Planning Team Leader

Clays Ltd; Bungay; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Contributory Pension

Company Sick Pay

26 Days Annual Leave + Bank Holidays

Life Assurance

Cycle Scheme

Free Onsite Car Parking

Job summary

Clays Ltd in Bungay (UK) is seeking an organised Planning Team Leader to head the COP planning team, coordinating workloads and ensuring orders are processed accurately and on time.

You will lead, develop and support the team, plan workloads to meet production deadlines, and maintain quality standards while driving continuous improvement and strong communication across the business.

Qualifications

• Experience in fast-paced operational or customer-focused environments.
• Experience coordinating workloads and priorities to meet deadlines.
• Experience coaching or supervising colleagues; line-management experience is advantageous.
• Clear, confident communicator with professional and approachable manner.
• Organised and adaptable with sound judgement and problem-solving skills.
• Able to balance personal workload with coordinating others.

Responsibilities

• Lead, support and develop the Planning team.
• Plan and prioritise workloads to meet deadlines.
• Maintain high standards of quality, accuracy and performance.
• Resolve day-to-day operational issues and promote continuous improvement.
• Build effective working relationships across the business.
• Remain actively involved in Planning operational activities.
• Coordinate training and development in the team.

Skills

Team leadership

Planning

Attention to detail

Excellent communication

Organisational skills

Problem solving

Proactive

Outlook/Teams/Excel

In-house planning system

Tools

In-house planning system

Outlook

Teams

Excel

Job description

We are looking for an organised and proactive Planning Team Leader to lead our Customer Order Processing (COP) Planning team on a day-to-day basis while remaining actively involved in operational Planning activities. The Planning team is responsible for interpreting book and delivery specifications from customer purchase orders and creating detailed production instructions and factory plans using our in-house system.

This role is responsible for coordinating workload and resources in the Planning team, supporting team performance and development, maintaining quality standards and agreed processes, and ensuring customer orders are processed accurately and on time.

To be successful as a Planning Team Leader, you should be able to balance your own operational workload alongside team leadership responsibilities while maintaining excellent attention to detail and strong organisational skills. Ultimately, you will be a capable problem solver, an effective communicator and a positive leader who can support colleagues, drive continuous improvement and ensure high standards of customer service and operational performance.

Role and Responsibilities:

• Lead, support and develop the Planning team.
• Plan and prioritise workloads to meet customer and production deadlines.
• Maintain high standards of quality, accuracy and performance.
• Resolve day-to-day operational issues and promote continuous improvement.
• Build effective working relationships across the business.
• Remain actively involved in Planning operational activities.
• Coordinate training, cross-training and development in the team.

About you:

• Experience of working effectively in a fast-paced operational or customer-focused environment.
• Experience of coordinating workloads and priorities to meet deadlines.
• Experience of supporting, coaching or supervising colleagues; formal line-management experience would be advantageous.
• A clear and confident communicator with a professional and approachable manner.
• Organised and adaptable, with sound judgement and problem-solving skills.
• Able to balance personal workload with responsibility for coordinating others.
• Comfortable learning and supporting relevant business systems and processes.
• A working knowledge of Outlook, Teams, Excel would be advantageous but is not essential.
• Previous experience within Order Processing, printing or a related environment would be beneficial but is not essential.

What we can offer you:

• Contributory Pension
• Company Sick Pay
• 26 Days Annual Leave + Bank Holidays
• Life Assurance
• Cycle Scheme
• Free Onsite Car Parking (Subject to Availability)
• Working Hours: 8:30am – 5pm with 1 hour for lunch

About Us:

We have been operating for over 200 years, producing some of the most well-known and best-selling books in the UK, providing an invaluable service to a range of publishing clients and in turn, bringing you and your family the books you love to read. With over 800 employees based on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, we supply over 150 million books per year and have recently been acquired by Elcograf. Through this union, we have a strong and exciting future ahead of us and look forward to welcoming you to the company.

Please note, due to the location of our factory, it would be preferable if you have your own transport.