Planning Manager

About Kerry

Kerry is the world's leading taste and nutrition company for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Every day we partner with customers to create healthier, tastier and more sustainable products that are consumed by billions of people across the world. Our vision is to be our customers' most valued partner, creating a world of sustainable nutrition. A career with Kerry offers you an opportunity to shape the future of food while providing you opportunities to explore and grow in a truly global environment.

About the role

We are looking for a Materials Planning Manager for our team in Saudi Arabia. In this role you will be responsible for managing a diversified planning team within the site for all materials planning and planning excellence activities using the defined tools and methodologies. You will be responsible for supporting the planners in making the right decisions to deliver customer service at optimum cost. In addition, this role will also be responsible for leading the planning team to ensure they are engaged and high performing with a focus on problem solving and teamwork as well as building trust through effective leadership.

 

Work Location: Jeddah Factory
Reporting To:   Supply Chain Manager 

Key responsibilities

•    Set strategic direction and objectives for the department in conjunction with business strategy and targets
•    Manage, drive and control planning activities of raw and packaging materials for Jeddah factory
•    Identify and lead process improvement projects to enhance inventory control and responsiveness
•    Act as escalation point for material concerns and lead daily material planning meetings to ensure supply continuity
•    Foster and develop a strong team of material planners training and coaching. Tasks include proactively using available planning resources, communicating job expectations, providing performance feedback and managing the team in line with Kerry policies and values
•    Identify and communicate potential supply risks and collaborate with Production, Procurement and Supply Planning teams to investigate and resolve issues
•    Enforce the use of MRP and maintenance of MRP master data parameters to ensure accurate purchase plans (i.e. lead times, MOQ’s, lot sizing, safety stock)
 

Qualifications and skills

•    Degree in any disciplinary (preferably Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain Management or equivalent) 
•    Must have at least 5 years of planning experience in food industry or FMCG
•    Demonstrated analytics and problem-solving skills
•    Advanced study in Supply Chain (The MITx MicroMasters program in SCM) is a plus
•    Excellent verbal and written communication skills (English & Arabic)
•    High organizational and leadership qualities to lead the department
•    Must be a highly driven individual with good track record in leadership role to apply and execute all duties in the role
•    SAP experience is a plus