Global Planner (Memphis, TN)

Smith+Nephew•Memphis, TN

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

At Smith+Nephew, we design and manufacture technology that helps people live without limits. Our global supply chain is at the heart of delivering life-changing products to customers and patients around the world. As we continue to evolve and modernize our planning ecosystem, we are looking for a Global Planner who thrives in complexity, leads with insight, and collaborates deeply with our manufacturing partners. The Global Planner is the primary point of contact between Global Supply Planning and the manufacturing site, responsible for generating the production build plan (via Maestro level loading) and ensuring operational stability through strong S&OE leadership. In this role, you will oversee planning for an assigned product portfolio—balancing inventory, capacity, and customer service objectives. You will manage constraints, analyze changes, drive continuous improvement, and support the end-to-end supply chain from upstream manufacturing to downstream global distribution centers. This is a highly visible position that influences decision-making vertically (from operations to executives) and horizontally across a global, cross-functional network.

Requirements

BS/BA degree with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience; or an MBA/MS in a related discipline; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Excellent analytical and communication skills.
Good interpersonal skills.
Solid understanding of forecasting, inventory management, and capacity planning.
Proactive, independent, and comfortable working in a fast-moving global environment.
Must have advanced software skills. We will test for proficiency.
Expert-level knowledge of advanced planning systems (APS) and ERP.

Nice To Haves

APICs certifications a plus
Direct experience with SAP is a plus.

Responsibilities

Serve as the main planning interface to the manufacturing site, owning site communication, priorities, and alignment.
Generate the build plan through Maestro level loading; validate supply plans and resolve exceptions in Maestro and SAP.
Lead and continuously improve S&OE (Sales & Operations Execution) meetings with the manufacturing site to ensure schedule adherence, service levels, and inventory targets.
Conduct Period-over-Period build plan variance analysis and clearly explain key drivers and changes.
Perform Rough Cut Capacity Planning (RCCP) and evaluate site capacity, value streams, bottlenecks, and constraints.
Review and optimize planning parameters (lead times, safety stock, lot sizing, etc.) to drive accurate planning behavior.
Monitor and manage backorders, spike demands and provide proper root cause analysis for them
Ensure data integrity across planning systems
Prepare analyses, scenario plans, and executive-ready presentations for decision-making.
Coach and support junior planners; may lead projects or process improvements.
Partner with Demand Planning, Marketing, Customer Service, Engineering, Finance, Purchasing, Product Development, and Global Distribution.
Work closely with optimization and analytics teams to improve planning processes and KPIs.
Lead content preparation and participate in SIOP/Supply Review meetings.