Planning Manager

Ontic, a leading licensor and manufacturer of complex engineering parts for the global aerospace and defence industries, is now recruiting for a Planning Manager to lead our Planning department at Bishop Cleeve, including the Master Scheduling and Production Planning teams.

This pivotal role is responsible for ensuring that customer demand is translated into robust, achievable, and executable plans. As the key planning focal point, you will drive the plan through Operations, ensuring conformance to plan is maintained, measured, and continually improved.

• Lead, support and develop the Planning team, including Master Scheduling and Production Planning.
• Act as the planning focal point for the business, providing clear priorities, visibility and direction across functions.
• Ensure customer requirements are aligned to master schedules, production plans, capacity and material availability.
• Drive the agreed plan through Operations, ensuring production execution is aligned to schedule.
• Monitor, measure and improve conformance to plan, ensuring risks, constraints and deviations are identified and acted upon.
• Collaborate closely with the S&OP process to ensure demand, supply, capacity and inventory plans are aligned and executable.
• Engage cross‑functionally with Operations, Supply Chain, Customer Services, Engineering, Quality, Finance and Programme teams to ensure business‑wide alignment.
• Work closely with Operations to support schedule adherence, recovery planning, capacity planning and delivery performance.
• Use planning data and operational insight to support clear, practical and timely decision‑making.
• Identify opportunities to improve planning processes, tools, visibility and ways of working.
• Promote a culture of ownership, accountability, continuous improvement and delivery focus across the Planning team and wider business.

• A strong background in planning, master scheduling, production planning or supply chain within a manufacturing environment.
• Experience leading and developing teams.
• A strong understanding of ERP/MRP systems, capacity planning, material availability, production schedule adherence and conformance to plan.
• The ability to translate customer demand into clear, executable plans.
• Experience working cross‑functionally with Operations, Supply Chain, Customer Services, Engineering, Quality, Finance and Programme teams.
• Strong analytical capability, with the ability to use planning data and operational insight to support decision‑making.
• A structured, detail‑oriented approach, combined with pragmatic problem‑solving skills.
• The confidence to challenge, influence and engage stakeholders across the business.
• The ability to operate effectively in a complex, fast‑paced and regulated environment.

• Experience with in aerospace, defence or another heavily regulated manufacturing environment.
• A relevant qualification in supply chain, planning, operations, engineering or business management.
• APICS/CPIM, Lean, Six Sigma or equivalent continuous improvement qualifications.
• Experience supporting S&OP or similar business planning processes.
• Experience improving planning processes, tools, visibility and ways of working.

Success in this role will be measured by improved customer plan alignment, stronger conformance to plan, effective planning team leadership, successful engagement with S&OP, improved schedule adherence, and a Planning function that is recognised as a key enabler for the wider business.