Supply Planning Manager – Contract Manufacturers

Unilever is currently hiring for a Supply Planning Manager – Contract Manufacturers

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. 

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our inclusive, collaborative, and flexible working environment. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

JOB PURPOSE

The role is responsible for ensuring consistent and reliable supply from our Contract Manufacturers (CMs) by leading the end-to-end materials and production planning of third-party operations. Acting as a complexity champion, the planner uses continuous improvement and digital solutions to guarantee production adherence, materials availability, and operational stability at our third parties.

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE

• Accountable for building and executing the supply plan for Contract Manufacturers, ensuring production adherence and materials availability by collaborating with internal and external stakeholders, and managing exceptions to proactively mitigate risks;
• Leader of a team responsible for the following activities at third-party manufacturers: MPS, MRP, Line Scheduling, materials planning and production planning of CMs;
• Responsible for the materials planning (RPM) of third parties, ensuring the right coverage, availability, and flow of raw and packaging materials to sustain the production plan;
• Partner directly with Contract Manufacturers to align production capacity, lead times, MOQs, and constraints, ensuring the feasibility and execution of the agreed plan;
• Establish and lead governance forums with CMs (weekly production/materials alignment and daily execution follow-ups) to reinforce communication, escalation, and continuous improvement;
• Monitor and action waste prevention at CMs – Finished Goods, Packing and Raw materials – assuring zero waste;
• Manage crisis at third parties – product availability, capacity constraints, quality and materials issues – with structured recovery plans;
• Provide feedback on supply risks and opportunities, keeping stakeholders informed about production or materials constraints;
• Collaborate with the innovation planning team, providing inputs during innovation and strategic/VIP projects, mainly on phase-in/phase-out plans, portfolio changes/relaunch and RPM balancing to assure zero waste;
• Interact with Logistics, Sourcing Units, and DC teams to align inbound/outbound flows, materials supply and production execution;
• Drive digitalization and continuous improvement of third-party planning processes .

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO SUCCEED

Experiences & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• Supply Planning experience
• Planning Mastery (MPS, MRP, LS, DRP)
• Third-party / Contract Manufacturer management
• Inventory and materials management
• Problem Solving
• Scenario and Exception Based Planning
• Data Driven Decision Making
• Digital Mindset (to use & deploy Planning tools – e.g Kinaxis)
• Fluent in English and Portuguese, both written and spoken.

Skills

• Analytcial skills
• Business acumen
• Influence and communication
• Leadership and People management
• Essential mindset

Leadership

• You are an inclusive motivator of people. Your team delivers with real passion, growing and learning from each other whilst delivering quick wins.
• You are still responsible for your own results and as a manager, you also need to motivate others to deliver with passion, creating an inclusive and engaging climate around you. You can balance challenges with support and coaching.

Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicants from all walks of life! This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. 

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.