About the role
Emesent is looking for an experienced manufacturing planning leader to own the end-to-end planning and supply chain function within our Manufacturing & Supply Chain team. Reporting to the Senior Director, you will be accountable for translating commercial demand into executable production plans, ensuring uninterrupted material availability across all product lines, and providing clear, transparent operational communications to every part of the business that depends on manufacturing.
This is a function-ownership role, not a task-execution role. You will build, lead, and develop a small planning and procurement team while personally driving the systems, processes, and cross-functional coordination that connect sales demand to production delivery. The scope spans Hovermap STX, A3D STX, GX1, RMA, and Accessories — five product lines with distinct build times, bills of materials, and demand profiles.
### Key accountabilities
Planning & S&OP ownership
Own and run the monthly Sales & Operations Planning cycle: consolidate demand signals from commercial teams, reconcile against production capacity and material availability, and produce a consensus plan with documented assumptions and risks
Build and maintain rolling production schedules across all product lines, translating confirmed orders and pipeline forecasts into weekly and monthly build plans
Own capacity planning: model throughput against demand, identify constraints and bottlenecks, and present options to leadership with quantified trade-offs (e.g. overtime, shift changes, outsourcing, order re-sequencing)
Proactively identify and escalate schedule and supply risks to leadership within 48 hours of identification, with recommended mitigations
Supply chain & procurement management
Own supplier relationships across the component supply base: negotiate pricing, lead times, and payment terms to secure best value and continuity of supply
Manage procurement execution - purchase order generation, supplier confirmation, expediting, and goods receipt coordination - directly or through the procurement team member
Drive supply chain risk management at the portfolio level: maintain visibility over single-source exposure, geographic concentration, lead time volatility, and critical path components
Develop and maintain dual-BOM and alternate-source strategies for high-risk or long-lead-time parts
Conduct quarterly supplier scorecards and performance reviews; manage escalations through to resolution
Inventory & warehouse management
Own Fishbowl ERP data integrity across the planning and inventory domain: reorder points, safety stock levels, BOM accuracy, part master data, lead times, default vendors, and minimum order quantities
Run regular inventory audits and cycle counts; investigate and resolve discrepancies to maintain count variances below 2%
Monitor and manage slow-moving, excess, and at-risk stock across 1,400+ active parts; recommend disposition actions
Optimise Auto PO settings and reorder point formulas by part category and consumption history
Stakeholder communications & cross-functional coordination
Produce and deliver a weekly production status and capacity report to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders - covering schedule adherence, inventory health, open purchase orders, and forward-looking risk items
Serve as the primary manufacturing interface for commercial and customer-facing teams: provide delivery commitments, capacity availability for deal sizing, and lead time guidance for customer quotations
Coordinate with engineering on ECOs, new product introductions, BOM changes, and prototype build scheduling
Provide finance with inventory valuation inputs, purchase commitment data, and variance analysis support as required
Manage communication proactively — stakeholders should never be surprised by a delay, constraint, or material change that was foreseeable
Manufacturing operations & systems
Develop and maintain a working understanding of production processes, build flows, and operational constraints across all product lines — sufficient to make informed planning decisions and challenge assumptions
Own the integrity and continuous improvement of the manufacturing systems stack (Fishbowl, Jira, HubSpot integration points) within the planning domain; identify gaps, propose solutions, and drive implementation
Support lean manufacturing and continuous improvement initiatives in partnership with the production function; bring a data-driven perspective to process optimisation opportunities
### Requirements
Essential
5–8 years in manufacturing planning, supply chain management, or production operations, including at least 2 years in a supervisory or team lead capacity
Demonstrated experience owning and running an S&OP or equivalent demand-to-delivery planning cycle
Hands-on ERP system ownership (Fishbowl, SAP, NetSuite, or similar) — not just usage, but configuration, data integrity management, and process improvement within the system
Strong understanding of manufacturing operations: production flow, bottleneck analysis, lean principles, and the interplay between process engineering and planning outcomes
Proven stakeholder communication skills — experience producing regular operational reporting for leadership and cross-functional teams, and managing expectations across competing priorities
Advanced Excel / Google Sheets for modelling, analysis, and operational dashboards
Experience managing supplier relationships including commercial negotiation, performance management, and escalation resolution
Desirable:
Experience in hardware electronics or precision manufacturing (robotics, sensors, or similar)
Direct experience with Fishbowl ERP — Auto PO, work orders, BOM management, part tracking
Exposure to multi-variant BOMs, product configuration management, or new product introduction processes
Understanding of Incoterms, international freight logistics, and export control frameworks (ITAR/EAR awareness)
Lean Six Sigma or equivalent continuous improvement certification
Experience operating across dual-entity or multi-site manufacturing structures
Familiarity with Jira for operational workflow and production tracking
### The added perks
