Planning Manager at BURN

About the role

• BURN is seeking an experienced and highly driven Planning Manager to lead end-to-end supply and production planning across all of BURN’s manufacturing facilities in Africa. This is a critical role in ensuring that our factories are aligned to meet demand, optimise resources, and maintain supply continuity in a fast-growing, multi-country operation.
• The Planning Manager will report to the Global Head of Planning and work closely with factory planners, production, procurement, commercial, and logistics teams to ensure the execution of accurate and efficient planning processes across all entities.

Duties and Responsibilities
Regional Planning Leadership

• Oversee the entire planning function (demand, supply, production, and capacity) across BURN’s manufacturing hubs in Africa.
• Ensure each factory maintains a feasible Master Production Schedule (MPS) and Material Requirements Plan (MRP) aligned to demand forecasts and inventory targets.
• Lead weekly and monthly planning cycles and coordinate integrated planning calendars across sites.

Cross-Functional Alignment

• Collaborate with demand planning, procurement, warehousing, and production teams to ensure end-to-end supply chain coordination.
• Act as the key link between the factory-level planners and central/global planning, ensuring alignment on priorities and plans.
• Support S&OP processes by providing visibility on supply risks, factory capacity, production readiness, and recovery plans.

System & Process Development

• Drive the use of Microsoft Dynamics NAV for planning and scheduling activities across sites.
• Standardise planning tools, templates, and KPIs across factories to ensure consistency, efficiency, and visibility.
• Lead the development and improvement of planning SOPs, escalation protocols, and decision frameworks.

Performance Management

• Monitor planning adherence, service levels, capacity utilisation, and material readiness KPIs for all factories.
• Identify bottlenecks or systemic issues in the planning process and lead root cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Continuously enhance planning capabilities through training, coaching, and process improvement.

Skills and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, Engineering, Operations, or related field (Master’s is a plus).
• 5+ years of experience in production or supply planning in a manufacturing environment, with regional/multi-site responsibility preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of ERP systems (Microsoft Dynamics NAV or similar), especially in MPS and MRP.
• Proven ability to lead planning processes in dynamic, high-growth, or complex environments.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and leadership skills.
• Ability to work across cultures, manage remote teams, and influence diverse stakeholders.