Job Description

Solent Group work with a diverse portfolio of Retailers and supply bespoke products within various categories, including Health & Beauty, Household Impulse Snacking and Reusable Bags. We are proud to be best-in-class when it comes to own-label product innovation. Our Categories are fast-paced with ever-evolving trends and a host of ground-breaking products coming to market on a regular basis - we add value to retailers by leading and owning each category.

Here at Solent we want people to be extraordinary. We pride ourselves on creating and producing amazing products and brands for our Global Customers. You will be joining a company with offices globally across South Africa, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Vietnam, and the UK.

Position: Supply Chain Manager

Department: Supply Chain

Reporting to: Head of Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP)

Purpose of the role

To drive and manage the end to end requirements of our customer and supply partners in the S&OP (Sales and Operation Planning) department.

Managing all areas across the Demand Driven Network, including Demand, Forecasting, Purchasing, Supply & Inventory Management.

Scope & Relationships

The Supply Chain Manager reports to Head of the S&OP Department. Working alongside the Logistics and Operations team the wider supply chain team is aligned to customer demand and Solent commercial colleagues.

The Supply Chain Manager will need to be remain flexible and adapt to Supply Chain and business needs while pro-actively managing workload.

Main Responsibilities

• Prioritise work as required with regards to customer and Supply Chain demand.
• Building and Maintaining Relationships and regular lines of communication with key customers and supply partners.
• Lead Planning meetings internally and externally - contribute with data & reporting to drive insight & actions.
• Work with Demand, Purchasing, Supply, Logistics and wider business to build accurate product portfolios and support with maintenance of item master data.
• Work with Commercial and Demand to understand true customer requirements in order to balance service levels with a lean stock profile
• Work within Purchasing function to Raise POs on SAP, seek approvals, send POs and chase confirmed Delivery dates. Along with maintenance of dates on POs and SAP.
• Proactively monitor, analyse and make recommendations to improve stock profile within the group and minimise exposure, whilst also working to understand similar risk within the customer & supply base.
• Actively seek to improve skills and knowledge of yourself via training, skills matrix evaluation and knowledge sharing.
• Promote an attitude of innovation, adaptability, positivity and intrinsic team motivation with a constant focus on being customer centric.

• SAP skills across all supply chain functions
• Analysis of Data Sets in order drive meaningful insights and actions.
• Ability to manage several tasks and initiatives simultaneously
• Understanding of supply chain connectivity with all departments
• Understand complete end to end flow of sales to dispatch, aligned to OTIF
• Effective time management skills with the ability to prioritise.
• Experience of working in the retail or retail supply sector.

• ERP & Supply Chain Systems (preferably SAP)
• Customer Service Levels
• Stock & Inventory Management
• Continuous improvement
• Reporting skills
• Problem solving
• Cost monitoring
• Attention to detail

• Must be flexible and positive towards change
• Possessing the vision, drive and determination to succeed
• Able to communicate clearly and concisely to all levels of the organisation
• Willing and able to make important decisions & recommendations
• Remain composed and supportive during high pressure situations
• Easily approachable and receptive of new ideas

• Competitive salary with annual salary reviews
• 17 days holiday per annum, increasing to 22 days after 3 years service and 25 days after 5 years service and 1 day for birthday leave
• Great learning and development and progression opportunities
• Yearly bonus structure (based on company targets)
• Enhanced Maternity Leave
• Solent social events run by our inhouse Social Team

Solent Group