Senior Specialist, Production Planning

Senior Specialist, Production Planning 
Belfast 

Position Summary: 

Responsible for the creation of the daily and weekly production plans, balancing customer demand requirements and monthly supply plans from the business to generate clear, achievable plans that optimise capacity and resources. ensuring that the production plan communicates what needs to be produced and purchased to the manufacturing and supply base.  Responsible for Capacity planning for the business, providing key inputs to budget & projection process and scenario planning for future demand to balance customer demand, capacity and resources.

What You’ll Do: 

• Responsible for day-to-day effective planning and scheduling of production within a regulated environment ensuring high-quality products are produced in a safe, timely and cost-effective manner

• Plan the day-to-day allocation of work orders to Production Lines to efficiently, safely and cost-effectively achieve production targets 

• Prepare work orders for production or purchase requests based on production schedules

• Works closely and proactively with Operations and Materials teams to identify and plan for needed capacity and to keep day-to-day production running smoothly and efficiently 

• Work closely with Purchasing and Sourcing teams to plan what needs to be purchased, to ensure there is sufficient raw materials and components to support the required supply plan up to a 24-month time horizon 

• Monitor production activity so that the flow of materials is timed to meet production requirements, adjusting schedules to accommodate lead-time, backlogs, material or labour shortages, process changes and constraints e.g. expiry management  

• Support the creation of capacity plans based on the latest demand signal to identify where there are potential bottlenecks or risks to supply and to develop and recommend appropriate proposals to mitigate and to ensure that the plant or 3rd party can meet the future demand. Also identify where there is significant underutilisation and cost improvement opportunities

• Drives focus to customer requirements, by applying lean principles and Foundational lean tools (Daily Mgmt., Problem-solving, Standard work and Leader standard work, Kaizen) to support the consistent delivery of Production KPIs across SQDCE

• Maintain awareness and compliance with all regulatory and compliance requirements (FDA, ISO, EH&S, etc.) in the role

• Champions strong teamwork and creates a positive employee environment by promoting trust, collaboration and open communication within the Business

• Apply structured problem-solving (PPS, GPS) to address root cause of problems and continuously improve the production planning process

• Provides input to Site strategic planning processes

• Ensure capacity requirements are systemised, governed effectively and end customers’ needs are met – short term and long term  

• Create and maintain a safe, inclusive and positive work environment  

• Implement effective plans to optimise performance and address challenges 

• Work individually or within a team and autonomously with minimal supervision while managing multiple projects and delivering on established timelines

• All other duties as assigned

What You’ll Need: 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering or similar discipline 

• 2 years’ experience in a manufacturing environment in a production, planning or scheduling role where knowledge has been demonstrated and experience gained in planning 

• Strong Production Planning system experience (SAP or equivalent ERP systems desirable) 

• Good knowledge of GMP/Regulatory and health and safety requirements

• Ability to influence and coach others in your area of technical expertise and provide effective feedback 

• Strong understanding of manufacturing capacity, resource planning, and optimization of material flow with experience in material flow principles and tools e.g. kanban, SMED, an advantage