Business Planning Manager (12-month FTC)

Who are we?

Argent Energy operate in the UK and Netherlands and are a leading European waste-based biodiesel producer with a vision to help decarbonise transport worldwide. We have ambitious plans to grow the business and enter new markets.

Main purpose of the role

The Business Planning Manager is accountable for:

• In charge of driving the full optimisation of the long term strategic planning (18 months rolling forecast) based on business requirements and assets development

• Optimizing plant output and ensure all risks mitigations are in place based on strong financial analysis

• Leading and embedding the end-to-end Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process across the Group, ensuring customer demand is met through alignment of commercial requirements, operational capacity, inventory strategy and financial objectives.

• The governance, preparation, coordination and facilitation of the S&OP cycle, ensuring robust cross-functional decision making between Sustainability, Commercial, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance and Logistics, and providing clear visibility of risks, constraints, trade-offs and required actions.

• Data integrity, reporting accuracy and scenario modelling that underpin S&OP decisions, enabling timely escalation and executive decision making.

This is a 12-month fixed-term contract.

Your main responsibilities will be:

• Lead, coach and develop the Planning team to deliver consistent high performance across sites.

• Own the group planning framework and cadence, ensuring demand, supply, inventory and production plans are aligned to customer requirements, capacity and financial targets.

• Ensure any decision are based on financial numbers

• Ensure the quality, integrity and governance of planning master data and reporting, enabling accurate visibility, performance management and decision support.

• Facilitate cross-functional S&OP discussions and decision making, ensuring risks, constraints and options are clearly articulated and appropriately escalated.

• Build effective interfaces with Commercial, Operations, Trading, Sustainability, Procurement to anticipate changes (e.g., feedstock, customer demand, NPD/NPI) and ensure smooth planning transitions.

• Define and embed inventory policy (e.g., safety stock, min/max parameters) and monitor adherence to support service, working capital and operational stability.

• Drive continuous improvement, standard operating procedures and performance reporting (KPIs/visual management) to improve service, reliability and efficiency.

• Drive standardised planning ways of working across sites, continuous improvement and digitalisation (including effective use of Oracle/ERP), and support strategic change initiatives through to implementation.

• Own planning-system ways of working, including ongoing development of Oracle/ERP and related digital tools to improve planning effectiveness.

• Drive/Assess strategic impact of our sustainability route

Your key relationships will be:

Internal

• Commercial / Trade teams (demand signals, customer commitments, market changes)

• Operations / Manufacturing & site planning teams (capacity, constraints, execution readiness)

• Supply Chain / Logistics (inventory strategy, inbound/outbound constraints, service)

• Sustainability department (compliance requirements to be embedded in planning processes and decisions)

• Finance (alignment to financial objectives, working capital, performance reporting)

• IT / ERP support (Oracle/ERP process adoption, data governance and improvements)

External

• Key customers (service commitments, demand changes, delivery expectations)

• Key suppliers / service providers (where relevant to planning constraints and lead times)

Skills and behaviours you will need to be successful:

• Management of high throughput,  production plans and processes.

• Proven people management, team building and team development skills across multiple sites.

• Financial acumen to support decision

• Supply, Production, Demand planning experience gained in a manufacturing / FMCG environment.

• Proven experience in production management/planning ideally using LEAN manufacturing principles.

• Knowledge of process management, control systems, logistics and scheduling expertise.

• Experience of working with Oracle or ERP systems.

• Excellent organisational and people management skills and a track record of motivating and developing people.

• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills

• Ability to employ a logical, analytical, and systematic approach to problem solving using CI techniques.

• Exceptional verbal, written communication, and interpersonal skills.

• Strong systems knowledge, au fait with planning software and latest developments, with excellent excel skills.

• Use a dynamic approach, with the ability to multitask, and meet deadlines under pressure.

• Proactive and positive attitude in the work environment.

Experience and qualifications required:

• Relevant qualification in Supply Chain Management, Operations, Logistics, Engineering or Business (desirable).

• Significant experience in supply, production and/or demand planning within a manufacturing environment (FMCG desirable), with proven capability to lead cross-functional planning processes and drive improvements through systems and standard ways of working.

• Experience to worldwide source of supply

Travel to all Argent sites will be required with this role.

What we offer

• Opportunity to be part of a dynamic and highly motivating team.

• Fulltime role based at our facility in Amsterdam with the option to work from home 2 days a week.

• Good primary and secondary employment conditions and an attractive pension scheme.

• A bonus scheme based on stated business results.

• Working to an sustainable future with 300 passioned colleagues and lots of room for personal development.

Next steps

Interested? Send us your resume and motivation letter in English today!

To respect the GDPR regulations, we cannot process your personal data without permission. That is why we strongly recommend that you apply directly through our work-at site. Applications by e-mail will not be taken into consideration in this context.

Any questions? Contact Richard Witte (HR Manager). Richard can be reached by phone at +31650677408.