Strategic Material Planner (all genders)

FrieslandCampina; Leeuwarden; Hybrid; EUR 51,000 - 67,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary €4,550–€6,000 gross per month

5% year-end allowance

10% company bonus

8% holiday allowance

Pension scheme

Hybrid working

Train card / travel allowance (€0.23 p

200 hours annual leave (buy/sell up to

Laptop, phone and home office setup

Wellbeing and inclusion initiatives

Office snacks and fresh fruit

Job summary

FrieslandCampina seeks a Strategic Material Planner to translate production plans into mid- and long-term raw material needs. You’ll align with suppliers and internal stakeholders to ensure material availability and inventory optimization, supporting the overall business plan.

You will analyze changes, highlight deviations, and translate them into insights, risks, and actions. The role emphasizes external supplier collaboration, cross-functional work, and forward planning to minimize disruptions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a related quantitative field.
• Experience in material planning, supply planning, procurement planning or a similar SC role.
• Strong understanding of MRP, inventory management, S&OP and capacity planning.
• Ability to derive insights from planning data and translate them into actions.
• Experience with ERP systems; SAP/APO is a strong advantage.
• Experience with suppliers and aligning medium/long-term volumes and capacity.
• Understanding of supplier lead times, inbound supply chains and transport impact.
• Proactive, results-oriented and able to own analysis from start to implementation.
• Fluent in English, both written and spoken.

Responsibilities

• Strategic material planning and supplier volume, capacity and delivery management.
• Inventory management and optimization.
• S&OP scenario planning and stakeholder management.
• Coordinate with factories, Procurement, Supply Planning, Customer Supply Chain and Finance.
• Ensure on-time material delivery and monitor supplier commitments and timelines.
• Identify supply risks early and develop mitigation actions.

Skills

Supply chain management

MRP

S&OP

Capacity planning

Data analysis

Stakeholder management

Communication

English fluency

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Operations Management, Business Administration or related quantitative field

Tools

SAP

SAP APO

ERP systems

Job description

What we ask

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, preferably in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Operations Management, Business Administration or a related quantitative field.
• Relevant experience in material planning, supply planning, procurement planning, production planning or a comparable Supply Chain role.
• Strong understanding of MRP, inventory management, S&OP and capacity planning.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to understand and explain the drivers behind changing material requirements.
• Ability to work with large amounts of planning data and translate these into clear insights and actions.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a proactive approach to identifying and resolving future supply constraints.
• Experience in working with ERP and advanced planning systems; experience with SAP and SAP APO is a strong advantage.
• Strong understanding of inventory and working capital management.
• Experience working with suppliers and aligning medium- and long-term volume and capacity requirements.
• Understanding of supplier lead times, inbound supply chains and the impact of transportation and delivery performance on production continuity.
• Ability to identify supply risks early and drive mitigation actions before they impact factory operations.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Ability to communicate complex planning issues clearly to different levels of the organization.
• Comfortable working in an international and changing environment.
• Proactive, results-oriented and able to take ownership from analysis through to implementation.
• Fluent in English, both written and spoken.

What we offer

At FrieslandCampina you work on strong, globally loved brands enjoyed by millions every day, like Friso, Campina, Chocomel and Frisian Flag. As a farmer-owned cooperative, we combine an international environment with a clear social and sustainable purpose. We support your growth through training, coaching and internal career opportunities. With trust and autonomy, you can make real impact.

• Salary between €4,550 and €6,000 gross per month (full-time), depending on experience and fit for the role.
• A 5% year-end allowance, 10% company bonus, 8% holiday allowance and a pension scheme.
• Hybrid working with flexible working hours, a train card and/or €0.23 per km (max. 30 km one way).
• 200 hours of annual leave, with the option to buy or sell up to 40 hours.
• A laptop, phone and home office equipment to support flexible working.
• Wellbeing and inclusion initiatives, such as health support, employee assistance programs and diversity initiatives.
• Extras at the office, such as milk and cheese during lunch and fresh fruit.

Vacancy description

As Strategic Material Planner, you are a key player within the end-to-end supply chain. You translate the supply plans of the different production locations into mid- and long-term raw material requirements and ensure that these requirements are aligned with our suppliers and internal stakeholders.

Your responsibility goes beyond calculating material requirements. You understand why material needs are changing, identify the most important deviations versus previous plans and translate these changes into clear insights, risks and actions.

You will have a strong external focus towards our suppliers and will be the key contact for aligning future volumes and capacity requirements. At the same time, you work closely with factories, Procurement, Supply Planning, Customer Supply Chain and Finance to ensure that material availability, inventory and supplier capacity support the overall business plan.

An important part of your responsibility is ensuring that materials ordered from suppliers arrive at our production locations on time. For several key materials, the end-to-end supply chain can have lead times of up to six months. This requires strong forward planning, close monitoring of supplier commitments and transportation timelines, and early identification of potential delays or supply risks.

As part of the S&OP process, you provide transparency on changes in material requirements, potential bottlenecks and their impact on our factories and markets. Where constraints arise, you take ownership of investigating alternatives and developing scenarios to minimize business impact.

Your key responsibilities are:

• Strategic material planning
• Supplier volume, capacity & delivery management
• Inventory management & optimization
• S&OP scenario planning
• Stakeholder management

This position sits at the heart of the Supply Chain. You connect the demand and supply plans of our markets and factories with the raw material capabilities of our suppliers.

Your analysis directly influences decisions on supplier capacity, material availability, production continuity, inventory and working capital. You will have the opportunity to look beyond day-to-day material availability and actively shape the medium- and long-term material strategy for the Rossa and Nigeria businesses.

The role combines strategic planning, data analytics, supplier management, inbound material planning, inventory optimization and S&OP and provides significant exposure across the Supply Chain organization.

This is a position for someone who does not simply identify a constraint, but wants to understand why it exists, what the business impact is, when it will materialize and what alternatives are available to solve it.