Planning First Line Manager

DHL Supply Chain; Horley; On-site; Confidential; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension scheme

24/7 GP access

Discounts & lifestyle perks

Loans and savings schemes

Job summary

DHL Supply Chain at Gatwick Airport is seeking an experienced Workforce Planner to design and manage rosters, plan daily staffing, and optimise resource use across the operation. You will work with operational teams to ensure precise coverage and data accuracy in rostering systems.

The role requires airport/aviation experience, strong communication, and the ability to react quickly to changes in demand. This is a permanent, full-time on-site position based near Gatwick Airport.

Qualifications

• Experience using workforce management or rostering systems (e.g. SITA) to allocate resources.
• Experience in workforce planning, rostering or scheduling in fast-paced operations.
• Experience producing/interpreting reports (Excel/Power BI) to support decisions.
• Experience within an airport, aviation or ground handling environment.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement and manage rosters across the operation aligned with demand and service requirements.
• Plan and coordinate daily and short-term resource requirements.
• Monitor and adjust real-time resource allocation to changes in demand or disruption.
• Support delivery of contractual performance targets through optimal resource use.
• Identify risks to service delivery and implement mitigation plans.
• Contribute to maintaining high-quality service meeting customer expectations.
• Be SME for planning/rostering systems (e.g., SITA).
• Ensure data accuracy across planning/workforce systems.
• Produce and coordinate operational reports for performance tracking.
• Analyze workforce data to identify trends and gaps.
• Use data insights to improve planning efficiency and utilization.
• Collaborate with ops teams to align workforce planning with needs.
• Provide planning insights to stakeholders.

Skills

Experience with rostering systems (SIT

Workforce planning & rostering

Reporting & data tools (Excel/Power BI

Airport/aviation operations experience

Communication skills

Team player

Job description

Pay Rate: £40,000
Grade: M
Contract Type: Permanent (Full-Time)
Shift patterns: Monday to Friday, 40 hours per week
Location: Gatwick Airport

PLEASE NOTE: The role is based within an airport. You will be required to undergo a security/background check if you are to be successful for this position.

Think you know DHL? Think again! We're not just about delivering parcels. DHL Supply Chain is the world's leading logistics company, providing top-notch ground handling services at numerous UK airports. Join us in our mission to deliver excellence in aviation logistics!

A TYPICAL DAY MAY INVOLVE

• Design, implement and manage accurate and efficient rosters across the operation, ensuring alignment with operational demand and service requirements
• Proactively plan and coordinate daily and short-term resource requirements, ensuring all operational tasks are adequately covered.
• Monitor and adjust resource allocation in real time to respond to changes in demand, absences, or operational disruption
• Support the delivery of contractual performance targets by ensuring the optimum use of available resources.
• Identify risks to service delivery (e.g. skill gaps, overtime dependency, coverage shortfalls) and implement effective mitigation plans.
• Contribute to maintaining a consistent, high-quality service that meets customer expectations.
• Act as the subject matter expert for planning and rostering systems (e.g. SITA), ensuring effective end-to-end utilisation.
• Maintain high standards of data accuracy across all planning, rostering, and workforce systems.
• Ensure correct allocation of skills and resources within systems to support operational delivery.
• Produce and coordinate operational reports (internal and customer-facing) to support performance tracking.
• Analyse workforce data to identify trends, including overtime drivers, absence patterns, and skill gaps.
• Use data insights to recommend improvements to planning efficiency and resource utilisation.
• Work closely with operational teams, training functions and site administration to align workforce planning with operational needs.
• Support engagement with stakeholders by providing clear planning insight and guidance.
• Contribute to building strong working relationships across departments to improve coordination and service delivery.
• Ensure workforce planning is aligned with training requirements, onboarding activities, and compliance needs.
• Support integration of new starters into rosters and operational plans.
• Collaborate with training teams to ensure minimal operational impact from training activities.
• Identify opportunities to improve planning processes, system utilisation and ways of working.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives aimed at increasing efficiency, reducing cost, and enhancing service delivery.
• Ensure planning activities are compliant with business rules, contractual agreements and regulatory requirements.

THIS ROLE WOULD SUIT PEOPLE WHO

• Experience using workforce management or rostering systems (e.g. SITA or similar), including real-time resource allocation.
• Experience in workforce planning, rostering, or scheduling within a fast-paced operational environment (e.g. logistics, aviation, ground handling, or similar).
• Experience producing and interpreting reports to support decision-making and performance improvement (e.g. Excel, Power BI or similar tools).
• Experience within an airport, aviation, or ground handling environment.
• Are confident dealing with challenging situations
• Work well within a team and have excellent communication skills

SECURITY PROCESS TO WORK WITHIN AVIATION AND TRAVEL AT DHL

To obtain a full airside ID, you must:

• Be able to provide five years' address history
• Be able to provide five years' reference history (employment/education/benefit claim/character)
• Pass a pre-employment Drug and Alcohol test

WHY JOIN US?

• Join our generous pension scheme and benefit from an 8% employer contribution, alongside a 4% employee contribution
• Free confidential 24/7 GP consultations
• Hundreds of retail and lifestyle discounts
• Affordable loans, savings schemes and free mortgage advice
• Visit https://careers.dhl.com/global/en/working-at-dhl-supply-chain to learn more

WHO WE ARE

We're the global leaders in supply chain management with 188,000 people in over 50 countries. Our expert teams work together to deliver for our customers across a range of industries including retail, automotive, healthcare and more.

BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE

At DHL, we're all about creating a workplace where everyone's skills and experiences matter, and where you can be your true self every day.

As proud supporters of the Armed Forces Covenant, we value the skills and experience of ex-service personnel and are dedicated to helping our veterans find jobs.

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