Supply Planner

Job Purpose

• The purpose of the role is to lead end-to-end supply planning across the Vector Network, ensuring optimal stock availability while balancing working capital, service levels, and operational efficiency. This individual will be accountable for maintain the integrity of inventory across the network through robust planning, forecasting alignment, and proactive risk management.
• A core component of the role is the ability to build and manage strong, credible relationships with key customers and principals, positioning supply chain as a value-adding partner to the business.
• The role carries significant leadership responsibility, requiring a mature and resilient individual who can lead, develop and hold a team accountable in a high -performance environment.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Planning:

• Execute the degree of forward planning (3-6 months, 2 years etc.) as defined by management.

Supply Planning:

• Lead the development and execution of the end-to-end supply strategy across all SKUs within the Vector network, ensuring alignment to business objectives and service expectations.
• Proactively identify and manage supply and demand imbalances, including shortages, excess stock, and emerging risks, with clear mitigation plans.
• Drive scenario planning and decision making, developing alternative supply strategies to close gaps and optimise service, cost and inventory.
• Own the forward – looking warehouse capacity plan (12 months rolling), ensuring accuracy, visibility and alignment with network requirements.
• Work closely with the warehousing and transport planning teams to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to meet the national demand and supply requirements.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with suppliers and customers, ensuring consistent, reliable supply and proactive management of constraints.

Short Term Supply Planning:

• Review demand (demand forecasts and actual orders) and stock cover (days) requirements on a weekly (and daily when stock shortages are experienced) basis across all depots and stock holding positions.

Stock Management:

• Own and drive inventory optimisation across the Vector network through effective utilisation of the Barnton planning system, ensuring alignment between service levels, working capital, and supply variability.
• Leverage Barnton to model, validate and continuously refine stock policies and parameters (including safety stock, cycle stock, and reorder points), incorporating key inputs such as demand variability, supplier reliability, and lead time dynamics.
• Translate system outputs into clear commercially sound inventory strategies with accountability for stock holding decisions nationally and regionally.
• Continuously review and challenge inventory settings, ensuring targets remain relevant in a dynamic environment and are responsive to changes in demand patterns, supply constraints, and business priorities.
• Proactively manage inventory exceptions, including overstock, understock, and days cover deviations, taking decisive action to rebalance the network.
• Ensure end-to end visibility of inventory health, providing forward-looking insights that enable proactive decision -making rather than reactive firefighting.
• Integrate inventory planning with warehouse capacity and network constraints, ensuring stock strategies are executable within operational limits.

Sales and Operations Planning:

• Develop the overall supply plan that will be used as input into the company-wide S&OP process.
• Identify gaps and opportunities and make appropriate recommendations to close these with the Supply Planning Manager.
• Consolidate the supply planning packs required for the various S&OP meetings.

Innovation / Discontinuation Coordination:

• Assist in the coordination for delivery of innovation into the supply chain.
• Work closely with the replenishment teams to ensure sufficient stock covers at the time of new innovation launches as well as assist in the bleed-out of stock.
• Report on a weekly basis on obsolete stock as well as plans to clear stock.
• Ensure stock of new items is received timeously for go-live.

Outbound Supply Chain Reporting:

• Update the scorecards with the relevant KPI’s on a weekly/monthly basis and issue them.
• Issue the agreed national Outbound Supply Chain reports on a week/monthly basis as appropriate.
• Understand the variances against targets for key KPI’s and provide explanations and corrective actions required.
• Generate the agreed weekly supply planning packs and associated minutes.

Team Leadership and Capability Development:

• Lead and develop a high – performing planning team, creating a culture of accountability, ownership and continuous improvement.
• Actively coach and mentor assistant supply planners building both technical capability and supply chain understanding, enabling them to operate with greater independence and confidence.
• Apply strong emotional intelligence to lead effectively - navigating pressure, managing different personalities and providing feedback in this regard to the Supply Planning Manager.

Team Coordination:

• Take ownership and accountability for tasks and activities and demonstrate effective self-management in terms of planning, prioritising and self-development.
• Follow through to ensure that quality and productivity standards of work are consistently and accurately maintained.
• Inform relevant parties in the event of tasks or deadlines not met, the potential risks thereof and provide appropriate resolution.
• Support and drive the business core values.
• Manage colleagues and clients’ expectations and communicate appropriately.
• Demonstrate willingness to help others and “go the extra mile” to meet team targets and objectives.
• Champion training and development of self through utilising available training opportunities or contributing to the development of new training solutions relating to product costing in collaboration with national training specialists.
• Participate in regular performance appraisals and ensure that own targets and goals are clear and achievable.
• Maintain a basic appreciation and awareness of employee relations climate and ensure corrective action is taken where required in line with relevant legislation and company policy.

KPI’s:

• Planned product mix maximization.
• Customer service levels.
• Inbound supply chain strike rate.
• Maximization of the warehousing and transport capacity.
• Demand and supply alignment.
• Profitability.
• Accuracy of the supply plans.
• Data integrity.

Key Relationships

Internal

• Sales team.
• Operations teams.
• Broader planning team.

External

• Principal planning teams.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience Required for the Job

Qualifications and Experience

• Matric (Grade 12).
• Relevant Degree or Supply Chain Diploma (e.g. SAPIC’s CPIM).
• 5-10 years operational experience within any planning function.
• SAP knowledge is a distinct advantage.

Skills and Competencies

• Behavior Standards.
• Be brilliant at the basics
• Face the brutal facts.
• Smash the silos.
• Lead with integrity, respect and energy.
• Be curious and challenge change.
• Take accountability for results and people.