Materials Planner

Aquent is seeking a highly skilled individual to partner with a global leader in innovative consumer products. This organization is at the forefront of delivering high-quality goods to consumers worldwide, operating within a dynamic, fast-paced environment and managing a vast, complex portfolio of offerings. This is an extraordinary opportunity to join a pivotal team where your expertise will directly shape the future of product availability and market responsiveness. You will be instrumental in ensuring material plans are robust, precise, and perfectly aligned with demand, enabling the continuous flow of groundbreaking products to consumers and driving significant impact across diverse cross-functional teams.

About the Role

In this role, you will be a strategic force, directly influencing the supply chain for a diverse range of products. Your work will ensure seamless product availability and market responsiveness. This is an exciting opportunity to drive significant impact, connect diverse cross-functional teams, and contribute to the strategic success of a leading consumer brand by ensuring every product reaches its destination efficiently and effectively.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and manage material forecasts by integrating demand signals and cross-functional inputs into actionable supply requirements.
• Translate finished-goods demand into comprehensive material supply plans across long-, mid-, and short-range planning horizons.
• Monitor plan health, proactively identify forecast gaps and their drivers, and mitigate potential supply and delivery risks.
• Evaluate the completeness, accuracy, and fidelity of forecasts, maintaining accountability to key planning metrics.
• Prioritize materials and actions using strategic segmentation, service levels, risk assessment, importance, and operational feasibility.
• Establish and continuously improve material lead-time, commitment, staging, and supply strategies to enhance flexibility and reduce risk.
• Collaborate closely with Sourcing, Supplier Management, Manufacturing, and Material Development teams to identify optimal sourcing, capacity, and material alternatives.
• Lead seasonal readiness initiatives across assigned product and material categories, ensuring timely and effective execution.
• Identify critical risks and emerging opportunities, coordinating cross-functional actions to resolve complex issues efficiently.
• Act as the key representative for Materials Planning in cross-functional meetings, strategic initiatives, and stakeholder engagements.
• Lead strategic projects and implement process improvements that strengthen overall planning capabilities and supply chain responsiveness.
• Analyze performance metrics and business data to develop actionable insights and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Partner with Technology and Analytics teams to enhance planning capabilities, improve data transparency, and optimize decision-making processes.
• Communicate complex planning issues with clarity and precision, influencing stakeholders towards actionable and effective solutions.

What You Bring

• 5+ years of experience in supply planning, materials planning, manufacturing planning, or a closely related supply chain function.
• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Planning, Manufacturing, Logistics, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Strong understanding of materials requirements planning (MRP) principles, demand translation, production planning, capacity management, and key supply chain metrics.
• Proven experience managing material forecasts and adeptly assessing forecast accuracy, completeness, and associated risks.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and effectively mitigate material availability, capacity, sourcing, lead-time, and delivery risks.
• Solid understanding of manufacturing processes and the ability to evaluate various capacity, sourcing, or lead-time strategies.
• Exceptional analytical skills with the ability to leverage data and business context to formulate informed recommendations.
• Proven stakeholder management and cross-functional communication skills, fostering productive relationships.
• Ability to influence partners and build alignment across diverse teams without direct authority.
• Strong project or initiative leadership experience, including a demonstrated ability to drive change and continuous improvement.
• Adept at prioritizing effectively, navigating ambiguity, and consistently delivering results in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong presentation skills, proficient in both verbal and visual communication.
• Experience working with diverse, cross-functional, and potentially global teams.

Bonus Points

• Experience in consumer products such as soft goods, accessories, or sporting goods.
• Experience supporting products with a large number of SKUs and complex material requirements.
• Experience with seasonal planning and readiness processes.
• Experience working directly with suppliers, manufacturing partners, sourcing, or material development teams.
• Experience with material segmentation, critical-material tracking, or similar supply chain risk-management processes.
• Experience leading cross-functional transformation, process improvement, or change initiatives.
• Familiarity with modern supply chain planning, forecasting, ERP, MRP, or analytics platforms.
• Experience working with global or virtual teams.
• Passion for product innovation and the consumer goods industry.

About Aquent Talent

Aquent Talent connects the best talent in marketing, creative, and design with the world's biggest brands.

Our eligible talent get access to amazing benefits like subsidized health, vision, and dental plans, paid sick leave, and retirement plans with a match. We also offer free online training through Aquent Gymnasium. More information on our awesome benefits!

Aquent is an equal-opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. We're about creating an inclusive environment-one where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued, and everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive.