Senior Planner

Join Our Planning Team at The Compleat Food Group!

Location: Nottingham, Tottle Bakery

Working Hours: Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 3:30pm. Flexibility is required to cover alternative operational shifts (6:00am to 4:30pm) on a temporary basis for absence and holiday cover, including Sunday to Tuesday/Wednesday and Wednesday/Thursday to Saturday patterns.

Are you an experienced planner looking for your next challenge and the opportunity to make a real impact?

As our Senior Planner, you'll take ownership of day-to-day production planning activities, ensuring accurate, achievable, and efficient schedules are in place to meet customer demand, optimise factory performance, and maintain stock availability.

You'll provide support across the planning function, helping to keep operations running smoothly while acting as a key point of continuity during planned absences. You'll proactively identify and manage potential risks, maintain inventory accuracy, and, following training, support Material Planning activities when required.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a motivated planning professional who enjoys working collaboratively, solving problems, and driving operational excellence in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

Who We Are:

At The Compleat Food Group, we’re proud to be a food business built on purpose and passion. Formed in 2021, we’re on a mission to create Food to Feel Good – great quality, tasty and affordable food that people love to eat.

We’re home to some of the UK’s most exciting and loved food brands, including Wall’s Pastry, Pork Farms, Wrights, The Real Yorkshire Pudding Co., unearthed, Vadasz, Squeaky Bean, Palace Culture, and Harvey & Brockless. Alongside our branded portfolio, we’re a leading supplier of delicious own-label pastry, sweet bakery, party food, olives and antipasti, added-value egg products, continental meats, dips and sauces and plant-based food to the UK’s major retailers, as well as across foodservice.

With over 6,000 talented colleagues across 18 sites, and an annual turnover of £1.3bn, we’re united by a shared ambition to shape the future of food for the better.

Your Duties Will Include:

• Creating and maintaining accurate, achievable production schedules that balance customer demand, stock availability and manufacturing capacity. 
• Reviewing and adjusting plans to ensure efficient production flow, maximising labour, material and equipment utilisation. 
• Providing planning cover across shifts during holidays and other planned absences, ensuring continuity of support to operational teams. 
• Identifying, managing and escalating risks relating to capacity, labour, materials, stock or scheduling to minimise operational disruption. 
• Working collaboratively with Production, Supply Chain, Warehouse, Procurement and 3PL partners to ensure effective execution of the production plan. 
• Supporting continuous improvement across the Planning function through data accuracy, process enhancements and coaching of Planning colleagues.

Experience, Skills and Knowledge:

• Previous experience in a production planning, supply planning or manufacturing planning role. 
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to balance competing priorities in a fast-paced environment. 
• Experience of creating and managing production schedules while maintaining high levels of accuracy and attention to detail. 
• Confident communicator with the ability to build effective working relationships across multiple departments and influence stakeholders at all levels. 
• Experience using planning, ERP or scheduling systems, with strong Excel and data management skills. 
• A proactive and adaptable approach, with the ability to identify risks, drive improvements and support colleagues across the wider Planning function.

Benefits to Include:

• 33 days holiday (including bank holidays)
• 2 Employee Volunteering Days per year
• Online and High-street retailer discount scheme
• Employee well-being and community support groups
• Informal and Formal training opportunities with personalised online LMS platform
• Charity Initiatives and Team events
• 24/7 Access to Grocery Aid (Free Financial, Emotional and Practical Support)
• Physical Wellbeing Benefits – Free on demand exercise hub and various gym discounts.
• Online Wellbeing benefits
• Free Financial wellbeing – mortgage calculators, budget tools, financial aid tools
• Holiday Discounts via Online Retail Discount

Recruitment Agencies:

We have a small, active and trusted Preferred Supplier List to assist us if required. We do not acknowledge any speculative CVs or unsolicited candidate introductions. We only accept CV submissions for roles released to you directly by our Talent Acquisition team.

What You Should Know About How We Recruit

At The Compleat Food Group, we believe great teams are built on difference. We create an inclusive, respectful environment where everyone feels safe, supported, and are able to be themselves at work.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to Fairness, Equity, Inclusivity, and Respect. If you need a reasonable adjustment at any stage of our recruitment process, just let us know, we’ll support you — confidentially and with care.

We hire the best people for our roles, not the same people. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, we focus on what you do and the impact you could make in our business. Our recruitment process is fair, accessible, and designed to give everyone an equal chance.

You’ll also find benefits that support people at every life stage, plus active internal networks — including Women @ Compleat, LGBTQIA+, and Neurodiversity