Supply & Inventory Planner
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
Employment Type: Permanent
Harvey Nash is looking for an experienced Supply & Inventory Planner to join our Supply Chain organization in Stuttgart. In this role, you will be responsible for balancing supply, inventory, capacity, and supply chain risks within a complex, multi-tier manufacturing environment.
You will translate demand requirements and business priorities into realistic supply plans, optimize inventory levels, identify potential supply gaps, and develop mitigation strategies. Working closely with internal stakeholders, suppliers, contract manufacturers, and planning teams, you will help ensure product availability while balancing customer service, inventory, cost, cash, and operational risk.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and maintain feasible supply plans based on demand, capacity, material availability, lead times, inventory levels, and logistics constraints.
- Plan and optimize inventory targets, safety stocks, buffers, and inventory positioning to support service and cost objectives.
- Prepare supply and inventory inputs for S&OP and supply review processes, including coverage, supply gaps, shortages, excess inventory, and risk exposure.
- Monitor supply and inventory performance across internal and external manufacturing locations.
- Identify potential supply constraints and inventory risks early and develop appropriate mitigation and recovery plans.
- Perform scenario analysis to assess the impact of demand fluctuations, capacity constraints, lead-time changes, allocation decisions, production ramps, and supply disruptions.
- Work closely with suppliers and contract manufacturers to assess capacity, material availability, lead times, and recovery options.
- Support shortage management by coordinating recovery actions, allocation proposals, expediting requirements, and execution priorities.
- Ensure an effective handover from supply planning to operational execution.
- Monitor inventory health and proactively manage excess and obsolete (E&O) inventory.
- Support lifecycle planning activities including NPI, phase-in/phase-out, last-time-buy, EOL, and obsolescence management.
- Review and improve planning parameters, inventory policies, master data, and planning processes.
- Develop and maintain KPI dashboards and management reports covering supply feasibility, inventory coverage, inventory turns, shortages, E&O exposure, buffer effectiveness, and service performance.
- Use data and analytics to identify improvement opportunities and support fact-based supply chain decisions.
- Collaborate effectively across Supply Chain, Logistics, Procurement, Sourcing, Operations, Data & Analytics, and external manufacturing partners.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, Business, Engineering, Finance, or a related discipline.
- 5+ years of experience in supply planning, inventory planning, material planning, supply chain operations, or inventory management.
- Strong knowledge of supply and inventory planning principles, including:
- Capacity planning
- Lead-time management
- MOQ and lot-size considerations
- Safety stock and buffer planning
- Inventory coverage and turns
- Forecast consumption
- Excess & Obsolescence (E&O)
- Service, cost, cash, and risk trade-offs
- Experience working with ERP/MRP and supply chain planning systems, such as Oracle, Kinaxis, or similar platforms.
- Experience working with suppliers, contract manufacturers, and global supply networks.
- Strong understanding of S&OP, supply review, shortage management, and supply execution processes.
- Experience performing scenario planning, risk assessment, and supply constraint analysis.
- Exposure to NPI and product lifecycle management, including phase-in/phase-out, EOL, last-time-buy, and obsolescence activities.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a structured, data-driven approach.
- Advanced Excel skills and experience with data analysis and visualization.
- Experience with Power BI or similar reporting/BI tools is highly desirable.
- Experience with Kinaxis/Maestro or comparable advanced planning solutions is an advantage.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively in a matrix organization.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and work collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications
- APICS / ASCM certification such as CPIM or CSCP.
- Experience in a technology, electronics, semiconductor, manufacturing, or other complex supply chain environment.
- Experience with continuous improvement initiatives and optimization of planning processes.