Material Planner

Founded in 2003 Wasabi's vision is to lovingly create and serve delicious Asian food for a busy nation.   Wasabi now has 40 thriving restaurants across London and major UK cities and 4 in New York and in 2019, we introduced Wasabi Home Bento, launched exclusively in Sainsbury’s. Building on that success, the grocery business broadened its reach to Tesco in September 2022, followed by exciting launches in Co-op and Morrisons in 2024. Today, Wasabi proudly stands as the No. 2 chilled ready-meal brand, setting new standards for quality and innovation.  Wasabi’s menu is celebrated for its unique character, exceptional freshness, and bold flavours. Our diverse range is designed to delight a wide audience, delivering both comfort and excitement with every bite. We have an ambitious 5-year growth strategy, focusing on new restaurants, franchise partnerships, and international expansion. As we embark on our next phase of growth and innovation, we’re thrilled to offer an exciting opportunity for a Material Planner to join our Procurement team based in Park Royal.  The Role: Responsible for ensuring that the right materials (raw materials, components, packaging) are available for production and restaurants when needed, without overstocking or causing delays due to shortages. Key responsibilities: Develop material requirements based on the demand forecast and production schedules, raising purchase orders, ensuring all required materials are available in the right quantity at the right time.   Weekly meetings with suppliers to ensure timely delivery of materials, managing lead times, supplier production plans and minimum order quantities. Supplier forecasts to be shared with suppliers in regular manner. To be a first point of contact for suppliers in terms of daily deliveries and queries.  Monitor and manage inventory levels of raw materials, components, and packaging, ensuring that inventory is neither overstocked nor understocked.  Communicate any risks of shortages / excess stock to relevant stakeholders  Working closely with a Demand Planner to manage any material delists, changeover and new product listings.  Proactively identify material shortages at suppliers and work with suppliers to resolve issues.  Identify opportunities to reduce material waste by optimising ordering processes, reducing surplus, and improving material handling practices.  Stock variance monitoring.  Collate and consolidate data, running reports when required.  Collate and consolidate data, running reports when required. Our requirements: Strong knowledge of material planning, inventory control, and PO raising processes. Proficiency in material planning tools.  Good communication and supplier relationship management skills.  Ability to forecast material requirements accurately.  Attention to detail and strong organisational skills.  Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple priorities. Previous experience in manufacturing stock control or warehousing Good cross-functional communication and presentation skills. In Return we provide:  A great working environment Pension scheme Target Bonus Refer A Friend Scheme Free Sushi or hot food (vegan options available) 50% discount in our Branches Employee Assistant Programme (email address removed) (a service providing health and wellbeing support) Long Service Awards Wagestream – a financial wellbeing benefit that lets you access your pay as you earn it in real time and manage savings Life Assurance Cycle To Work Free on-site parking A variety of discounts (shopping, food & drink, entertainment and health & fitness) through Perkbox and The opportunity to develop your skills within a growing company. Our people make us who we are. If you're looking for an exciting challenge and this sounds like the job for you please apply today as we can't wait to hear from you.  COME ROLL WITH US