Supply & Inventory Planning Team Leader

We're Nichols plc - the home of Vimto, and there is no other business quite like ours

We have been making life taste better since 1908. As well as our refreshingly different Vimto taste, our varied brand portfolio spans the still, carbonated, post-mix and frozen drinks categories - so you will find us in your local supermarket, pub and leisure outlet. We also work with the UK’s leading food manufacturers to provide a truly unique range of products everyone loves.

At the heart of everything is our rich family heritage, an unrelenting ambition to keep innovating, and a true pride in who we are.

We’re well known for our famous purple drink it’s true, but it is our team of talented people that truly make us. We are actively always looking for difference and we are working hard to make sure all our practices are inclusive.

**ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY**:
We are looking for a dynamic individual to join us as Supply & Inventory Planning Team Leader to join Nichol’s UK route to market. Are you ready to take ownership of Supply & Inventory Planning and play a key role in driving business success? We're looking for a **proactive and strategic thinker** who thrives on leading others, optimising processes, solving complex challenges, and ensuring seamless service to our Customers.

In this pivotal role you’ll lead our Supply & Inventory Planning Team, responsible for putting the Customer at the heart of what we do to “Deliver WOW” in supplying our customers.

You will optimise stock deployment strategies for finished goods and raw materials, work within business policies and known constraints to deliver precision and reliability across the supply chain. You will champion Inventory Management excellence to ensure accuracy and efficiency, minimising risks and maximising opportunities. You will forge powerful partnerships with suppliers to meet supply plans, manage constraints and resolve issues quickly.

This is your chance to excel, identifying and delivering opportunities to “Find a Better Way” with our partners and our internal teams to achieve fantastic service whilst minimising costs and CO2 emissions. Your efforts and leadership will demonstrate we’re truly “Passionate About What We Do” at Nichols by continuously monitoring, optimising and elevating performance within the Supply & Inventory Planning team.

You will have a fantastic opportunity to play a valuable role in our Vimto journey, helping us to ‘Make Life Taste Better’ for everyone

**YOUR ROLE WILL INCLUDE**:

- **Maintaining Stock Accuracy**: Ensure flawless record-keeping with 3PL partners and warehouses, keeping everything traceable and on point.
- **Solving Inventory Challenges**: Manage inventory risks, balancing supply and demand to avoid excess or shortages while communicating and expediting solutions.
- **Ensuring Quality Control**: Oversee inbound non-conformance management, traceability, and stock status management to maintain top-tier standards.
- **Innovate with Insights**: Develop supply plan scenarios and sensitivity analyses to support bold and informed business decisions.
- **Generating KPIs and Reports**: Generate insightful reports, monitor performance, and address any issues with actionable solutions.
- **Supporting New Projects**: Proactive planning for successful New Product Introductions (NPI) and other business-critical projects.
- **Leading Continuous Improvement**: Identify and drive initiatives that cut costs, reduce carbon emissions, and elevate service levels.
- **Optimisation**: Define and refine inventory parameters to match demand variability and lead times, ensuring agility and accuracy.
- **Empowering Your Team**: Demonstrate empathetic leadership that inspires, motivates, and develops colleagues while fostering a culture aligned with company values and wellbeing strategies.

**YOU WILL HAVE EXPERIENCE IN**:

- Leading teams, ideally within a supply chain environment
- Management and development of a high performing cross functional team culture with an emphasis on embedding best practice and continuous learning, and driving regional profitable net financial performance
- ERP systems including MRP, production planning and inventory control systems and processes
- Statistical forecasting and demand planning e.g. SAP, Access, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics
- Production planning, materials requirements planning
- Stakeholder management
- Demonstrated experience of continuous improvement
- Working within an S&OP/IBP cycle
- Data visualisation tools such as Power BI or Tableau
- Commercially savvy with a good general supply chain and business understanding

**YOU MAY ALSO**
- Be proficient in Microsoft Excel for data manipulation, cleansing, structuring, analysis, and report generation
- Be proficient in creating ‘What if’ scenarios and sensitivity analyses in Excel, driving actionable insights identify trends, issues and recommend improvement action
- Have understanding of safety stock calculations, reorder point formulas, and eco