Materials Planner II

Pay Range: $30.20 - $37.75

About Foster Farms

At Foster Farms, our mission is creating great food and serving great moments. Our vision is to be the best and most trusted food company, empowering and nourishing the lives of those we serve. We measure our success by how well we protect and care for our team, our consumers, our animals, and our environment, while delivering operational excellence and exceptional value to our customers.

Purpose of Position:

Performs a wide variety of planning and reporting tasks supporting the overall material planning of $250 million Direct Materials spend on ingredients and packaging. Will manage larger and more complex suppliers or categories within the total spend of $250 million. Will mentor and train other Material Planners in the department.

Essential Job Functions:

• Material Planner II is responsible for creating process orders in SAP according to the forecast. These process orders that are created with the vendors need to be managed accordingly including, expedites cancelations and updating quantities and timing of receipt to the designated plants. The need to create process orders are also driven by the red lights and MRP reports.
• Analyze MRP data and manage PO requisitions and purchase orders to support the Forecasted Production plan looking out 6-12 weeks ahead.
• Ability to run, fully comprehend and analyze reports making recommendations including forecasts, vendor inventory report analysis/VMI thresholds.
• Responsible for keeping relevant individuals and departments advised in real time when delays for any critical material or products is known that will impact the production schedule.
• Expected to establish a thorough knowledge base of Foster Farms production by plant. This knowledge base is expected to grow with tenure.
• Material Planner will establish a strong and thorough knowledge base of all Foster Farms ingredients and packaging components enabling material planner to efficiently manage all vendors and their materials including lead times and contract agreements.
• Material planners are expected to manage assigned new and existing materials by plant. Each material will be managed by evaluating safety stock, available inventory, and ensuring demand planning (forecast) is pulling through correctly. Material Planner is also expected to evaluate increase/decrease requests by the marketing team in regards to the sales demand.

• Material Planner is expected to Track material transitions, as well as manage the excess and obsolete materials in inventory. Material Planner is expected to develop a knowledge base as how to manage either scenario
• Constant vendor communication is expected from the Material Planner, including the ability to escalate successfully when urgent matters arise that may affect production. Building a trusting relationship with vendors is key as the material Planner works closely with vendors to ensure ingredients and packaging are delivered in a timely manner within budget to support requirements
• Attendance is expected as the material planner representing Direct Material Planning in meetings with vendors and with key stakeholders across the business units.
• Regularly Interfaces with Quality, Manufacturing, Engineering, Product Management, DM Sourcing and vendors as needed. Responsible for scheduling and leading weekly meeting with Product Management if applicable
• Support Strategic Sourcing projects with buyers and purchasing agents who are an essential part of sourcing team that assumes decisions on awarding business. Material Planners inputs are sought and recommended to ensure the vendor selected fits all aspects of our business expectations.

Qualifications

Requirements:

• Prefer one-two years of business school or college and strongly prefer bachelor's degree.
• Have minimum three - five years Material Planning experience Three-five years purchasing experience strongly preferred.
• Computer literate in Microsoft Office and strong understanding of SAP resource platform and must have a strong understanding using and creating MS Excel spread sheets, including formulas, in order to manage detailed information. Knowledge of PowerBI, Coupa preferred.
• Proficient in other Planning and Purchasing modules
• Demonstrate in depth expertise of FF Planning and all associated job functions if a current FF employee.
• Demonstrate strong interpersonal, organizational, verbal and written communication skills and have strong analytical skills
• Must be comfortable with critical thinking, daily decision making and judgement calls on Foster Farms behalf and make quick decisions to avoid plant shut down
• Must be able to multitask and adjust work priorities when urgent situations arise that need immediate attention.

Foster Farms ACTION Guiding Principles

• Accountability: Deliver on commitments.
• Collaboration: Achieve more by working as a team.
• Truth-Seeking: Be open-minded and act with humility.
• Initiative: Be proactive and lead with a growth mindset.
• Ownership: Take responsibility for results.
• Nimble: Operate with speed and agility.

Why Join Foster Farms?

This is a high-impact opportunity to shape the future of the ready-to-eat business at a leading food company, directly supporting our mission, vision, and values. You will play a critical role in delivering safe, high-quality food and great moments for millions of families.