Material Planner

About the Role Barakat Group of Companies is looking for a proactive and analytical Material Planner to manage material and supply planning for trading items, with a particular focus on air shipments and short-lead-time products.

The role will be responsible for ensuring optimum product availability by translating demand, inventory, incoming shipments and lead-time requirements into accurate and timely material/buying requirements.

The Material Planner will work closely with Procurement, Sales, Warehouse, Logistics and Smartdata teams to optimise inventory, manage supply risks, improve forecasting and minimise stock-outs, excess inventory and wastage.

What You'll Do

Develop and maintain material plans for trading items, with primary focus on air shipments and short-lead-time products. Calculate and communicate timely buying/material requirements to Procurement based on demand, available stock, incoming shipments, lead times and agreed stock-cover norms.

Monitor inventory, Days on Hand (DOH), incoming shipments and projected stock depletion to maintain optimum inventory levels. Work with the Smartdata team to develop, implement and improve AI-based forecasting and RM ordering.

Coordinate with Procurement on buying requirements, origin changes, seasonal transitions and supply constraints. Proactively identify supply risks arising from shipment delays, origin shortages, quality issues and other disruptions. Coordinate alternate supply and mitigation plans with relevant stakeholders.

Work closely with Warehouse, Logistics and Sales to optimise stock allocation and reallocation across sales channels. Monitor demand trends, seasonal requirements, shortages, excess and ageing inventory. Initiate corrective actions to minimise stock-outs, wastage and business losses.

Analyse material and inventory performance and maintain visibility of stock cover and projected availability. Drive continuous improvement by identifying planning exceptions and coordinating timely resolution with relevant stakeholders.

Key Performance Indicators Product Availability / Service Level - Maintain target availability across sales channels and minimise shortages resulting from planning gaps. Inventory & DOH Adherence - Maintain inventory within agreed stock-cover norms while balancing availability, shelf life and inventory risk.

Material / Buying Requirement Planning - Provide timely and accurate material requirements based on demand, inventory, incoming supply, lead times and target stock cover. Supply Risk Management - Proactively identify supply risks and coordinate timely alternate supply and mitigation plans.

Stock Allocation & Channel Availability - Optimise stock allocation across channels based on demand, customer priorities, available inventory and supply constraints. Slow-Moving, Excess & Ageing Inventory - Minimise slow-moving, excess and ageing inventory through proactive material planning and corrective actions.

What We're Looking For Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Commerce, Business or a related field. 2–5 years of experience in Material Planning, Supply Planning, Demand Planning or a related planning role. Experience in FMCG, food manufacturing, fresh or perishable products is preferred.

Strong understanding of material planning and MRP concepts. Good understanding of inventory, DOH, safety stock and service-level concepts. Strong Microsoft Excel and data-analysis skills. Experience with Power Query is highly desirable. Strong planning, prioritisation and organisational skills.

Excellent attention to detail. Strong communication and cross-functional coordination skills. Ability to work effectively with Procurement, Sales, CPD, Warehouse and Logistics teams. Proactive approach to identifying supply risks and resolving planning exceptions.

Key Skills

Material Planning | MRP | Inventory Planning | Supply Planning | Demand Planning | FMCG | Fresh & Perishable Products | DOH | Safety Stock | Procurement Planning | Supply Risk Manageme