Planner

The Opportunity

Imperial Recruitment is delighted to be working with a leading FMCG business in Sunderland to appoint an experienced Planner to join their Supply Chain team.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a planning professional who thrives in a fast-paced manufacturing environment and wants to play a central role in driving production efficiency, delivery performance, and inventory optimisation for a growing, high-volume business.

Reporting to the Supply Chain Manager, you will be responsible for developing, maintaining, and communicating production schedules that ensure efficient manufacturing operations and on-time delivery to customers. You'll coordinate demand forecasts, inventory levels, and manufacturing capacity to create achievable production plans while minimising downtime, shortages, and excess inventory — working closely with Operations, Procurement, Warehousing, and Commercial teams to keep customer demand and production capability perfectly aligned.

Key Responsibilities

• Create and maintain daily and weekly production schedules based on demand forecasts, inventory levels, and manufacturing capacity, ensuring OTIF (On Time In Full) customer deliveries
• Monitor production progress and adjust schedules to manage changes in demand, delays, or operational issues, maintaining a stable plan that balances customer requirements and efficiency
• Coordinate production across manufacturing lines to maximise utilisation and minimise changeovers
• Review sales forecasts and customer orders, working with the commercial team to align and update schedules as demand changes
• Ensure raw materials and packaging are available in line with production requirements, working with procurement and stock control to avoid shortages or excess inventory
• Monitor inventory levels for finished goods, raw materials, and work-in-progress, and support inventory policies that balance availability with working capital
• Identify and manage risks of stock shortages, overstock, or obsolete inventory
• Liaise with manufacturing teams to confirm production capacity and constraints, and participate in planning and operational meetings to resolve issues
• Work with operations to reduce downtime, changeover time, and inefficiencies
• Maintain planning master data (BOMs, lead times, production rates, and planning parameters), ensuring planning systems and ERP data are accurate and up to date
• Generate and analyse planning reports to support decision-making
• Identify opportunities to improve planning processes, efficiency, and forecasting accuracy
• Support wider supply chain and operational improvement initiatives

What We're Looking For

• Experience in production planning, supply chain planning, or manufacturing scheduling
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Good knowledge of manufacturing processes
• Experience using ERP or planning systems (MRP/ERP)
• Strong organisational and time management skills
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills
• Experience within FMCG or high-volume manufacturing environments is highly desirable
• Understanding of make-to-stock and make-to-order production environments

What's On Offer

• Salary of £40,000 – £45,000, dependent on experience
• Full-time, days-based working pattern
• 24 days annual leave plus your birthday off, with the option to purchase additional holiday
• Bonus scheme, pension, and life insurance at 3x basic salary
• Health cash plan (extendable to family) and an Employee Assistance Programme
• Genuine career progression, training, and development opportunities across the business
• A range of further perks including cycle to work, discounted company products, Costco and Company Shop membership, and employee referral rewards
• The chance to join a well-respected, growing FMCG manufacturer, with regular company events and involvement in environmental and social initiatives

About Imperial Recruitment

Imperial Recruitment is proud to be managing this appointment on behalf of our client. If you have the planning experience and drive to succeed in this role, we'd love to hear from you.

Imperial Recruitment and our client are committed to equal opportunities for all. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by law. All applications are considered solely on merit, skills, and experience.