Job Description:

Supply Chain & Planning Manager
Salary: £55,000 - £65,000 p.a. (dependent on experience) + up to 5% company performance bonus
Location: Near Chelmsford; On-site, 5 days per week Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5pm (40 hrs/week)

We are working with a growing, values-led FMCG manufacturing business looking for an experienced Supply Chain & Planning Manager to take ownership of their Planning, Procurement, and New Product Development (NPD) functions. This is a rare opportunity to shape strategy as well as run operations - reporting directly into senior operations management, with genuine influence over how the business plans, sources, and brings new products to market.

You'll lead a team of four, and your decisions will be felt right across the business - from the shop floor to the boardroom. If you thrive in a fast-paced SME environment, enjoy building and developing teams, and want a role where continuous improvement isn't just encouraged but expected, we would love to hear from you.

The Role
This is a broad, high-impact role at the heart of the business. You will lead the planning and supply chain teams, ensuring business and customer requirements are met in a cost-effective, efficient way - while shaping the strategic direction of supply chain, procurement, and product development. Working closely with production, technical, and commercial colleagues, your remit will span:

Planning, Forecasting & Stock

• Own capacity planning, demand forecasting, and the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process end to end
• Manage materials and stock to agreed targets, balancing availability against cost efficiency, and maintaining stock accuracy
• Work with Commercial and Operations to identify capacity constraints and lead the development of solutions

Procurement & Purchasing

• Lead procurement activity and develop and execute purchasing strategy, particularly around packaging
• Ensure ethical, responsible, and sustainable practices across the supply base, and that the Ethical Trade Policy is embedded with suppliers
• Verify goods received and dispatched meet quality, packaging, and regulatory standards, including Dangerous Goods/IATA requirements where relevant

New Product Development

• Support feasibility investigations for new products, feeding recommendations back to the Commercial Sponsor
• Own the smooth, on-time, on-spec, on-cost launch of new and revised products
• Oversee documentation for new products, materials, and suppliers, ensuring full traceability for audit and quality purposes
• Monitor regulatory change and keep products compliant with evolving legislation

Continuous Improvement & Cost

• Set KPIs and reporting structures across the department for daily, weekly, and monthly performance visibility
• Own the departmental budget, contribute to annual budgeting and forecasting, and oversee Capex planning and ROI
• Drive a genuine continuous improvement culture, building and delivering a pipeline of lean, cost-reduction projects

Quality & Service

• Take ownership of ISO procedures and standards (ISO 9001, BRCGS, GMP) across supply chain and logistics
• Lead root cause analysis on customer complaints, non-conformances, and service failures, embedding preventative action
• Support other department managers in resolving day-to-day operational issues to keep production plans and efficiency targets on track

EHS & Compliance

• Champion a strong safety culture, agreeing and enforcing standards and leading by example
• Contribute to the site's sustainability and B-Corp goals across supply chain, materials, and product development
• Maintain compliance

Strategy

• Identify and lead strategic improvements across materials, stock, logistics, product cost engineering, and planning
• Partner with senior management to shape long-term strategy for supply chain and logistics
• Confidently challenge upwards and influence across functions to get the right outcomes for the business

What We're Looking For

• Strong leadership and a natural sense of ownership
• Sound decision-making under pressure
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to challenge and influence across all levels
• A proven ability to build, coach, and develop a team
• Solid experience in planning, forecasting, and stock control
• A track record of driving continuous improvement and cost reduction
• Experience managing change within an SME environment
• A minimum of 5 years' experience in supply chain or distribution, ideally with exposure to both FMCG and SME environments

What's On Offer
Up to 5% non-contractual company performance bonus
Pension (minimum statutory employee contribution, 6% company contribution)
24 days holiday, rising to 25 after 5 years, plus bank holidays