Job Summary: A leading food manufacturing organization is seeking an experienced Materials & Inventory Planner to manage raw material and packaging supply for a high volume, multi line manufacturing operation.This position combines materials planning, purchasing, inventory control, and problem solving. The Materials & Inventory Planner will manage MRP activity, purchase orders, supplier commitments, inventory accuracy, and material availability while working closely with Production, Scheduling, Warehouse, Procurement, Quality, and Finance.This is a hands on role for someone who can do more than maintain data. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable analyzing MRP exceptions, managing supplier deliveries, investigating inventory discrepancies, and working directly with warehouse and production teams to identify and resolve the root cause of issues.

Position Overview

A leading food manufacturing organization is seeking an experienced Materials & Inventory Planner to manage raw material and packaging supply for a high volume, multi line manufacturing operation.

This position combines materials planning, purchasing, inventory control, and problem solving. The Materials & Inventory Planner will manage MRP activity, purchase orders, supplier commitments, inventory accuracy, and material availability while working closely with Production, Scheduling, Warehouse, Procurement, Quality, and Finance.

This is a hands on role for someone who can do more than maintain data. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable analyzing MRP exceptions, managing supplier deliveries, investigating inventory discrepancies, and working directly with warehouse and production teams to identify and resolve the root cause of issues.

Key Responsibilities

Materials Planning & Purchasing

• Run and manage MRP output, including reviewing exception messages and converting planned orders into purchase orders.

• Maintain planning parameters such as safety stock, reorder points, lead times, and order minimums.

• Monitor inventory and open purchase orders to prevent material shortages and excess inventory.

• Manage supplier orders, confirmations, delivery dates, quantities, past due orders, and partial receipts.

• Expedite, reschedule, or cancel orders when necessary.

• Plan material coverage for new product launches, production schedule changes, and other business needs.

• Purchase indirect plant supplies in coordination with plant leadership.

• Monitor inbound deliveries and maintain visibility into potential supply risks.

• Identify and address excess, aging, and short dated inventory before it becomes a write off.

Inventory Accuracy & Control

• Own and manage the cycle count program, including ABC classification, count frequency, scheduling, and recount procedures.

• Investigate inventory variances and determine root causes related to receiving, production transactions, scrap, scanning, bin transfers, shipping, BOMs, and other processes.

• Partner with internal teams to correct the underlying process issues contributing to inventory discrepancies.

• Document inventory adjustments and maintain a clear audit trail.

• Audit daily ERP transactions for issues including unbuilt or partially built work orders, unissued components, negative inventory, stale receipts, and inventory in incorrect locations or statuses.

• Develop reporting and saved searches to identify inventory issues early.

• Track inventory accuracy KPIs and recurring problem areas.

• Lead recurring inventory review meetings with Warehouse, Production, and Finance.

Communication & Cross Functional Support

• Escalate supplier performance, capacity, pricing, and other supply concerns to Procurement.

• Provide Production and Scheduling with early notification of material shortages and inventory issues.

• Identify discrepancies between demand signals, production schedules, and supply plans.

• Review supplier invoice discrepancies involving quantity or weight.

• Provide inventory and lot information for month end close, physical inventories, recalls, traceability exercises, and audits.

• Develop and maintain SOPs related to purchasing, cycle counting, and inventory adjustments.

Qualifications

Required

• 3+ years of experience in materials planning, buyer/planner, purchasing, or inventory control within a manufacturing environment.

• Food or beverage manufacturing experience strongly preferred.

• Hands on MRP/ERP experience in a manufacturing environment.

• Strong NetSuite experience preferred. Experience with SAP, Oracle, Dynamics, Infor, Epicor, or similar ERP systems will also be considered.

• Working knowledge of bills of material, work orders, backflushing, safety stock, lead times, and units of measure.

• Strong Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, and analyzing large data sets.

• Strong analytical and investigative skills with the ability to identify the root cause of inventory discrepancies.

• Strong communication, organization, and follow through skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Associate's degree or equivalent experience. Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Operations, or a related field preferred.

• Experience in frozen or refrigerated food manufacturing.

• Experience working with lot and date controlled inventory.

• APICS/ASCM certification such as CPIM or CSCP.

• Experience creating NetSuite saved searches.

• Familiarity with GMPs, HACCP, allergen control, lot traceability, and GFSI audits such as SQF or BRC.

• Experience with barcode scanning or mobile inventory systems.

• Exposure to Lean, Six Sigma, or other continuous improvement methodologies.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is an organized, detail oriented materials professional who takes ownership of both supply and inventory accuracy. This person should be comfortable balancing immediate production needs with long term inventory control, communicating with suppliers and internal teams, and investigating problems until the underlying cause is identified and corrected.