European Supply Planning Operations Lead (f/m/x)

Entity: Royal Canin

Location: Aimargues (30 min from Montpellier)

Type of contract: Permanent (CDI)

At Royal Canin, Supply Planning is a critical enabler of our ability to reliably serve pets and pet owners across Europe. As the European Supply Planning Operations Lead, you will play a key role in driving planning excellence across a complex supply network serving 120 markets, 5 factories, and more than 1,700 SKUs. In this role, you will lead a team of Regional Planners and ensure the delivery of robust supply plans that support capacity, production, and material planning decisions. You will drive operational performance, foster continuous improvement, and collaborate with stakeholders across multiple functions and organizational levels to ensure business continuity and supply reliability.

What will be your key responsibilities :

• Lead the execution of the Regional Supply Planning cycle, ensuring the delivery of a robust 36-month supply plan supporting capacity, production, and procurement decisions.

• Drive planning excellence through strong governance, data quality management, KPI monitoring, and continuous performance improvement initiatives.

• Own and optimize Material Requirements Planning (MRP) processes to ensure material visibility and continuity of supply.

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Regional Planners, building capabilities and fostering a high-performing team culture.

• Balance team priorities, workload, and resources to ensure efficient operations and business continuity.

• Partner closely with stakeholders across Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Commercial, Finance, Marketing, Digital and Master Data teams.

• Support innovation, renovation and transformation projects by ensuring planning readiness and effective resource allocation.

• Champion simplification, automation and digital adoption to improve planning effectiveness and operational performance.

• Identify opportunities for process improvement and drive initiatives that enhance efficiency, service, and business outcomes.

What are we looking for?

• Master's degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Engineering, Business Administration, or a related field.

• 7-10 years of experience in Supply Chain Planning, preferably within FMCG or a complex manufacturing environment.

• Proven experience leading planning operations and managing end-to-end planning processes in a dynamic business environment.

• Previous people management or team leadership experience.

• Strong expertise in Supply Planning, Demand Planning, MRP, planning governance, and performance management.

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with a data-driven approach to decision-making.

• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate across multiple functions and organizational levels.

• Ability to prioritize, make decisions, and adapt in a fast-paced, changing environment.

• Demonstrated experience driving continuous improvement and operational excellence initiatives.

• Resilient, proactive, and solution-oriented mindset.

• Ability to lead through influence, foster collaboration, and build trust across diverse teams and stakeholders.

• Passion for simplification, innovation, and delivering sustainable business improvements.

• Fluent English communication skills; experience with Advanced Planning Systems (e.g., SAP IBP, Kinaxis, OMP, FuturMaster) is a strong advantage.

What can you expect from Mars?

• Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles.

• Join a purpose driven company, where we're striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.

• Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.

• An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.

• You will work in a unique campus, which gathers more than 800 Associates working for: the international HQ, the French subsidiary, two laboratories, a kennel and a cattery with more than 200 cats & dogs, and finally the most important factory of the Royal Canin group  

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