Supply Planner

JOB SUMMARY:

The Supply Planner for Sakata is responsible for working cross-functionally across multiple teams, managing the supply plan and production plan of assigned products, and executing the inventory planning strategy to support the demand plan. This person works cross-functionally to evaluate the impact of business decisions on the supply chain network.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES*:

Planning:

• Preparing supply forecast of assigned products, including anticipated demand for product based on historical data and current trends to develop a production plan, while respecting cost and operational constraints
• Works with Finance to review and analyze production cost projections for production plan to ensure margin targets are met.
• Monitor supply KPI on a daily/weekly basis and take corrective actions as needed; communicates exceptions and corrective actions to affected parties in the organization.
• Reviewing inventory levels to ensure optimal supply levels are maintained.
• Work with Sales and Research to ensure planning and production readiness for all new product launches are met.
• Proactively reviews at risk finished good items and timelines for remediation.
• Works cross-functionally with Breeders, Stockseed Manager, and Product Managers to provide input on stockseed and foundation seed demand planning.
• Responsible for the Crop Business Plan for assigned species, which involves a high-level view of production strategy, history, and projections.
• Participates and contributes to group projects across multiple teams according to role/scope.

Executing:

• Responsible for registering the Production Plan in the ERP system and sending the production plan to the respective production area.
• Works closely with Stockseed Planner and Stockseed Manager to delivery high quality basic seed to the production location in a timely manner.
• Monitors the lot quality through grower payment and marketable seed release, provides root cause analysis for quality issues that are suspected from the production field.

Communication:

• Build & manage relationships with seed production vendors & area managers to ensure seamless communication and healthy partnerships.
• Effectively participates with professionalism in collaborative meetings among multiple levels of internal stakeholders (peers, colleagues, middle and upper management) for proper production placement.
• Work closely with Product Management and Sales to understand market, sales and supply trends to anticipate, prepare and develop a strategy to build and maintain appropriate inventory levels.
• Communicates crop plan with all production areas (domestic and international) for assigned species and negotiates pricing. Updates areas as needed with changes to the production plan.
• Communicates with Stock Seed Planner to ensure timely delivery seed to the production field.

Continuous Improvement:

• Works with functional managers and leadership team to identify and prioritize bottlenecks and constraints for continual process improvement.
• Adapts to changes in the organization with resourcefulness and strives to increase productivity and improve standards.
• Identify gaps in processes/strategies, proposes corrective actions, takes calculated risks and executes action plan.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/ABILITIES:

• Must have experience with Material Resource Planning (MRP) systems and basic knowledge of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) setup.
• Ability to give presentations and speak effectively before small groups
• Must have the ability to interact professionally and effectively with management and fellow employees.
• Familiarity with basic standard operating procedures (SOP’s) and processes preferably in a seed industry or in a manufacturing environment.
• Ability to handle stress especially when encountering necessary projects, deadlines and/or high workload.
• Must be able to work under strict time constraints and requirements.
• Must have excellent communication skills (i.e. PowerPoint, oral, and written), interpersonal, negotiating, analytical, problem solving/decision making, teamwork and planning/organizing skills.

EDUCATIONAL /EXPERIENCE:

• BA in business administration, agriculture or related field highly desired or equivalent work experience
• 3-5 years planning experience in production, inventory, planning or related area required
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in a seed production or logistics environment highly desired.

WORKING CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• Must be able to sit at a computer terminal for long periods of time.
• Must be able to travel to production fields and other locations <10%

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

• Salary range: $70,000 – $90,000 per year
• Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance coverage for employees and their families
• Basic Life & AD&D Insurance
• 401k program with company match
• Profit Sharing program (via 401k)
• Holiday & Performance Incentive Bonus program
• Paid Vacation: 10 days per year to start, increases with tenure
• Sick Leave: 1 hour accrued per 30 hours worked for first 30 days, 6.67 hours per month after.
• 14 paid company holidays, 2 floating holidays & birthday off
• Paid Family Leave: 15 days after 12 months of service for FMLA qualifying events
• Company provided EAP
• Company provided subsidy for health/fitness clubs & apps