Scheduling Manager

Ferrero is curretnly seeking a Scheduling Manager who can take the lead in driving operational excellence across our plant in Alfreton, Derbyshire. In this key role, you'll manage production planning for all product categories, ensuring seamless scheduling and efficient material management while meeting targets like minimising waste and optimising performance.

You'll be at the heart of operations, steering the plant's industrial planning services and collaborating closely with central planning teams and the local Supply Chain team. Your expertise will play a vital role in aligning production programs, delivering results, and keeping the plant running at its best.

This is an exciting opportunity to make a real impact, combining your leadership, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills to help Ferrero deliver excellence every day. If you're ready to take on the challenge and be part of a global success story, we'd love to hear from you!, As the Scheduling Manager, your role is crucial in orchestrating the seamless and efficient flow of our production operations. You will be at the helm of Operating Planning, strategically managing production volumes across both short-term (weeks 2 to 16) and mid-term horizons. Your expertise will enable you to craft detailed production schedules for each SKU, production line, and week, overseeing both in-house production and collaborations with co-manufacturing and co-packing partners. Additionally, you will monitor and report stock levels to the Area Operating Planning team to ensure cohesive operations across the board.

Production Programming and Scheduling, you will oversee the immediate production volumes (week 0 to week 1), ensuring that daily and shift-specific schedules are adhered to for every SKU and production line. By optimising the use of production assets-such as lines, machinery, materials, and personnel-you will strike a balance between cost efficiency and operational flexibility to meet established production goals. Your management of plant shift patterns and coordination with co-packers will be instrumental in delivering consistent, high-quality output at specified production levels.

Material Management will also be a key area of focus under your leadership. You will manage inventories of raw materials, packaging, and semi-finished goods, ensuring timely communications with suppliers and smooth material flows to prevent operational disruptions. Have a proactive approach in identifying and resolving production and stock issues will help minimise material obsolescence, adhering to Group guidelines and promoting efficient inventory practices. Provide frequent updates on plant capacity, offering clear and actionable insights for both local and central planning teams.

You will lead a small team in providing regular updates on plant capacity, offering transparency and actionable insights for both local and central planning teams. Support and conduct Root Cause Analysis to identify planning challenges and implementing corrective actions to optimize performance. Additionally, monitoring KPIs and reporting trends will be crucial under your leadership to track success and establish your team as the key point of contact for central planning functions regarding the plant's scheduling performance.

This leadership role provides an excellent opportunity to drive operational excellence through strategic planning, effective resource management, and collaborative efforts, ensuring that the plant meets its production commitments efficiently and effectively.

For the role of Scheduling Manager, we are seeking a candidate who excels in strategic planning and possesses robust analytical skills. The ideal applicant will have a proven ability to develop and implement efficient production schedules aligned with long-term company goals. A strong capability in analysing production data to interpret trends and make informed decisions is essential. The role demands a candidate skilled in conducting thorough root cause analysis to resolve complex issues effectively.

Leadership qualities and excellent communication skills are paramount. We are looking for a visionary leader who can inspire, manage, and motivate teams, ensuring high levels of collaboration and performance. The candidate must demonstrate superior verbal and written communication skills, necessary for effective coordination with both internal teams and external partners. This role requires providing clear, actionable updates to both local and central planning teams.

The Scheduling Manager must be an adept problem solver with solid project management expertise. This includes the ability to identify and address problems swiftly, particularly in high-pressure situations, and manage large-scale projects with precision, meeting all deadlines without compromising on quality.

Attention to detail and adaptability are also critical. The successful candidate will meticulously manage multiple aspects of production schedules, ensuring accuracy in SKU management, production line scheduling, and material flows. They must also display a high degree of adaptability and flexibility, adjusting plans dynamically in response to changes in production needs while maintaining operational efficiency.

Technical proficiency is required along side advanced Excel skills for comprehensive data analysis and reporting. Additionally, a focus on optimizing production and resource allocation to achieve cost efficiency without sacrificing quality is essential.

Ferrero is a family-owned company with a truly progressive and global outlook and iconic brands such as Nutella®, Tic Tac®, Ferrero Rocher®, Raffaello®, Kinder Bueno® and Kinder Surprise®. As the love for our brands continues to grow, so too does our global reach. Represented in more than 50 countries, with products sold in more than 170, the Ferrero Group is loved by generations around the world. The secret to our global success? 40,000 dedicated employees who celebrate care and quality to craft a business, careers and brands we are proud of. Join us, and you could be one of them., Ferrero is committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture in which all employees feel welcomed and appreciated and have the same opportunities. We believe all of our people are equally talented in their own way. In nurturing the curiosity and natural abilities of our employees, we provide them, generation after generation, the means to succeed personally and professionally, enabling them to craft their journey at Ferrero. The diversity of our talents is what makes our work environment multicultural, innovative and highly rewarding., Consumers, quality and care are at the heart of everything we do. So, to be successful at Ferrero, you'll need to be just as consumer and product centric as we are - dedicated to crafting brilliant results for consumers around the world.