Material Planner - Desford

12-month contract (likely extension) | £25.00 p/h | On-site, Monday-Friday

The Role

You'll be responsible for ensuring materials are delivered on time and in full by maintaining close, effective communication with suppliers. Working alongside production schedulers and the wider operations team, you'll analyse demand, manage inventory levels, maintain planning accuracy, and help resolve any issues that could impact production output.

You'll also support engineering change activity, contribute to continuous improvement initiatives, and play an important part in maintaining high supplier performance standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate material deliveries by collaborating with suppliers and monitoring schedules
• Analyse production plans and convert requirements into accurate material orders
• Troubleshoot supply issues, using root-cause analysis to drive corrective actions
• Maintain inventory accuracy and update planning parameters
• Support supplier performance tracking and improvement initiatives
• Assist with engineering changes and ensure planning data is kept up to date
• Work closely with the production team to maintain point-of-use material availability

What You'll Bring

• Strong Excel capability (VLOOKUPs, XLOOKUPs, pivot tables, formulas)
• Confident communicator able to build relationships and challenge constructively
• Minimum 2 years' experience in supply chain, materials planning, logistics, or production scheduling
• Experience with MRP systems; ability to use or troubleshoot Lognet or MTS is highly beneficial
• Background in materials control, purchasing, freight management, inventory, or fast-moving goods is advantageous
• A degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Industrial Engineering, or similar is desirable

Soft Skills

• Strong organisational ability
• Team player with good interpersonal skills
• Flexible, open to learning, and comfortable working in a dynamic environment

Working Hours

• 37.5 hours per week
• Mon-Thu: 08:00-16:30
• Fri: 08:00-13:30
• Some flexibility on start and finish times can be discussed

Interview Process

• Initial short Teams call (subject to application volume)
• Followed by a 1 hour 15 minute on-site interview using STAR competency questions and one technical question