Site WIP Planner – Supply Chain Planning

About the role

The Site WIP Planner will optimise daily and weekly factory schedules to meet customer demand while minimising costs. Working within Unilever’s Southern Africa supply chain, you will ensure production plans align with finished‑goods inventory targets and support both local and export operations.

Key responsibilities

• Use SAP APO to schedule labour, machine and material resources to achieve service level targets.
• Collaborate with material planners to confirm material availability before presenting the plan to the factory.
• Communicate the weekly production schedule to the production team and resolve any constraints.
• Negotiate alternate plans with the Supply Planner and provide contingency requirements for third‑party planners.
• Flag risks affecting export‑specific volumes to the Intercompany Sourcing Manager.
• Calculate and propose demonstrated capacities (DCs) to the Operations team each month.
• Maintain and update APO master data as required.
• Review the previous week’s performance against plan and adjust orders accordingly.
• Identify short‑term risks in the frozen period and assess exception handling possibilities.

Required profile

• Strong analytical ability to reconcile supply and total demand.
• Experience coordinating production schedules across material and production teams.
• Ability to identify, resolve and communicate production constraints.
• Proactive risk‑management mindset for both local and export volumes.

Required skills

• SAP APO