Planning Manager in Kent, Rochester

Job Purpose: Responsible for leading and developing the Planning function to deliver accurate and efficient demand forecasts, production schedules, and material replenishment plans. The role ensures operations remain within capacity and budgetary parameters while consistently maintaining customer product availability at 98.5% or above. The Demand Planning Manager will demonstrate strong cross-functional collaboration, working closely with Commercial, Operations, Procurement, Finance, and Supply Chain teams to ensure promotional activity, new product launches, and strategic projects are delivered on time and within agreed financial frameworks.

Responsibilities:

• MPS / MRP / Capacity Planning: Lead the creation, review, and ongoing optimisation of Master Production Schedules (MPS) and Material Requirements Planning (MRP) to ensure alignment with business demand, operational capability, and financial targets. Generate and maintain detailed factory and third-party production plans that consistently deliver 98.5%+ service levels, while balancing MLOR (Minimum Life on Receipt) constraints, warehouse space limitations, manufacturing capacity and labour availability, MOQ (Minimum Order Quantities) and EOQ (Economic Order Quantities) requirements. Ensure production plans are realistic, achievable, and aligned to capacity through structured modelling and scenario planning. Own KPI reporting and analysis relating to slow-moving stock, rework volumes, excess and obsolete inventory, providing clear insights and corrective action plans. Deliver regular “Rough Cut Capacity” analysis to proactively identify constraints, risks, and opportunities, enabling early decision-making at senior level. Manage supply disruptions by developing contingency and alternative supply plans where delivery schedules cannot be improved, minimising service risk and cost impact. For third-party manufacturing, raise and manage Purchase Orders in line with agreed requirements and stocking policies, ensuring compliance with contractual and financial controls. Develop and implement new KPIs to enhance visibility of supply chain performance, driving continuous improvement and data-led decision-making. Minimise material redundancy and write-offs through proactive lifecycle management and structured stock governance. Identify and implement initiatives to reduce working capital, optimising stock holding policies while protecting service levels.
• Raw Material Planning: Prepare, lead, and present the monthly raw rice requirements meeting, ensuring clear visibility of demand, supply risks, and forward purchasing strategy. Ensure full alignment of raw material requirements with the Imports team on a weekly execution basis, proactively managing lead times, shipment schedules, and stock availability. Monitor inbound supply performance and escalate risks where required to protect production continuity and customer service.
• Team Direction and Management: Provide leadership and line management to Material Planner(s), setting clear objectives aligned to departmental and business KPIs. Chair weekly planning meetings to review spend, service levels, stock health, and performance against agreed targets. Develop team capability through coaching, mentoring, and structured development plans. Drive process and systems improvements to enhance planning accuracy, reporting efficiency, and overall performance. Ensure strong communication and collaborative working relationships between the planning team, suppliers, vendors, and internal stakeholders. Maintain strict adherence to budgeted spend, ensuring planning decisions support overall financial performance.
• Forecasting: Partner closely with Sales and Marketing to improve forecast accuracy, reducing volatility and bias across the demand plan. Conduct structured root cause analysis of forecast errors, implementing corrective actions and improving statistical and collaborative forecasting methods. Challenge demand inputs constructively, ensuring forecasts are realistic, data-driven, and commercially aligned. Support the continuous development of forecasting tools, metrics, and governance processes.
• Additional Responsibilities: Act as a key stakeholder in New Product Development (NPD) and project planning, ensuring supply chain readiness and capacity alignment. Play an active role in the monthly Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process, contributing insights on demand, supply, risk, and financial impact. Support and lead continuous improvement initiatives aimed at enhancing cross-functional collaboration and operational efficiency. Undertake any other reasonable duties and responsibilities as required by management in line with the scope and seniority of the role.