TPM SME Planner

About Kerry

Kerry is the world's leading taste and nutrition company for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Every day we partner with customers to create healthier, tastier and more sustainable products that are consumed by billions of people across the world. Our vision is to be our customers' most valued partner, creating a world of sustainable nutrition. A career with Kerry offers you an opportunity to shape the future of food while providing you opportunities to explore and grow in a truly global environment.

About the role

The TPM SME Planner serves as the Subject Matter Expert for Third-Party Manufacturing (TPM) supply planning, providing strategic oversight, standardization, and continuous improvement across TPM operations.

Building on the TPM Planner’s responsibility for executing supply plans, material availability, and vendor coordination, this role focuses on optimizing planning processes, eliminating systemic supply risks, and enabling consistent, high-quality execution across the TPM network.

This role partners closely with Planning Team Leads, Central Supply Chain Managers, Procurement, and TPM vendors to ensure service excellence (OTIF), inventory optimization, and operational stability.

The position transitions the TPM organization from reactive execution to proactive, data-driven planning excellence.

Key responsibilities

1. Planning Standardization & Governance

Define and embed standardized TPM planning processes, methodologies, and guardrails across all planners

Ensure consistency in PSI, MPS, and material planning execution

2. Shortage Prevention & Risk Management

Proactively identify systemic drivers of shortages, past-due POs, and production disruptions

Develop risk mitigation strategies across raw material, production, and vendor constraints

3. KPI Ownership & Performance Improvement

Own definition, tracking, and interpretation of TPM planning KPIs (OTIF, DOH, SAR, past due, expedites)

Identify performance gaps and lead initiatives to improve service levels and reduce cost (expedites, inventory write-offs)

4. Cross-Functional & External Alignment

Act as the escalation point for complex TPM planning issues (material constraints, production delays, vendor issues)

Drive alignment between Planning, Procurement, Logistics, Quality, and TPM partners

Qualifications and skills

5–8+ years in Supply Planning / Supply Chain roles

Proven experience managing TPM / external manufacturing environments

Demonstrated experience in:

Managing supply plans and material availability

Resolving complex supply disruptions or shortages

Working cross-functionally with Procurement, Logistics, and Manufacturing