Senior Supply Planner (Fixed Term) in Salisbury

We are pleased to offer an exciting opportunity for a Senior Supply Planner to join the Demand Planning team at Nicholas & Harris on a 12-month fixed-term contract, covering maternity leave. Nicholas & Harris is part of the Finsbury Food Group and has over 180 years of heritage in craft baking. We’re a leading speciality bakery manufacturer supplying high-quality products across the foodservice sector.

As a Senior Supply Planner, you will be responsible for producing and publishing production plans that meet customer requirements while aligning with operational best practices. You will also oversee the day-to-day activities of the production scheduling team, ensuring plans are developed efficiently and effectively. This role provides an exciting opportunity to make a visible impact on the bakery’s daily performance. The Senior Planner is pivotal to site operations, directly influencing service levels, operational efficiency, and planning team performance.

This is what you’ll actually do! In this role, you will work closely with Demand, Supply Planning and Manufacturing teams to align plans with the Production Schedules, communicate deviations, identify and resolve supply constraints, and enhance overall efficiency and productivity. You will ensure Health & Safety and quality standards are upheld across all scheduling activities, while continuously improving production scheduling systems and methods to deliver the most efficient plans to Manufacturing.

The role includes providing accurate labour plans to support optimal labour deployment, managing finished goods master data from set-up to delist, and overseeing on-site and off-site finished goods inventory, including mitigating low-life stock risks. You will actively participate in daily site meetings, production reviews and short interval control meetings, providing updates on key KPIs, scheduling activities and potential impacts to the production plan. You will anticipate and mitigate short-term supply chain risks, deliver KPIs with a strong focus on service level attainment, and lead the weekly planning meeting to coordinate manufacturing, engineering and operations support, ensuring accurate labour planning and accommodation of maintenance windows. Additionally, you will liaise with the Supply Planning team to plan and deliver seasonal freeze campaigns, mentor and develop a small team of planners.

As part of the site’s Tier 3 team, you will act as the key representative for the Nicholas & Harris planning team and provide holiday cover for Production Schedulers, including developing and maintaining production schedules, managing finished goods inventory to achieve service levels of 98.5% or above while minimising write-offs, delivering data insights on yield and efficiency, and communicating effectively across all departments to ensure alignment.

Ideally this is you!

• Solid understanding of supply chain processes, ideally within FMCG.
• Proven experience in production planning and scheduling.
• Experience in leading and coaching a small team.
• Key user experience with ERP systems (e.g., M3).
• Proficiency in Excel and MRP tools (e.g., Optimity).
• High attention to detail and commitment to quality standards.
• Ability to perform under pressure in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong planning and organizational skills.
• Adaptable and resilient in the face of change.
• Willing to challenge constructively and consider others’ perspectives.
• Effective communicator with strong interpersonal skills.
• Confident in both verbal and written communication.

What’s in it for you!

• Enhanced Maternity & Paternity Leave to allow quality time with your new arrival!
• Enhanced Pension Scheme for our employees.
• Free Employee Assistance Programme (open to colleagues and their families).
• Retail discounts accessible via our Benefits Hub platform!
• Refer a Friend Scheme (up to £300 per referral – T&C’s dependent).
• Employee Recognition Awards.
• Extensive Learning & Development opportunities (including opportunities for sponsored professional memberships and our own in-house development course!).
• An opportunity to be part of a fantastic, growing organisation.

Our vision is to be the leading specialty bakery group in the UK, and we want the best people in place to achieve this. Our continued success is built entirely on the talented people who work here, so employee development is important to us because everyone is a valued member of the team, and we want every individual to have the skills and capabilities to achieve both your own personal goals and our business goals. We want good people to join our company, to help our company continue to go from strength to strength. If this sounds like you, please get in contact to learn more!