Manager, Planning and Purchasing

Job Description

Job Description

At Argenta, we’re more than a company — we’re a global team, dedicated to healthier animals. We believe that when their lives are made better, we're all the better for it.

Founded in 2006, we support companies big and small to develop and manufacture health products for pets and livestock. Our trusted, innovative solutions and services cover every stage of the process, from molecule to market.

We’re in a unique position. We are the world’s only combined contract research and contract development and manufacturing organization (CRO/CDMO) dedicated to animal health.

Our uniqueness means:

We are ambitious, growing and building a ‘one team’ culture, guided by our values.

• • We are team players;
  • We are doers;
  • We are customer-centric;
  • We are innovators .

We value diversity, as a global company, we get the richness of working with different people in different places whether it be location, stages of their career, their development, their role. We believe that when everyone works together and puts their best “paw” forward we will make the lives of the animals we care for, better.

With bases in New Zealand, the US, the UK and Europe, our 900+ colleagues are driven by our partnership approach and purpose: Healthy Animals. Let’s Make It Happen, Together.

TEAM PLAYERS who want to DO great work and find INNOVATIVE ways to make animals lives better through our CUSTOMER CENTRIC efforts should apply. 

Argenta is currently looking to fill the role of Manager, Planning and Purchasing at our Shawnee, KS location. This role leads a team of Customer Supply Planners and is responsible for translating the product needs of our clients into a supply plan that delivers those products on time, in full. Acting as a key link between our clients, our suppliers and the manufacturing site, the Manager ensures that we can meet the Master Production Schedule (MPS) and that the materials needed to deliver it are available when required. They drive the resolution of any constraints to the satisfaction of the client.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Lead, coach and develop a team of Customer Supply Planners and Schedulers, setting priorities and ensuring clear accountability for delivery of client commitments on time, in full.
• Own the 18-month Master Production Schedule (MPS), balancing client demand with available capacity and constraints on a monthly basis, and gain cross-functional consensus on the plan.
• Act as the senior point of contact for client representatives on supply matters, including forecast updates, order fulfilment, demand changes and escalations.
• Drive resolution of capacity and material constraints, escalating major issues appropriately and keeping clients informed to their satisfaction.
• Oversee Materials Requirements Planning (MRP), ensuring parameters are regularly reviewed and the system reflects current demand and supply plans.
• Oversee the purchasing of raw materials, excipients, printed packaging materials, labels and artwork-controlled components, ensuring the team schedules material deliveries in line with Argenta inventory policy.
• Manage supplier performance, lead times and delivery reliability, and resolve supply risks with suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Oversee artwork version control and implementation timelines, ensuring approved artwork is aligned with production schedules.
• Ensure Change Controls for packaging components (artwork updates, label changes, regulatory text revisions) are initiated and managed to completion.
• Monitor and report on key performance measures such as on-time in-full delivery, forecast accuracy, inventory levels and obsolescence, and drive continuous improvement.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, Regulatory, Finance and Commercial teams to ensure supply plans are aligned and achievable.

About You: 

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations or a related field, or equivalent demonstrable experience in a similar role.
• Minimum of 7 years' relevant planning and purchasing experience within a busy manufacturing environment, including at least 2 years leading a team.
• Strong working knowledge of MPS and MRP processes, with hands-on experience using SAP.
• Experience working in a regulated (GMP) manufacturing environment, including change control and packaging component management, is highly desirable.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with the confidence to engage clients and suppliers at all levels.
• Excellent organizational, planning and analytical abilities.
• Determination to see jobs through to completion.
• Ability to work accurately and within strict deadlines.

Argenta has strongly embedded company values which is key to who we are and how we deliver. We offer an opportunity to work for a successful and rapidly expanding global business where your input will be valued.  At Argenta we are a hard-working group who really enjoy the people we work with each day. That is why we support our people through a strong culture, great benefits, and growth opportunities.

Argenta is an equal-opportunity employer

To find out more about Argenta, click here: