Skills

Leadership Decision-making Facilitation Autonomy ERP Systems

Job Specifications

An ambitious and fast-scaling chilled food manufacturer who supplies the UK major retailers, is looking for a commercially sharp and confident Customer Demand Planner to take ownership of their end-to-end planning function. This is a newly created role at the heart of the business, where your ability to translate demand into a robust, executable plan will directly influence service, cost, capacity and waste.

This is a genuine opportunity to step into a leadership position where your judgement matters. You will be trusted to challenge assumptions, shape S&OP decisions and create a single, credible plan that the entire business aligns behind. In a dynamic, short shelf-life environment, your impact will be visible and measurable.

With strong values rooted in energy, ownership and quality, this is a business that backs people who bring drive, accountability and resilience. They are scaling with pace but building structure properly, giving you the platform to elevate planning standards and embed best practice from the ground up.

What You’ll Be Doing

Own the rolling demand forecast across all SKUs and channels, including direct interaction with major UK retailers
Reconcile commercial inputs into one aligned, evidence-based forecast
Challenge assumptions and resolve demand conflicts with data-led insight
Translate demand into clear, feasible production and supply plans
Balance labour, capacity and operational constraints in a short shelf-life environment
Own material requirements planning across ingredients and packaging
Lead the S&OP cadence, presenting clear trade-offs and recommendations to senior stakeholders
Act as the planning interface across Commercial, Operations, Finance and key retail customers

What’s In It for You

A true leadership role with ownership of end-to-end planning
Direct exposure to senior decision-making and business strategy
The opportunity to shape and mature S&OP in a scaling environment
Autonomy to define planning standards, tools and structure
A values-led culture built on energy, quality and execution
The chance to make a measurable impact on service, cost and waste performance

Your Background

Proven experience in demand, supply or production planning within FMCG or food manufacturing
Strong analytical capability with advanced Excel and planning tools experience
Practical understanding of MRP/ERP systems
A commercially aware, structured decision-maker
Confident challenging assumptions and influencing cross-functional stakeholders
Ideally experienced in interacting directly with major UK retailers within a customer-facing or collaborative planning environment
Experience within short shelf-life or high-care environments is advantageous
Exposure to S&OP ownership or facilitation would be highly beneficial

Join a Business Where Planning Truly Leads

This is more than a planning role. It is your opportunity to become the arbiter of planning truth in a fast-growing chilled food business. You will shape decisions, challenge constructively and build the discipline that enables sustainable growth.

If you are ready to own the plan, influence at senior level and elevate performance across the supply chain, we would love to hear from you.

About the Company

People power growth. At Found Food & Drink, we partner with ambitious food and drink businesses to deliver the leadership, expertise, and impact hires that drive real change. Unlike generalist recruiters, we live and breathe food and drink. From audits and high-volume production to scaling brands, we understand the pressures and opportunities that define the industry. What we do We’re a consultancy-led recruitment partner focused on six core functions that power growth: Technical (food safety, quality, compliance, specs)... Know more