Job Title: Planning Manager

Location: Barrington / Lake Zurich, IL

Summary: A solid well established corporation in the Barrington / Lake Zurich area of Illinois is seeking a Planning Manager to join their team.  The Planning Manager will develop and maintain production plans for manufactured products that drives raw material forecast to ensure on time delivery of products. They will also work in a team environment that fosters clear communication and redirect efforts that contribute to a collaborative approach between departments. The Planning Manager has to posses good leadership, technical and communication skills to execute company planning and inventory deployment strategies.

** You must live in the Chicago area; the company will not pay for relocation.  Please do not send your resume if you live out of the area.

Responsibilities:

• Manage the Demand Planning interaction and communication with Purchasing, Customer Service  and Manufacturing functions to ensure effective capacity and raw material planning
• Ensure product demand forecasts are created and refined when appropriate.
• Create and support the inventory strategy for the company.
• Lead and manage the S&OP process and drives alignment with cross-functional departments such as sales, manufacturing, and procurement.
• Maintain forecast on monthly cycle, projecting revenue and inventory impact of attainment and proposed changes.
• Review forecast output for reasonableness and review with Customer Service, Schedulers, and plant personnel to create production plans and schedules.
• Analyze data and develop recommendations to effectively bridge supply constraints, including shortages.
• Identify and communicate inventory and service risks relating to forecast changes, or promotional/new products timing.

• Accountable for delivering the total demand plan through each S&OP cycle for rolling 12 month period for all products and submits forecast to feed the Supply Planning process.
• Identify and develop recommendations for policies and procedures which will improve forecast, inventory, cycle time, and service.
• Coordinates cross functional resolution of day to day issues related to supply and demand discrepancies.
• Coordinate with Business Development and R&D to implement new product introductions and product changes/phase-outs in a manner that minimizes obsolete materials.
• Assist in the development of product marketing/manufacturing strategies, policies, and objectives related to: S&OP procedures, master production scheduling, capacity planning, customer service, inventory levels, lead times, and planning time fences.
• Provides input to systems development/application and assist in the implementation of IT systems to streamline/ improve the S&OP, Planning, and Demand Management processes.
• Responsible for maintaining high quality standards and supporting the food safety/quality systems.

Qualifications:

• B.S. in Business Administration, Business Management, Operations, Engineering or manufacturing related discipline.
• 5 to 10 years of production planning experience.
• Knowledge of Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) processes & Supply Chain Management functions.
• Experience with ERP systems along with developing and implementing Lean production plans.
• Strong working knowledge of Planning principles and traditional MRP systems.
• Strong quantitative analytical skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills, able to work across functional areas and levels of the organization.
• Highly adaptable and flexible to accept new ideas, people and procedures.
• Balances a complex set of variables to ensure reduction overall forecast error.
• Manages multiple and possibly competing priorities.
• APICS certification.
• Experience in the food and/or beverage industry a plus.

This is a full time permanent position.  The permanent salary with our client would be between $70,000 and $90,000.  Our client may go outside the posted range for the perfect candidate.  Our client has full benefits; medical, 401k, vacation, etc.  You can learn more about the benefits after we get to the next step.