Material Planner/Specialist

Material Planner/Specialist

Speke, Liverpool, Permanent - Opening date 14/09/23

AstraZeneca Liverpool is part of the worldwide biologics arm of AstraZeneca.

Here, you’ll have the chance to create a difference in people’s lives every day. As one of the world’s premier biotechnology companies, our mission is centred on delivering life-changing products that advance world health and help fight and cure disease. We are seeking a highly motivated Material Planner / specialist to join us at our Liverpool site.

As a Supply Chain Material Specialist, you will manage the sourcing of inventoried materials for the site, including that required to support the Manufacturing, Quality Control, Engineering and R&D(BPD) departments. This will be through the generation of requisitions and Purchase Orders to provide an adequate inventory to support the annual manufacturing campaign as per the material demands and site integrated schedule.

You will lead the operational contact with suppliers and the supplier business review calls and as such identify, manage and communicate the impact of all constraints, bottlenecks and issues in a timely manner, developing solutions and communicating them forward.

Role responsibilities:

• Understand overall demand perspective and subsequent collective inventory levels and risks to supply.
• Convert requisitions to Purchase Orders for materials/equipment in support of the production schedule and site inventory strategy.
• Responsible for procuring and managing inventory levels for materials/components/equipment for the site, e.g., Manufacturing and QC batch materials.
• Generate all required reporting related to material planning to support Manufacturing e.g., SAP summary reports, delivery schedule and receipts for materials.
• Responsible for set up and sourcing of new materials/equipment for the site as per the change review board (CRB) and in conjunction with the procurement specialists.
• Support procurement specialists in working with suppliers to optimise costs and lead time on existing materials and identify appropriate secondary suppliers.
• Participate in initiatives to improve the quality and efficiency of material supply on and between AstraZeneca sites.
• Use SAP system to set, maintain and track inventory levels for all materials and components to support the site supply plan taking into account all variables, including expiration.
• Understand warehousing capacities for various storage conditions and quality control testing capacities and manage procurement schedule to optimise components supply to support short- and long-term site supply plans.
• Minimise stock out events, and identify constraints in collaboration with:
• Escalate issues, conflicts, constraints to management in a timely fashion and at a suitable level, including a summary of the impact of issues. Perform “what if” scenarios to facilitate management decision-making.
• Responsible for leading regular meetings with customer departments and suppliers and escalating any issues to the operations meetings.
• Responsible for developing and communicating metrics relating to material supply.
• Co-ordinate self-inspection activities to ensure continued compliance.
• Ensure effective use and management of E-Systems for area of responsibility (e.g., SAP, LIMS etc).
• Comply with required standards with respect to documentation, good housekeeping, cGMP, health and safety, timekeeping, regulatory legislative requirements and in accordance with the rules and requirements of the GMP Compliance Rulebook, the Code of Conduct, quality manual and any other company policies and procedures.

Desirable:

• Educated to A level or demonstrated relevant business experience.
• Working towards relevant Professional qualification e.g. CIPS Levels 4 – 6
• pharmaceutical/Biotechnology industry, preferably within a planning, procurement or warehousing environment.
• Regulatory agency inspection awareness

Essentials:

• The role holder must have expert knowledge of cGMP standards
• Expert verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent organisational, planning and time management skills.
• Capable of managing several activities simultaneously.
• Capable of influencing at all levels in the organisation and obtaining support from other areas as and when required.
• Excellent problem solving, communication and interpersonal skills are essential, as is the ability to lead and participate in cross-functional and cross-site teams.
• Experience of ERP systems, for example SAP

Why AstraZeneca?

At AstraZeneca, we 're dedicated to being an outstanding Place to Work. Where you are empowered to push the boundaries of science and spark your high-reaching spirit. There’s no better place to make a difference to medicine, patients, and society. An inclusive culture that champions diversity and partnership, and always committed to lifelong learning, growth, and development. We’re on an exciting journey to pioneer the future of healthcare!

So, what’s next?

Are you ready to bring new insights and fresh thinking to the table? Brilliant! We have one seat available, and we hope it’s yours.

Competitive salary and benefits.

Closing date 28/09/2023

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.