Supply Chain Planner (Frozen)

Due to our continued growth and success we are looking for a Planner to join our Supply Chain team in Wrexham (LL13 9UG). The hours of work for this role are Monday to Saturday (08:00hrs to 17:00hrs).

What would you get for working here? If you have the Frozen Planning experience and skills we are looking for then you will receive a total reward package that includes:

• Competitive salary: up to £35,000 per annum (DOE)
• Pension: 8% (5% Ees / 3% Ers)
• Annual leave: 28 days (Inc of Bank Holidays)
• Financial wellbeing: Stream (formerly Wagestream) – track earnings and access earned pay before payday, plus budgeting tools and support
• Employee discounts: Access to an employee benefits/discount platform
• Development: Professional development opportunities and qualifications
• Culture: A progressive working environment that puts people at the heart of what we do
• Refer-a-friend bonus: £250 (subject to scheme rules)
• Perks: Excellent coffee machines available free-of-charge, 30% off Village Bakery products

What would you be doing? Our Vision as a business is to be the “Go-to” supplier of bakery products, working nationally with retailers such as M&S and Waitrose on their premium private label range and regionally through the Village Bakery brand. In achieving this vision, we want to be recognised as a family business that continually invests in the future through the development of our people, quality and food safety culture, equipment and processes. As a member of the Supply Chain team you will be directly contributing to this vision through your core tasks and responsibilities these will include, but are not limited to:

• Develop and maintain accurate demand forecasts using statistical tools and market insights.
• Collaborate with Commercial, Supply Chain and Production teams to ensure alignment of forecasts with business objectives.
• Lead monthly Demand Reviews and support the Sales and Operations Planning process to drive consensus-based forecasts.
• Monitor and report forecast accuracy, identifying key drivers behind variances.
• Analyse trends, promotions, and customer data to inform short- and long-term planning.
• Continuously improve forecasting processes and tools.

Knowledge Requirements The successful candidate for this role will need to demonstrate the following skills, qualifications and attributes:

• Proven Demand/Production planning experience in FMCG/food manufacturing.
• Strong working knowledge of the end‑to‑end planning cycle: forecast → supply plan → production/capacity alignment → inventory and service.
• Confident with KPIs such as forecast accuracy, service level/OTIF, and inventory cover.
• Advanced Excel skills (e.g., pivots, XLOOKUP, SUMIFS, power query/basic modelling) with the ability to turn data into clear actions.
• Experience using an ERP/planning system to manage master data, demand signals and planning parameters (any of SAP/Oracle/Microsoft etc.).
• Strong stakeholder management: able to work cross‑functionally with Commercial/Sales, Operations/Production, Warehousing/Logistics to agree an optimised plan.
• Commercial awareness: understands the impact of planning decisions on availability, waste, cost, and working capital.
• Organised, proactive, and detail‑oriented; able to manage multiple priorities while maintaining accuracy.

Frozen‑specific essentials (if relevant to the job):

• Understanding of temperature‑controlled supply chain constraints (e.g., freezer capacity, lead times, shelf life/date coding, MOQ, batch sizes, cold‑chain handling).
• Ability to plan around seasonality/promotions and manage risk to availability in peak periods.

Desirable knowledge / skills required (recommended):

• Experience with S&OP / IBP routines and presenting plans in a monthly cycle.
• Familiarity with planning, forecasting and reporting tools such as SAP APO/IBP, Power BI, or similar.
• Experience planning for retail / major customers, including promotional uplifts, allocations, and service‑level expectations.
• Knowledge of master data governance (pack sizes, lead times, MOQ, safety stocks, BOMs) and improving data quality.
• Exposure to 3PL/freezer storage providers and managing inbound/outbound capacity constraints.

Who are we? If you haven’t heard of us before, The Village Bakery is a proud, family‑rooted craft bakery producing an award‑winning range of breads, morning goods, pies and gluten‑free products. We’ve been baking since 1964 and have grown through our reputation for quality, innovation and technical expertise. While we’re now part of the Menissez family, our Village Bakery identity stays the same — the same people, the same pride in what we do and the same commitment to baking great products the right way. If you would like to join our award‑winning, quality‑driven team please use the ‘apply now’ link and follow the on‑line application instructions. We look forward to welcoming you to our team soon!

Equal opportunities: We are an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates and will make reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.