Analytical Planning Lead

Overview

In this Planning Lead role, you will translate forecasts, demand, and workload into actionable production plans to support customer commitments. You will balance demand, capacity, and inventory, collaborating with Supply Chain, Production, and Finance to optimize performance. You’ll monitor planning accuracy, drive improvements, and support S&OP processes to align operations with business goals. This position offers visibility across functions and a chance to shape planning practices in a globally active division. You’ll work on meaningful, real-world problems that keep operations running smoothly and customers satisfied.

Pay / Benefits

• Competitive salary
• 25 days annual leave + bank holidays
• Contributory pension
• Life assurance
• Flexible benefits scheme
• Internal mobility and mentorship

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain time-phased production plans and schedules from forecasts and demand.
• Coordinate demand and capacity planning to optimize performance and inventory targets.
• Track KPIs, report on production, shipments, inventory, and plans to improve planning accuracy.
• Collaborate with Production, Customer Service, Materials Planning, Finance, and Supply Chain to keep plans aligned.
• Oversee master scheduling, load levelling, bottleneck management, and lead times with TOC where suitable.
• Maintain ERP planning parameters and manage daily MRP activities, handling exceptions and escalation as needed.
• Support S&OP by providing input on demand, capacity, and feasibility of business requirements.
• Analyze performance and drive continuous improvement across multiple product lines.

Key requirements

• Experience in Supply Chain Planning, Master Production Scheduling, Production Planning, or Operations Planning in manufacturing.
• Strong Demand Planning, Capacity Planning, and MPS experience translating forecasts into production plans.
• Proven S&OP experience including monthly planning cycles and capacity/demand balancing.
• SAP/ERP planning system experience, including MRP parameter maintenance and exception message management.
• Inventory management and Materials Planning expertise with service level focus.
• Stakeholder management, communication, and problem-solving across cross-functional teams.

• stakeholder management
• communication
• problem-solving
• Demand Planning
• Capacity Planning
• Master Production Scheduling (MPS)

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