Supply Chain Planner

Background  

Geary's are an entrepreneurial private bakery business based in Leicestershire supplying major retailers and foodservice customers. We have sales of £70m and aspire to be the UK's first choice for affordable high quality artisan bread at scale - unbeatable for Quality, Service, Innovation and Value-for-Money.

We have a proud and successful heritage stretching back 100 plus years, but we have a modern outlook and big ambitions. Recently we received significant investment from the Unsworth Family to accelerate our ambitious growth plans.

We believe that great bread takes time and care. We specialise in sourdough-based propositions and long-fermentation where the time and care make all the difference to the taste. We have a passion to create great quality bread by integrating the best of traditional bakery skills and modern manufacturing methods.

The business has grown rapidly from £5m in annual sales to £60m in the last 13 years with strong and consistent profitability. We have an ambition to increase sales to more than £100m in the next 3- 5 years. A clear Vision and Strategy has been articulated and this is being backed with major capital investment and a renewal and upgrading of the people, processes, and systems.

We are a two-site business having opened our new £15m state of the art bakery in Glenfield in 2018 along with our facility at Barrow-upon-Soar. Each site has its own particular focus. In total we have just over 450 employees.

At its core, our business is remarkably simple, with 80 SKU’s which includes 6 new sku’s launching September 2023, 10 Customers, and around 125 differing raw materials/components. Although this is getting more complicated as we grow, keeping things simple is a fundamental part of our business approach.

Supply Chain Shift Planner

Shift Pattern                                                   

4 on 3 off: Sun -Wed OR Weds - Sat

Rotating Weekly Times as follows:

Week 1: 7am -5pm

Week 2: 10am -8pm

The role

The supply chain department forms the central hub between suppliers, the warehouse, production, loading, hauliers, customers, hygiene, engineering, and other external stakeholders. It is a key cornerstone that allows our operation to run effectively and efficiently, ensuring all parties know what is required from them, and at what time. It requires someone who is highly communicative, with strong interpersonal skills, to build good relationships with all the above areas. This person should have an eye for detail however be able to keep things simple and to the point.

The main responsibilities include:

• To produce and communicate accurate and reliable production plans to maximise sales and service while minimising cost per unit. This includes materials, labour and line planning and scheduling and requires liaison with production, hygiene and engineering and external parties including customers, hauliers, and suppliers.


• To download orders from customers and update production plans making any changes as necessary and communicate with 3rd parties.


• To monitor progress against production plan ensuring we are where we think we are.


• To purchase flour for both sites ensuring we have the right amount at the right time and communicate with suppliers.


• Communicate our transport requirements to our hauliers ensuring we have the right number of lorries at the right time and manage communication with all parties when things are not according to plan. This includes the establishment of cost-effective vehicle scheduling and management of issues that may impact on this (vehicle problems and factory issues which may cause delays).


• To assist with ensuring we always have enough baskets on site to ensure effective running and liaising with all 3rd parties regarding collections to address any significant changes in requirements.


• To ensure baskets are collected in as cost-effective method as possible – this requires monitoring average collection cost per basket and liaising with 3rd parties to optimise vehicle/fill, collection points etc. to drive down the average cost per basket.


• To engage senior management if there are any significant issues affecting any of the above being achieved.


• To assist with the implementation of new systems and processes that assist with the smooth running of the operation while also building a robust planning process for the future business.


• To have robust processes that ensure effective running during weekends and holidays and people know what to do in exceptional circumstances.

Relationship Management:

• Cross-functional collaboration skills both internally and externally.


• To build effective working relationships with key stakeholders across all areas


• Support the development and implementation of continuous improvement initiatives.


• Good communicator with the ability to form and maintain good relationships.


• Demonstrate good problem-solving skills with the ability to deal with difficult situations whilst remaining professional.

Skills and Experience:

• 3 years + experience as a production planning role or similar within supply chain – Essential.


• Excellent verbal and written communication skills - Essential.


• The ability to remain calm under pressure, to think quickly and independently – Essential.


• Capability to multitask in a fast-paced environment – Essential.


• Good understanding of supply chain processes – Essential.


• Strong IT systems knowledge and skills including Excel – Essential.


• Knowledge and experience of using Sage 200 - Advantageous.

Personal Skills:

The ideal candidate will have a solution based can do attitude. They will be experienced in planning large manufacturing facilities and the challenges this presents, ideally knowing what “good” looks like. They will be highly communicative with the ability to build good relationships both internally and externally.

Please submit a CV in application. No agencies.

If you have not heard from us within seven days, unfortunately you have not been successful on this occasion, but we wish you every success in your search for a new position.

All applicants must have the right to work in the UK, at point of interview, and for the tenure of employment contract. As part of the recruitment process, you will be asked to provide documented evidence of your eligibility to work in the UK.