Head of Production Planning

Head of Production Planning         

One of our Defence clients is currently setting up new production lines and requires an experienced candidate to lead the Industrial Planning phase. This is a great opportunity to support the development on a new manufacturing facility that serves the Armed Forces and disaster response organisations. Acting as the Head of Industrial Planning you would be responsible for implementing robust planning processes that enable the successful delivery of customer commitments and business objectives. As the functional leader for planning, you will establish common standards, governance and best practice that supports operational excellence and continuous improvement.

As the new production lines are being created over the next few months, this position will be offered initially on a 6-month contract basis. It will be based in Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales and potentially require expensed travel to other sites. We’re interested in seeing candidates with different levels of experience apply for this role so the rate we offer will be proportional to relevant experience. As a ballpark figure we’re looking at around the £472 per day PAYE or £650 per day Umbrella inside IR35.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Industrial Planning function, providing functional leadership, governance and strategic direction.
• Develop and implement the industrial planning strategy aligned with customer commitments, operational capability and business objectives.
• Support the implementation and ongoing maturity of Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes.
• Ensure production plans balance customer requirements, manufacturing capacity, material availability and inventory targets.
• Develop contingency and risk mitigation plans to respond effectively to operational disruption or changing business priorities.
• Establish inventory strategies that optimise working capital whilst maintaining customer delivery performance.
• Produce and review monthly inventory reports, identifying improvement opportunities and corrective actions.
• Build, lead and develop a high-performing Industrial Planning team across demand, supply and production planning disciplines.
• Drive adoption of common planning tools, systems and governance across the business.

Requirements

• Significant experience in Industrial Planning, Supply Chain Planning or Manufacturing management.
• Planning within a complex engineering or manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrable experience leading planning functions across multiple sites or business units.
• Experience implementing or operating Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and/or Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes.
• Proven experience of Master Production Scheduling (MPS), supply planning and production planning.
• Experience of inventory optimisation and working capital management.
• Degree or equivalent qualification in Supply Chain, Operations Management, Engineering, Manufacturing or a related discipline.
• Strong knowledge of production planning, supply planning, demand planning and inventory management principles.
• Expert understanding of ERP/MRP planning systems.
• Advanced capability in KPI development, reporting and performance management.

Desirable Experience

• APICS/ASCM (CPIM or CSCP), CILT or equivalent professional qualification.
• Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma or Continuous Improvement qualifications.
• Experience of advanced planning systems (APS) and digital planning tools.

Recognising the RESTRICTED nature of the work, suitable candidates will need to be BPSS cleared or eligible for this level of clearance before starting on site