Supply / Material Planner

General Overview

Functional Area:    Supply Chain Management (SCM)       
Career Stream:    Planning & Inventory (SCM_PNIV)        
Role:    Specialist             
Job Title:    Inventory Specialist        
Job Code:    SPE-SCM-INV        
Band:    Level 08               
Direct/Indirect Indicator:    Indirect

Summary

The Supply Planner is responsible for coordinating the flow of materials to meet production schedules and customer demand while optimizing inventory levels. This role requires strong cross-functional collaboration, system data management, and the ability to drive strategies that prevent shortages and mitigate excess inventory.

Detailed Description

Material Planning & Execution

• Create and execute the supply material plan, maintaining direct communication with suppliers to ensure timely deliveries.
• Manage the Clear to Build (CTB) process; coordinate shortage resolutions internally and with clients, and establish effective escalation processes.
• Respond to system action messages (MRP) to expedite, delay, or cancel orders in alignment with fluctuating demand.
• Implement strategies to achieve the material plan and ensure production schedules remain feasible.
• Monitor production readiness, proactively alerting the operations team to any potential line-down risks caused by material availability.

Inventory & Excess/Obsolete (E&O) Management

• Coordinate, control, and report inventory for the business unit, producing weekly forecasts and tracking reports.
• Analyze material plans to recommend optimal inventory levels and balance inventory results with financial records.
• Process obsolete materials, initiating the scrapping of surplus parts in strict accordance with Celestica procedures.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Lifecycle Management

• Align supply with demand by collaborating with Demand Planning, Customer Focus Teams (CFT), Global Customer Business Units (GCBU), and Operations to match supply plans with forecasts and factory capacity.
• Manage product lifecycles, working closely with program management and engineering to ensure material readiness for new builds (NPI) and wind-down strategies for legacy products.
• Coordinate Engineering Change Orders (ECOs), managing material cut-ins and phase-outs to minimize obsolete inventory.
• Drive cost savings by partnering with global procurement and sourcing teams to achieve Purchase Price Variance (PPV) targets.

Systems, Data & Process Leadership

• Maintain accurate ERP master data, ensuring system integrity for Safety Stock, Minimum Order Quantities (MOQ), Economic Order Quantities (EOQ), and supplier lead times.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to fellow planners regarding planning best practices and data integrity.
• Lead continuous improvement, initiating and developing projects to control inventory and achieve inventory targets.
• Troubleshoot and resolve problems, tracking inventory issues and assisting team members in identifying root causes and solutions.

Knowledge/Skills/Competencies

• Good knowledge of an electronic manufacturing environment, the product build process, the types of materials being purchased by the department and the engineering change process.
• Good knowledge of inventory management, production planning, scheduling, material requirements planning and manufacturing control systems.
• SAP and strong Excel/Sheets background
• Good analytical and statistical skills.
• Good negotiation and problem resolution skills.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks while maintaining attention to detail and accuracy and working under tight time deadlines.
• Ability to evaluate, prioritize and problem solve a variety of tasks to ensure their timely and accurate completion.
• Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, with a wide variety of internal and external customers.

Physical Demands

• Duties of this position are performed in a normal office environment.
• Duties may require extended periods of sitting and sustained visual concentration on a computer monitor or on numbers and other detailed data.
• Repetitive manual movements (e.g., data entry, using a computer mouse, using a calculator, etc.) are frequently required.

Typical Experience

• Two to four years relevant experience.

Typical Education

• Bachelor's degree in related field (Business or Engineering), or consideration of an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Educational requirements may vary by geography.

Notes

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities of the position. Employees are held accountable for all duties of the job. Job duties and the % of time identified for any function are subject to change at any time.