Job Overview
The Supply Chain Planner – Consumables is responsible for demand and supply planning, inventory management and material availability across Refeyn's Consumables portfolio. The role ensures materials and finished goods are available to meet production and customer demand whilst maintaining appropriate inventory levels and supporting the continued growth and development of the Consumables business.
Working closely with Manufacturing, Warehouse, Quality, Sales, R&D and external manufacturing partners, the role owns Consumables planning parameters, MRP execution, purchase order management and supply planning, identifying and resolving material and capacity constraints before they impact operations.
The role also provides Supply Chain support during New Product Introduction (NPI) and product transfer, working with the Senior Supplier Quality Engineer on supplier qualification and quality-related activities.
This position is primarily based at our Botley (Oxford) site, with a minimum on-site requirement of four days per week. You will also be expected to travel occasionally to our Littlemore site as business needs require.
Responsibilities
Demand & Supply Planning
- Develop and maintain demand and supply plans for Refeyn's Consumables portfolio.
- Translate demand requirements into material, inventory and capacity plans.
- Maintain ERP/MRP planning parameters including lead times, order policies, re-order points and safety stock.
- Analyse demand, inventory and supply data to identify shortages, excess inventory, capacity constraints and supply risks.
- Develop mitigation plans with relevant stakeholders before constraints impact production or customer supply.
- Ensure appropriate inventory levels are maintained whilst balancing supply continuity, shelf-life requirements and working capital.
- Manage day-to-day inventory activities, including stock adjustments, stock takes, inventory investigations and discrepancy resolution.
- Manage Vendor Replenishment / Supply Key Input into Inventory Agreements (VRMA) internally and in collaboration with suppliers.
Supply & Purchasing
- Raise and manage purchase orders for approved Consumables materials, components and services.
- Monitor supplier delivery performance and proactively resolve shortages, delays and supply discrepancies.
- Work with suppliers and CMOs to align production schedules, material requirements and capacity with Refeyn demand.
- Monitor batch, lot, shelf-life and expiry requirements in collaboration with Quality and Warehouse teams.
- Escalate significant supplier commercial, contractual or capacity issues.
- Support and as needed lead supplier negotiations, including on price, lead time and terms, as part of the purchasing process.
SIOP & Forecasting
- Represent Consumables within the SIOP process, translating demand forecasts into material, inventory and capacity requirements.
- Work closely with Sales and relevant commercial teams to understand changes in demand and assess their impact on supply.
- Identify material, inventory and capacity constraints early and develop appropriate mitigation plans.
- Develop and monitor relevant KPIs including forecast accuracy, inventory, supplier delivery and material availability.
New Product Introduction & Product Transfer
- Provide Supply Chain planning support throughout NPD/NPI and product transfer activities.
- Establish planning parameters and ERP/MRP master data for new Consumables materials, components and products.
- Work closely with R&D and Product Engineering to understand future material and supply requirements.
- Work with the Contracts & Strategic Sourcing Manager to ensure new supplier and sourcing requirements are identified early within NPI and appropriately transitioned into operational planning.
- Work with the Senior Supplier Quality Engineer and Quality team to support supplier onboarding, qualification and quality requirements from a Supply Chain perspective.
- Ensure appropriate material and supply plans are established ahead of transfer into routine production.
- Support BOM and item set-up in the ERP system for new Consumables product lines (e.g. Proteins portfolio).
Supplier & Quality Support
- Monitor supplier delivery performance and support ongoing supplier performance reviews.
- Support the Senior Supplier Quality Engineer and Quality team in resolving supplier quality issues by assessing material availability, inventory exposure and supply continuity impact.
- Support supplier onboarding and qualification activities from a planning and operational Supply Chain perspective.
- Ensure quality issues and supplier disruptions are appropriately reflected within material and production plans.
- As required manage and develop supplier relationships through regular communication and Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs).
- Manage and follow up on CRB (Change/Corrective Request Board) tickets, ensuring issues are tracked, resolved and communicated to relevant stakeholders.
Cross-functional Supply Chain Support
- Share knowledge, workload and best practice across Instruments and Consumables, providing mutual support and operational cover as business priorities require.
- Support planning and purchasing activities across the wider Refeyn portfolio during periods of increased workload, absence or changing operational priorities.
- Identify opportunities to standardise MRP, inventory and planning processes across Instruments and Consumables.
- Maintain sufficient cross-training and understanding of the Instruments supply chain to provide effective operational support when required.
- Support the Process Engineering team with new-generation component transitions, tracking phase-out of old-design components and maintaining visibility of expected run-out / end-of-life dates.
- Work closely with Logistics and Account/Commercial teams to ensure supply plans remain aligned to customer and delivery requirements.
Continuous Improvement
- Drive continuous improvement of Consumables planning, inventory and purchasing processes.
- Use ERP/MRP data and analytical tools to improve planning accuracy and Supply Chain performance.
- Identify opportunities to improve inventory efficiency, lead times, supplier delivery performance and working capital.
- Support improvements in planning processes as Consumables volumes and product complexity increase.
- Support Finance with supplier invoicing or billing enquiries relating to Consumables where required.
- Maintain and update ERP (e.g. NetSuite) master data on an ongoing basis to ensure data accuracy.
- Support MRP system/project implementation, incorporating relevant data and processes from the Electronic Quality Management System (EQMS).
Candidate Requirements
Qualifications
- CIPS Level 3 or above, or equivalent qualification in Business, Procurement or Supply Chain Management, desirable.
- APICS/ASCM CPIM certification or equivalent planning qualification desirable.
- Degree or equivalent professional experience.
- Significant experience in a Supply Chain planning role within a manufacturing or technology environment.
Knowledge & Experience
Advanced
- Demand and supply planning.
- MRP/ERP systems.
- Inventory management and optimisation.
- Forecasting and analytical skills.
- Production and material planning.
Working Knowledge
- CMO / contract manufacturing planning.
- Batch, lot, shelf-life and expiry-controlled materials.
- NPD/NPI and product transfer.
- Quality-managed manufacturing environments such as ISO 9001.
- Supplier performance management.
- Purchasing and purchase order management.
Desirable
- Experience of NetSuite or comparable ERP/MRP systems.
- Experience within Consumables, Life Sciences, Medical Device or another regulated/high-quality manufacturing environment.
We know there is no such thing as the perfect candidate and that there is great value in transferrable skills, so please don’t feel you have to tick all of the above boxes to apply!
Why work for Refeyn?
Compensation and core benefits
- We anticipate a salary starting from £37,000 per annum for this role, depending on the candidate’s experience.
- 25 days annual leave per year in addition to bank holidays
- Up to 7% employer matched pension contribution
- Private health insurance from day one plus critical illness cover, income protection and life insurance
- Give as You Earn and Cycle to Work salary sacrifice schemes.
Family Friendly Benefits
Refeyn offers the Enjoy Benefits Nursery Scheme to employees after 3 months, and new parents can benefit from up to 17 weeks fully paid maternity, adoption and shared parental leave, 4 weeks fully paid paternity leave, plus an annual allowance for emergency childcare.
Supporting your Development
All employees receive access to LinkedIn Learning which offers thousands of courses to support their personal and professional development. We also run frequent training sessions on both hard and soft skills.
Refeyn is proud to use anonymised hiring practices. Identifying information such as a candidate's name, email address, date of birth and photo will not be visible to the hiring manager when they review CVs.
