Manager, Master Planning

Manager, Master Planning

The Manager, Master Planning is responsible for end-to-end production and materials planning for Pernod Ricard's Fort Smith manufacturing facility. This role owns the integrated planning process, balancing demand, capacity, materials, labor, and inventory to ensure customer service, cost, and operational targets are met. The Manager, Master Planning provides leadership to the Materials Planners and Production Scheduler and serves as the primary planning liaison between the plant, supply chain, and commercial teams. The Manager, Master Planning is a key leader in the North American S&OP/IBP, translating the consensus demand plan into a feasible, value-maximizing supply plan with clear constraints and trade-offs.

Key Responsibilities:

Integrated Production & Capacity Planning

• Own the master production plan for the facility, aligning demand forecasts, net requirements, and inventory targets with available capacity.
• Develop and maintain short-, mid-, and long-range production plans (weekly, monthly, and annual horizons).
• Evaluate capacity constraints (labor, equipment, packaging lines, storage) and recommend mitigation plans.
• Lead scenario planning for new SKUs, bottling transitions, equipment upgrades, seasonal demand, and line changes.
• Identify risks and trade-offs between service, cost, inventory, and capacity; escalate as needed with clear recommendations.

Materials & Inventory Planning

• Provide direction and oversight for raw, packaging, and indirect material planning.
• Ensure materials availability supports the production plan while maintaining inventory targets and minimizing obsolescence.
• Partner with procurement and suppliers to manage lead times, shortages, and supply risks.
• Own inventory health metrics including turns, excess & obsolete (E&O), and aging.

Scheduling & Execution Support

• Oversee detailed production scheduling to ensure efficient line sequencing and adherence to the master plan.
• Partner with operations to manage schedule adherence, changeovers, downtime impacts, and recovery plans.
• Support daily/weekly execution reviews and adjust plans as required.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach, and develop the Materials Planners and Production Scheduler.
• Establish clear roles, priorities, and standard work within the planning function.
• Drive continuous improvement in planning tools, processes, and data accuracy.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Act as the primary planning interface with Demand Planning, Customer Service, Procurement, Finance, and Operations.
• Support S&OP / IBP processes by providing clear capacity, inventory, and risk insights.
• Lead Monthly Site Reviews of the Master Plan to identify constraints and communicate changes with plant and departmental leadership.

Performance Management & Continuous Improvement

• Define and track KPIs such as service level, schedule adherence, plan attainment, inventory turns, and capacity utilization.
• Lead root cause analysis for service failures or plan deviations.
• Drive process improvements related to planning systems (ERP/MRP), data accuracy, and planning cadence.

Qualifications & Experience:

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Business, or related field.
• 7+ years of experience in production planning / master planning within a manufacturing environment.
• Prior experience in beverage, food, CPG, or regulated manufacturing strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience leading or mentoring planners or schedulers.
• Strong understanding of MRP, capacity planning, and inventory management principles.
• Advanced proficiency in ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, JDE, or similar) and Excel.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in alcoholic beverage bottling, packaging, or high-mix SKU environments.
• Experience supporting new product introductions (NPI) and line expansions.
• APICS/ASCM certification (CPIM, CSCP) or equivalent.
• Experience participating in or leading S&OP / IBP processes.

Key Competencies:

• Strategic thinking with strong execution focus.
• Data-driven decision making.
• Ability to manage complexity and ambiguity.
• Strong communication and influencing skills.
• Collaborative leadership style.
• Continuous improvement mindset.

Financial Responsibility:

• Greatly influences goals but does not have final authority. Manages and deploys resources to meet the goals.