Senior Associate Production Planner

Reporting to the Logistics Associate Director, this role is to support the end-to-end Supply Chain activities ensuring efficient and smooth operation, and to support the link between GW commercial activities and onward distribution to our partners.

Essential Functions/Responsibilities

• Production Scheduling.
• Schedule adherence and KPI performance measures.
• Support New Product Introductions (NPI).
• Analyse reporting data to identify and define Supply Chain process opportunities and system improvements.
• Provide analytical data in support of S & OP.
• Maintain Long Term Planning and Capacity data.
• To participate and help facilitate, as needed, appropriate supply chain operational and continuous improvement projects.
• To deputise for senior production planner where appropriate and where required.
• The job holder is responsible for maintaining appropriate standards of cGxP and Health and Safety applicable to the job.
• Work closely with management to continuously prioritise business information needs.

Detailed Functions/Responsibilities

Scheduling and S&OP:

• Develop and maintain a detailed production schedule based on sales forecasts, customer orders, and inventory levels.
• Collaborate with relevant departments to gather information on upcoming promotions, new product launches, or changes in demand.
• Anticipate potential disruptions to the production schedule and develop contingency plans.
• Execute the Master Production Schedule (MPS) and MRP to ensure seamless supply to all internal customer groups.
• Align short- and long-term plan with all relevant stakeholders, communicate plans to all relevant parties and maintain a record of the different plans over time.
• Materials management and allocations for all key company materials and supplies.
• Effectively plan and collaborate around business changes, new product introductions and projects affecting the supply chain.

Capacity Planning and Inventory:

• Assess production capacity and identify constraints to ensure optimal utilization of resources.
• Work closely with production teams to balance workload and address any capacity issues proactively.
• Monitor inventory levels and adjust production schedules to maintain optimal stock levels.
• Implement inventory control measures to minimize excess or obsolete inventory.

KPI’s:

• Develop and maintain up-to-date data for all relevant areas including daily/weekly/monthly reporting and managing the development and maintenance of Dashboards.
• Track lag and lead metrics such as schedule adherence, SLAs and in process indicators.

• Utilise data analytics tools to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and make data-driven decisions.
• Generate regular reports on production performance, highlighting areas for improvement.

Continuous Improvement:

• Develop a working environment that promotes continuous improvement, the elimination of operational waste within the supply chain and efficient and customer orientated ways of working.
• Identify opportunities for process improvements and efficiency gains within the production planning process.
• Implement best practices to enhance overall production planning effectiveness.

cGxP and Health & Safety:

• To help ensure appropriate standards of cGMP, cGDP and Health and Safety are maintained within the department. Carry out work in a way that will not affect their own or others health, safety and security or the environment and reports any shortcomings in GW arrangements.

ERP System Management:

• Proficiently use the company's ERP (SAP) system to input and extract relevant production data.
• Ensure data accuracy and integrity within the ERP systems (MM, orders, no past dues, etc).

General:

• Identify issues and escalate to Supply Chain Management Team as required.
• Undertake such duties as deemed reasonable and necessary to support changing needs of the business.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• A minimum of 5 years’ experience in a similar Supply Chain position.
• Knowledge of a broad base of Supply Chain functions and disciplines.
• The nature of the position requires high levels of self-motivation and exceptional commitment to the success of team members and the company as a whole.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills both written and verbal to internal and external stakeholders.
• Confident and capable in detailed data manipulation and analysis using many different applications including: MS Office, relational databases and ERP software (SAP).
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to collect, organize, analyse, and disseminate significant amounts of information with attention to detail and accuracy.
• Flexibility to work in a demanding environment.
• Confident and articulate in dealing with senior managers, demonstrating credibility when answering questions regarding the data set, analysis and assumptions.
• Able to work independently and driven to deliver results.
• Ability to work as part of a team, as the role will usually require collaboration with larger teams on various projects.

Required/Preferred Education and Licenses

• Pharmaceutical industry experience.
• Experience in lean and CI tools and techniques.
• Ability to change direction and handle multiple responsibilities and tasks on a regular basis.
• Experience in controlled drug management and requirements.