Despatch Planner – OTIF Logistics & Route Optimisation

DS Smith Europe; Smethwick; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

Pension scheme

Life assurance and income protection

Employee Assistance Programme

Employee Discounts

Cycle to work scheme

Job summary

DS Smith in Birmingham (Smethwick) is seeking a proactive Despatch Planner to manage the daily production schedule and UK transport plan. You will own route optimisation, load utilisation, and vehicle allocation across supplier and customer networks to drive on-time, in-full deliveries.

You will liaise between on-site manufacturing teams and external transport partners, balance workloads, and identify improvements to reduce bottlenecks and waste while delivering world-class service.

Qualifications

• Experience in transport planning, despatch, or logistics within manufacturing or FMCG.
• Strong understanding of vehicle capacities, load planning and route optimisation.
• Proven problem‑solving skills when handling early‑morning volume peaks.
• Clear and effective communicator, liaising with site teams and external hauliers.
• Attention to detail for paperwork, scheduling and transport compliance.

Responsibilities

• Plan daily production schedule and UK transport plan.
• Own route optimisation, load utilisation and vehicle allocation across networks.
• Balance workloads and manage early‑morning peaks under pressure.
• Liaise between on‑site manufacturing teams and external transport partners.
• Identify continuous improvements to reduce bottlenecks and waste and improve OTIF.

Skills

Transport planning

Despatch

Logistics

Route optimisation

Problem-solving

Communication

Attention to detail

Job description

DS Smith in Birmingham (Smethwick) is seeking a proactive Despatch Planner to manage the daily production schedule and UK transport plan. You will own route optimisation, load utilisation, and vehicle allocation across supplier and customer networks to drive on-time, in-full deliveries.

You will liaise between on-site manufacturing teams and external transport partners, balance workloads, and identify improvements to reduce bottlenecks and waste while delivering world-class service.