Senior Production Planner - #2081752

Do you thrive on balancing customer demand, factory capacity, and operational performance?

Experienced leading production planning teams within complex FMCG manufacturing environments?

Want to play a key role in keeping millions of products moving through a high-volume manufacturing operation?

We're looking for a Senior Production Planner to join a leading UK food and beverage manufacturer.

This is a role for someone who enjoys solving operational challenges, influencing stakeholders across manufacturing and supply chain, and building robust production plans that keep customers supplied whilst maximising factory performance.

If you have experience managing production planning teams, working within high-SKU manufacturing environments, and balancing demand against capacity constraints, this could be the ideal next step in your career.

The Company

Our client is one of the UK's leading food and beverage manufacturers, supplying both branded and own-label products to major retailers and customers across the UK and internationally.

Operating multiple manufacturing facilities and producing millions of products annually, the business combines large scale operational capability with a strong focus on continuous improvement, customer service, and supply chain excellence.

The site operates within a fast-paced manufacturing environment where planning accuracy, collaboration, and operational agility are critical to success.

The Role

Reporting into the Planning & Logistics leadership team, you'll take ownership of the production planning function for a highly complex manufacturing operation.

This is far more than a scheduling role.

You'll be responsible for ensuring production plans align with customer demand, factory capacity, material availability, inventory targets, and service requirements, whilst leading a team of Production Planners and influencing stakeholders across Operations, Engineering, Procurement, Supply Chain, and Product Development.

You'll play a key role in driving planning performance, improving processes, managing risk, and ensuring manufacturing resources are utilised effectively across a large and complex SKU portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

• Leading and developing a team of Production Planners
• Creating and managing short, medium, and long-term production plans
• Balancing customer demand against manufacturing capacity and material availability
• Managing production schedules across a high-volume FMCG manufacturing environment
• Driving inventory optimisation and stock availability
• Supporting MRP, capacity planning, and master production scheduling activities
• Managing supply risks, shortages, and operational constraints
• Working closely with Manufacturing, Engineering, Procurement, Logistics, and Supply Planning teams
• Leading scenario planning activities to support business decision making
• Supporting site projects, operational improvements, and process optimisation initiatives
• Maintaining planning master data and system accuracy
• Providing supplier forecast information and supporting inbound material planning
• Monitoring and improving key planning KPIs, service levels, and inventory performance
• Reducing waste, obsolete stock, and slow moving inventory
• Driving continuous improvement through better planning processes and system utilisation.

What We're Looking For

• Proven experience within Production Planning, Manufacturing Planning, or Production Scheduling leadership roles
• Experience operating within FMCG, Food Manufacturing, Beverage, Consumer Goods, or related manufacturing environments
• Strong understanding of production planning, capacity planning, MRP, and inventory management
• Experience managing high SKU count product portfolios
• Previous leadership experience managing planners or planning teams
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills
• Confidence challenging operational assumptions and driving accountability
• Experience working closely with manufacturing teams in a factory environment
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability
• Advanced Excel skills
• ERP planning experience essential
• SAP and/or SAP APO experience highly desirable
• Ability to operate effectively within fast paced manufacturing environments
• Continuous improvement mindset and a proactive approach to problem solving

Interested? Click "Apply" or get in touch directly for a confidential discussion.

The Advocate Group is a leading recruitment partner to the FMCG and consumer product sectors. We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified individuals, regardless of race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, or age.

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