Head of Planning & Logistics Excellence

Thales Group; Crawley; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

4 day week

28 days annual leave

Private healthcare

Pension scheme

Life cover

Employee Assistance Program

Job summary

Thales Group in Crawley, United Kingdom, invites applications for a Head of Planning and Logistics to lead the strategy, governance, and performance of planning and logistics activities, ensuring the seamless flow of materials, information, and resources from suppliers to customers.

You will champion professionalisation, drive Lean and CI, empower teams to operate with autonomy, and partner with Procurement, Manufacturing, Engineering, and Quality to deliver on commitments.

Qualifications

• APICS certification (or willingness to achieve).
• Experience leading planning or supply chain leadership in industrial/manufacturing environments.
• Deep understanding of complex, multi-site supply chain environments.
• Expertise in MRP2, ERP systems, and data-driven decision making.
• Strong knowledge of planning, production, repair, and logistics flows.
• Experience delivering change, transformation and performance improvements.
• Lean principles application and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Excellent communication, influencing, and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Planning function and governance, aligning with objectives.
• Deliver robust S&OP and develop resilient supply plans.
• Oversee planning of materials and resources in operating plans.
• Drive MRP2 best practices and ERP-enabled planning processes.
• Ensure effective supply chain analysis and performance insights.
• Lead and optimise logistics operations including 3PL/4PL relationships.
• Manage inventory strategy and flows from goods receipt to despatch.
• Support production and repair units to meet delivery and capacity commitments.
• Contribute to strategic evolution of supply chain capabilities and tools.
• Embed Lean thinking and continuous improvement, reducing lead times and WIP.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration across Procurement, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, and Projects.

Skills

Multi-site SCM

MRP2/ERP

Planning & logistics flows

Change leadership

Lean & CI

Stakeholder management

Strategy translation

Senior leadership

Inventory optimization

ERP/MES implementation

Transformation programs

End-to-end supply chain

Education

APICS certification

Tools

MRP2 systems

ERP systems

MES implementations

Job description

Thales Group in Crawley, United Kingdom, invites applications for a Head of Planning and Logistics to lead the strategy, governance, and performance of planning and logistics activities, ensuring the seamless flow of materials, information, and resources from suppliers to customers.

You will champion professionalisation, drive Lean and CI, empower teams to operate with autonomy, and partner with Procurement, Manufacturing, Engineering, and Quality to deliver on commitments.