Position Summary:
Novolex is seeking a Manager – Supply Chain Planning and Scheduling to help lead the design, integration, and delivery of our next-generation Integrated Business Planning (IBP) capabilities.
This role will sit at the intersection of business planning, manufacturing, supply chain, data, and enterprise technology. The successful candidate will combine strong functional knowledge of SAP Production Planning (PP), SAP PP/DS, and Kinaxis with an understanding of S&OP / Integrated Business Planning principles and how planning processes operate across a complex, multi-system manufacturing environment.
This is not simply an SAP configuration role. The position will be expected to understand the end-to-end planning process, translate business requirements into scalable technology solutions, work across multiple platforms and integration points, and help engineer the future planning architecture for Novolex.
The IT Manager will lead a team of two while working closely with Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Commercial, Finance, Data, Enterprise Architecture, ERP teams, implementation partners, and other technology organizations.
A key initial responsibility will be helping design, engineer, and deliver Novolex's new Integrated Business Planning capability, establishing the technology and integration foundation required to connect strategic, tactical, and operational planning.
Key Responsibilities:
Integrated Business Planning
- Partner with business and technology leadership to design and implement Novolex's future Integrated Business Planning operating and technology model.
- Translate S&OP / IBP business processes into technology capabilities, integration requirements, data requirements, and system architecture.
- Help establish the technology required to connect:
- Demand planning
- Supply planning
- Production planning
- Detailed scheduling
- Material requirements planning
- Inventory planning
- Capacity planning
- Manufacturing execution
- Order fulfillment
- Financial and business planning
- Understand the difference between strategic, tactical, and execution-level planning and ensure appropriate integration between each planning horizon.
- Partner with business leaders to improve planning visibility, exception management, scenario planning, and decision support.
SAP Production Planning & PP/DS
- Serve as a functional and technical leader for SAP Production Planning (PP) and SAP PP/DS.
- Provide leadership around production planning processes including:
- Material Requirements Planning
- Master Production Scheduling
- Production and process orders
- Bills of material
- Routings and recipes
- Work centers and resources
- Capacity planning
- Production versions
- Detailed scheduling
- Planning parameters and master data
- Understand integration between SAP PP / PP-DS and adjacent SAP capabilities including MM, SD, WM/EWM, QM, CO, master data, and order fulfillment.
Kinaxis
- Provide technology leadership for the use of Kinaxis within the planning ecosystem.
- Understand Kinaxis capabilities across demand, supply, capacity, scenario, and supply-chain planning.
- Help determine the appropriate division of responsibilities between Kinaxis, SAP, and other enterprise platforms.
- Ensure planning outputs can be translated into executable plans within manufacturing and ERP systems.
- Identify and resolve gaps between planning assumptions and operational execution.
Enterprise Integration
The successful candidate must be comfortable working beyond individual applications and understanding how information moves across an integrated enterprise landscape.
Responsibilities include:
- Define business and system integration requirements between planning, ERP, manufacturing, warehouse, transportation, master-data, analytics, and financial systems.
- Work with integration and architecture teams on interfaces, APIs, batch integrations, middleware, and data flows.
- Understand upstream and downstream consequences of planning-system changes.
- Identify where process, data, integration, or system design is creating planning problems.
- Help simplify architecture and reduce unnecessary duplication of planning logic across platforms.
Data & Master Data
- Understand the importance of high-quality planning master data, including:
- Material masters
- Bills of material
- Routings
- Resources and work centers
- Production versions
- Planning parameters
- Lead times
- Lot sizes
- Safety stock
- Capacity
- Transportation and sourcing relationships
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, or related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
- Approximately 5–7+ years of progressive experience supporting enterprise manufacturing or supply-chain technology.
- Strong hands-on functional knowledge of SAP Production Planning (PP).
- Experience with SAP PP/DS or advanced production planning and detailed scheduling.
- Experience with Kinaxis RapidResponse or Kinaxis Maestro.
- Demonstrated understanding of manufacturing and supply-chain planning processes.
- Working knowledge of S&OP and Integrated Business Planning principles.
- Experience integrating planning platforms with ERP and other enterprise applications.
- Experience translating business processes and requirements into technology solutions.
- Experience supporting complex, cross-functional technology initiatives.
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
- Ability to communicate effectively with both technical teams and business executives.
- Demonstrated ability to operate successfully across multiple teams, systems, and organizational boundaries.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with SAP S/4HANA Production Planning.
- Experience with embedded SAP S/4HANA PP/DS.
- Experience designing or implementing an enterprise Integrated Business Planning capability.
- Experience in a complex, multi-site manufacturing organization.
- Experience in environments operating multiple ERP platforms.
- Understanding of supply-chain planning concepts including:
- Demand planning
- Supply planning
- MRP
- MPS
- Capacity planning
- Finite scheduling
- Inventory optimization
- Available-to-Promise
- Scenario planning
- Experience with SAP integration across MM, SD, EWM/WM, CO, QM, and master-data processes.
- Experience with modern integration technologies, APIs, middleware, and cloud platforms.
- Experience working with global systems integrators and software vendors.
- Prior people-management or team-lead experience.
Leadership Characteristics:
The successful candidate will:
- Think end-to-end rather than application-by-application.
- Understand that planning problems can originate in process, data, organization, integration, or technology.
- Be comfortable moving between strategy and detailed execution.
- Challenge complexity rather than simply automate it.
- Build credibility with manufacturing and supply-chain professionals.
- Take ownership for outcomes rather than limiting responsibility to individual systems.
- Work effectively in a changing transformation environment.
- Develop internal capability while appropriately leveraging external partners.
Initial Key Deliverables:
During the first 12–18 months, this leader will be expected to contribute significantly to:
IBP Architecture & RoadmapHelp establish the target technology architecture and roadmap supporting Novolex's Integrated Business Planning strategy.
Planning Process IntegrationDefine how demand, supply, production, detailed scheduling, and execution processes interact across Kinaxis, SAP, and other platforms.
SAP / Kinaxis IntegrationImprove the reliability, transparency, and scalability of integration between planning and ERP environments.
Future S/4HANA Planning ModelHelp establish the strategy for SAP S/4HANA PP and PP/DS as Novolex evolves its ERP landscape.
Planning Data FoundationIdentify and address the master-data and transactional-data capabilities required for reliable planning.
IBP Program DeliveryProvide technology leadership through design, build, integration, testing, deployment, and stabilization of the new IBP capability.
Internal Capability DevelopmentBuild a strong internal Supply Chain Planning technology capability and reduce unnecessary dependency on external consultants.
How Success Will Be Measured:
Success in this role will ultimately be measured by business outcomes rather than system implementation alone, including:
- Improved integration between planning and execution.
- Increased planning stability and visibility.
- Better alignment between demand, supply, capacity, and manufacturing plans.
- Reduction in manual planning activities and disconnected spreadsheets.
- Improved quality and reliability of planning data.
- Faster identification and resolution of supply-chain exceptions.
- Successful delivery and adoption of Novolex's Integrated Business Planning capabilities.
- Creation of a scalable planning architecture that can support Novolex's broader ERP and supply-chain transformation.
Compensation:
A reasonable estimate of the current range is $125,000 - 135,000 + bonus + benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. At Novolex, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.
The benefits for this role include 401(k) plan with company match, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, flexible spending and health savings accounts, paid vacation, and sick days, paid parental leave, paid holidays and wellness program.
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