives, that they understand how their work contributes to the organisation’s performance and that regular performance reviews are carried out, with any underperformance identified being promptly addressed.
Skills Needed
About The Company
WE ARE CDE. ENGINEERED FOR YOUWe empower our customers to transform waste into valuable resources through innovative co-creation, laying the foundations for the circular economy.We help our customers maximise their natural resources in the most sustainable way possible – with greater efficiency and less waste than ever before. Our unparalleled speed and scale are down to our proximity to our customers and our deep understanding of their challenges. Our track record of proven solutions consistently meets our customers’ needs precisely, operating in challenging environments from the Arctic to the Equator.Wet processing is our sole focus –our experience and expertise is unmatched in this field. Every day, in everything we do, we strive to do it right. We want to be the best at what we do and deliver the maximum benefit for our customers. We pull together, as a team, in pursuit of this common cause. Our “Customer for Life” mentality fortifies each of our projects, with CDE engineers delivering continuous, limitless support.
Company Culture
We recognise that it is our people that have established CDE as market leader in developing solutions for the wet processing industry both within natural materials processing and waste recycling sectors. OUR PURPOSE IS TO CREATE OUR BEST WORLD, A TON AT A TIME.To do that, we must continue to build our global team by adding the most ambitious, driven and talented people. We will challenge you, elevate you and broaden your horizons. We will help you to be the best you can be both personally and professionally.We are renowned for our energy and can do attitude…. and at times seemingly delivering the impossible. We also know that all the will in the world won’t take us anywhere unless we work together. And we like to have fun together - life’s too short and we spend most of it at work. If we lose the power to laugh, we lose the power to think.We will continue to add the most dynamic, ambitious and talented individuals to the CDE team.
Desired Criteria
* A minimum of ten years’ experience in planning in a construction or similar industry.
* Experience scheduling a manufacturing/assembly/ production facility
* A recognised professional qualification in planning
Required Criteria
* Minimum of three years’ experience of managing and developing a team.
* Experience of project management and capacity planning software (e.g. ERP system).
* Experience of capacity planning across multiple departments
* Experience managing an IBP (integrated business planning) or S&OP (sales & operational planning) process
* Demonstratable leadership and interpersonal skills including the ability to interact effectively and professionally with individuals at all levels; both internally and externally
* Excellent relationship management skills with the ability to engage, negotiate and manage key stakeholders.
* Demonstratable ability to exercise sound judgment when making decisions.
* Strong self-motivation with exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail.
* The ability to adapt to and manage frequent changes in priorities.
* Degree educated in a relevant discipline with minimum 5 years’ experience in a planning role, OR minimum 8 years’ experience in a planning role with relevant planning qualifications/training.
Closing DateThursday 22nd May, 2025