Operations Planning Manager
Role Overview
On behalf of our client, a rapidly growing commercial vehicle conversion and specialist build business operating across multiple UK sites, we are recruiting a Sales & Operations Planning Manager to support continued expansion and operational scalability.
This strategic and operational leadership role is responsible for aligning sales demand, operational capacity, and margin performance across the organisation. The successful candidate will lead the Sales & Operations Planning process, translating the sales pipeline into structured production plans while ensuring operational capability supports sustainable and profitable revenue growth.
Key Activities
S&OP Leadership
• Design and lead the monthly Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process.
• Develop and maintain a rolling 3–12-month demand and capacity plan across all sites.
• Provide scenario modelling to support growth planning, contract wins, and operational investment decisions.
• Present demand, capacity, and risk analysis to senior leadership.
Demand & Commercial Planning
• Collaborate closely with the Sales Manager to review sales pipeline and forecast demand.
• Phase contract wins and new work to align with operational capacity and margin targets.
• Challenge commercially unsustainable or operationally unachievable demand intake.
Capacity & Production Planning
• Own and manage the Master Production Schedule within EPICOR ERP.
• Lead, coach, and develop the production scheduling team.
• Balance labour loading and production flow across multiple operational sites.
• Identify production bottlenecks and capacity constraints.
• Drive improvements in utilisation, throughput, and production lead times.
ERP / Systems Ownership
• Lead planning functionality and best practice use of EPICOR ERP.
• Optimise MRP configuration, reporting capability, and system workflows.
• Ensure data integrity across demand planning, inventory management, and production modules.
• Develop dashboards and operational KPIs including OTIF, utilisation, WIP, and throughput, using Power BI.
Operational Performance
• Improve demand planning accuracy and forecasting reliability.
• Protect gross margin through disciplined production phasing and controlled intake.
• Drive continuous improvement across production scheduling and planning processes.
• Support operational scalability as the business expands across additional sites.
Skills & Experience
Essential
• Proven leadership experience in Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) or demand planning.
• Strong background within manufacturing, engineering, automotive, or commercial vehicle environments.
• Demonstrable experience operating and managing MRP/ERP systems.
• Experience leading and developing production scheduling or planning teams.
• Strong commercial awareness with experience supporting revenue growth in scaling organisations.
• Confident communicator able to influence sales teams and senior stakeholders.
Desirable
• Hands-on experience using EPICOR ERP.
• Experience implementing or improving S&OP processes in multi-site environments.
• Experience building Power BI dashboards or operational reporting frameworks