Senior Planning Manager

John Lewis Partnership; Hamilton; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Senior Planning Manager to enhance their resource planning function. This role involves strategic capacity planning, advanced forecasting, and ensuring service delivery excellence across a multi-site contact center environment. The ideal candidate will lead a team to align resource planning with customer care objectives, utilizing their expertise in workforce management tools and data analysis. Join this innovative firm and contribute to creating a positive customer and employee experience while enjoying a supportive work culture that values flexibility and work-life balance.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in resource planning within a multi-site, multi-channel environment.
• Experience in contact centre scheduling and service delivery.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of long-term and short-term capacity plans based on data analysis.
• Oversee accurate forecasting for call volumes and handling times across channels.

Skills

Resource Planning

Capacity Planning

Forecasting

Scheduling

Stakeholder Management

Team Management

Data Analysis

Microsoft Excel

Tools

Calabrio

Job description

About The Role

Location: Home location of Hamilton or Wilmslow, with hybrid working. Nationwide UK travel required for site visits.

Hours: 36.25, Monday to Friday core office hours

About the role

As Senior Planning Manager you will support the Operational Delivery Lead – Customer Care by owning the Resource Planning function, end to end. You will bring together all elements of Resource Planning from Capacity Planning to Service Delivery – this includes the Planning Managers (Capacity Planners), Short Term Forecasters and Scheduling and Service Delivery Team. You will ensure that all resource planning elements align with our Customer and Employee Experience strategy and delivery optimal service across the customer care estate.

You will lead the development of long-term and short-term capacity plans based on comprehensive analysis of historical data and future trends across multiple sites and channels, providing direction to your team so they can deliver against the strategic goals of the Customer Care senior leadership team. You will also use your expertise to support the scheduling and service delivery team ensuring that all operational stakeholders are aligned to their agreed outcomes.

Key responsibilities of the role include:

1. Strategic capacity planning: Lead the development of long-term and short-term capacity plans based on comprehensive analysis of historical data and future trends across multiple sites and channels.
2. Collaborate with senior leadership: Work closely with the senior leadership teams across customer care to ensure alignment between objectives of the resource planning function and customer care operation.
3. Advanced forecasting: Oversee the creation of accurate and sophisticated forecasts for call volumes, handling times, and other key metrics across various channels (phone, email, chat, social media). Implement advanced forecasting models and tools to enhance accuracy and responsiveness.
4. Scheduling oversight: Direct the development and management of staff schedules to meet forecasted demand across different sites and channels. Ensure compliance with employment law, company policies, and industry best practices.
5. Service delivery excellence: Ensure that service level agreements (SLAs) are consistently met or exceeded for all channels. Review and maintain the accuracy of the WFM Tool (Calabrio) and ensure best practices are embedded within the operational teams.

Qualifications and Experience skills you’ll need

Essential:

• Extensive experience in resource planning within a multi-site, multi-channel global contact centre environment
• Experience in contact centre capacity planning and resource planning models and best practice
• Experience in Contact Centre Scheduling and Service Delivery
• Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple high priority tasks
• Experience of people/team management responsibility
• Experience which demonstrates effective stakeholder management
• Experience of multiple Workforce Management Tools with hands on experience of Calabrio
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills

Desirable:

• Experience of analysing data
• Experience working with BPO partners
• Experience of leading the development Capacity Planning Models
• Experience in What If modelling

About The Partnership

We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

Important points to note:

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.

We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.