Director of Supply Chain Planning

MRD Recruitment is working on behalf of our manufacturing client, based in Milton Keynes to hire a Director of Supply Chain Planning. This is an exciting period of growth and transformation for the business and this is a critical leadership role responsible for driving strategic business planning across the entire planning cycle.

The Director of Supply Chain Planning, based in Milton Keynes will lead the planning agenda, ensuring demand, supply and operational capabilities are aligned to deliver outstanding customer service, optimise inventory and enable informed business decision-making.

You will lead a high-performing team across Customer Service, Demand Planning and Supply Planning, you'll champion collaboration and utilise strategic planning systems and drive operational planning maturity.

Key Responsibilities for the Director of Supply Chain Planning based in Milton Keynes;

• Lead and continuously develop the monthly S&OP and supply chain planning processes, ensuring robust cross-functional planning.
• Align commercial demand with operational capability through effective planning and decision-making.
• Prepare strategic scenarios, capacity assessments and risk analysis to support executive leadership.
• Drive a single, consensus-based business plan across commercial, operational and financial functions.
• Lead customer service and demand planning teams to deliver accurate forecasts and exceptional customer service.
• Build strong relationships with key internal and external stakeholders to improve forecasting accuracy and service performance.
• Work closely with Commercial teams to understand promotional activity, product launches and market trends.
• Challenge forecast assumptions using data-driven insights to improve planning accuracy and minimise waste.
• Translate demand forecasts into effective supply and production plans.
• Optimise inventory levels while balancing service, working capital and product availability.
• Collaborate with Manufacturing, Procurement and Logistics to proactively manage capacity and supply risks.
• Drive continuous improvements in inventory management and planning performance.
• Lead strategic modelling and scenario planning to support business growth and investment decisions.
• Sponsor supply chain transformation initiatives, ensuring planning capabilities evolve alongside the business.
• Support portfolio optimisation and long-term planning to maximise operational efficiency and profitability.
• Identify emerging risks and opportunities across the medium to long-term planning horizon.
• Inspire and develop multi-disciplinary planning teams, creating a high-performance culture.
• Champion collaboration across Commercial, Finance and Operations to strengthen integrated decision-making.
• Coach and mentor future leaders while developing planning capability across the organisation.
• Lead teams through business change, embedding new processes, systems and ways of working.

About You

We're looking for an experienced supply chain planning leader with a strong background in Sales & Operations Planning within a complex Manufacturing, FMCG or retail environment.

You'll bring:

• Significant experience leading mature S&OP and Business Planning processes.
• A proven track record managing Demand Planning, Supply Planning and/or Customer Service teams.
• Strong commercial awareness with the ability to balance customer expectations, operational capability and financial performance.
• Experience leading planning transformation, systems implementation or data-driven improvement programmes.
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to translate complex data into clear business recommendations.
• Outstanding stakeholder management and influencing skills, with confidence engaging senior leaders across multiple functions.
• A strategic mindset, capable of balancing day-to-day operational priorities with longer-term business planning.
• A collaborative and people-focused leadership style, with experience developing high-performing teams and driving organisational change.