Supply Planning Manager

About Sara Lee Frozen Bakery

Sara Lee desserts have always stood for incredible flavor and superior value in the frozen food aisle and away from home markets. The Sara Lee Frozen Bakery collection of top brands includes Sara Lee, Chef Pierre, Van's, Bistro Collection, Superior on Main and Cyrus O'Leary's.

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery is proud to take these iconic brands into a new era and to continue the evolution that transformed one small Chicago bakery into an American institution. Using carefully sourced ingredients and time-honored recipes, the company is committed to making life's moments a little sweeter, putting its customers first and discovering new ways to make everyone's favorite foods even better.

Working for Sara Lee

Our vision is to be the world's most beloved bakery by creating irresistible foods, growing with our customers, and delivering value for all. We will achieve success through collaboration and innovation in an environment where employees feel empowered to execute with speed. We believe that each of us has unique points of difference and experience to offer. We believe that there is always a better way, and we will never be satisfied with status quo. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, continually seek process improvements and a strong sense of customer service, then this is the right type of environment for you.

Position Summary

The Supply Planning Manager will be responsible for leading the HQ supply and deployment planning process for an assigned business and will be the integration point between all supply chain, operations, and cross-functional business partners. The role manages a team of supply and deployment planners responsible for creating master production schedules across a network of plants and the movement of all finished goods through a multi-tiered distribution network. This position is focused on delivering against the key performance metrics of service, cost, and cash.

This role requires a deep understanding of manufacturing plant operations, with the ability to translate production constraints, capabilities, and scheduling realities into feasible and optimized supply plans. The ideal candidate is also highly proficient in Excel, ERP systems, and supply planning software - leveraging data to drive visibility, decision-making, and performance.

Experience supporting foodservice customers is highly desirable, as the role will often navigate the service and deployment challenges unique to this channel.

Responsibilities

• Lead and evolve supply and deployment planning processes to ensure a robust, reliable, proactive, and repeatable end-to-end process.
• Partner closely with manufacturing plants to understand line capabilities, shift structures, and capacity constraints to ensure executable supply plans.
• Own and improve master data quality in planning systems, including lead times, production constraints, and deployment logic.
• Develop and implement tools and processes to effectively measure and monitor performance against service, cost, and inventory targets.
• Manage the cadence of planning activities and cross-functional meetings related to manufacturing alignment and S&OP.
• Monitor and report on key KPIs on a regular basis, identifying risks and driving corrective action.
• Coach, motivate, and develop the planning team to deliver accurate and aligned master production schedules and deployment plans.
• Partner cross-functionally with Demand Planning, Customer Service, Sales, Marketing, Procurement, and Finance to ensure alignment and responsiveness.
• Serve as a key point of escalation and coordination to resolve service risks, supply interruptions, and large demand changes.
• Provide input and approval for new product launches, promotional plans, and large-scale demand shifts.

Knowledge and Skill Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations, Business Administration, or a related field; MBA preferred but not required.
• 5+ years of experience in supply planning, manufacturing operations, or a combination of both; CPG industry preferred.
• Supervisory experience preferred.
• Deep understanding of plant-level operations and how they translate into executable production schedules.
• Strong leadership and organizational skills; self-motivated and capable of managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Expertise in Excel, including advanced formulas, dynamic modeling, Power Query, and/or VBA.
• High fluency in ERP/MRP systems; experience configuring or optimizing planning parameters is a plus.
• Experience supporting foodservice customers strongly preferred - including familiarity with channel-specific service expectations and deployment challenges.
• Proven ability to lead continuous improvement and planning process optimization initiatives.
• Familiarity with supply chain principles including S&OP, capacity planning, and forecasting.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; ability to interface effectively with senior management and cross-functional teams.
• APICS Certification a plus.

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.