Supply Chain Planner - Food Service

A supply chain planning role where the forecast, the stock position and the supplier lead times are genuinely yours to own, rather than one line in a large planning function.

We're supporting a long-established international food sourcing and distribution business with the appointment of a Supply Chain Planner within its foodservice division. The division supplies pub chains, restaurant groups, contract caterers and wholesalers across chilled, ambient and frozen, with around 90% of the range in frozen and poultry. Product comes in from suppliers across Asia and the EU, so lead times are long and the planning has to be right well ahead of the demand.

This is a small team, and the role exists because the division has grown. You'd own the planning side of it: the forecast, the stock position, and the reporting behind both. It would suit someone analytical who enjoys the detail of stock and demand, and who is confident enough to challenge a forecast or chase a supplier without waiting for permission.

Key Responsibilities

• You'd take ownership of demand planning and stock control across roughly 130 SKUs and 80+ customers, working closely with the commercial team, finance and a centralised logistics function.
• Forecast customer demand from sales history, challenging Account Managers where the numbers don't hold up.
• Hold an accurate stock position and reconcile daily and weekly against third party cold stores.
• Own the stock value projection, with monthly reviews looking 3, 6 and 12 months ahead.
• Build the regular reporting and dashboards that the team, finance and logistics work from.
• Work with logistics on container arrivals, minimising demurrage, handballing and storage cost.
• Put a documented end-to-end planning process in place, including process maps, flags and warnings.

What We're Looking For

You’ll have supply chain, planning, demand or stock control experience, ideally from food, foodservice or FMCG. Poultry or frozen exposure would be a bonus rather than a requirement. What matters most is analytical capability. This is a numbers role - sales history, forecasts, reconciliations and reporting - and Excel is used heavily, so you’ll need to be genuinely strong with it rather than just comfortable.

Beyond that, it’s about ownership. The team is small and fast-moving, and you’ll be expected to pick up an issue with a supplier or an internal team and run with it rather than escalate it. This role is five days a week on site in Surrey. That’s a firm requirement rather than a preference, so it’s worth being sure the commute works before applying.

Why Join?

In a team of three, you’re not one planner among twenty. The forecast, the stock position and the reporting are yours, and the people making the commercial decisions are sitting next to you. The business has been trading food internationally for generations and holds the accreditations you’d expect behind that - ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001, BRCGS storage, Red Tractor and Sedex - so there’s real infrastructure here rather than a thin trading operation. It’s also a stable place to land. Most of the team have been there well over a decade, and the business runs on a straightforward set of values: honesty, integrity, unity, efficiency and drive to succeed.

The package is £38,000-£45,000 plus 25 days holiday with the option to buy five more, a 6% matched pension and life assurance from day one. If you’re interested in learning more, we’d be happy to have a confidential conversation.