Production & Materials Planner

The Production and Materials Planner is responsible for delivering effective planning support across all areas of the Planning Department. The role encompasses both Production Planning and Materials Planning activities, ensuring the efficient coordination of manufacturing operations and the timely supply of materials required to meet business and customer demands.

The position is accountable for creating efficient and achievable production plans that align with customer requirements, available capacity, and operational priorities, while ensuring the timely availability of raw materials and packaging to support production schedules. The role supports the effective management of inventory, capacity utilisation, service levels, and overall operational performance through robust planning practices.

The Production and Materials Planner works collaboratively with internal stakeholders, suppliers, and production teams to balance demand and supply requirements, minimise disruption, and drive continuous improvement across the planning function.

The role also plays an important part in business improvement initiatives, transformation projects, and ERP system implementations, supporting the development of best-practice planning processes and contributing to planning excellence across the organisation.

This role is Full-Time, 37.5 hours per week, Monday - Friday based in Trowbridge. This is a 2 years fixed term contract.

Competitive Salary + Bonus + Benefits

apetito is the UK’s leading food supplier to the health and social care sectors serving more than 1,300 care homes, health care and education settings.

Our meals are expertly crafted by our dieticians and chefs, and then frozen to lock in the goodness.

Wiltshire Farm Foods, our sister company, is the UK’s largest ready meal supplier cooking and delivering over 330 different delicious frozen ready meals across the UK.

Production Planning

• Create, maintain, and communicate short, medium, and long-term production plans that balance customer demand, manufacturing capacity, labour availability, and inventory targets.
• Ensure production schedules are achievable, efficient, and aligned with operational constraints.
• Monitor stock availability and take proactive action to mitigate risks to customer supply.
• Review demand changes and adjust production plans accordingly to maintain optimum stock availability and service levels.
• Work closely with Manufacturing, Procurement, Technical, and Commercial teams to manage planning priorities and resolve issues.
• Support daily, weekly, and monthly planning review processes.
• Analyse production performance and recommend planning improvements to enhance efficiency and customer service.

• Generate and manage purchase requirements for raw materials, ingredients, and packaging components.
• Ensure materials are available to support production plans while maintaining agreed inventory policies and stock cover targets.
• Manage supplier lead times, minimum order quantities, and ordering constraints.
• Identify and mitigate risks associated with material shortages, supplier performance, or demand fluctuations.
• Monitor inventory levels and recommend actions to optimise stock holding, minimise waste, and improve working capital performance.
• Collaborate with Procurement and suppliers to support continuity of supply and resolve material-related issues.
• Maintain accurate planning parameters and material master data within planning systems.

• Maintain inventory levels in line with agreed business targets and policies.
• Monitor stock cover, slow-moving inventory, obsolete stock, and excess inventory risks.
• Support stock accuracy initiatives and inventory optimisation activities.
• Analyse…