Material Planner

Location: Ontario
Employment Type: Salaried
Work Arrangement: Onsite

Position Summary:

The material planner will plan and manage the materials replenishment process for assigned items or supply categories. The material planning role is responsible for the planning and execution of packaging, ingredients to attain company metrics like inventory levels and customer fill rate. This role will typically analyze changing material demand patterns, interface with vendors, and oversee and improve vendor performance. The position will manage the introduction of new products, engineering changes and customer conversions. Position will manage vendor purchase order changes, process customer order enquiries, schedule changes and cancellations, and determine, research and correct material inventory discrepancy causes. The position will manage slow moving and obsolete inventory to minimize impact to the financial statements. They will collaborate with the Master Data Management team to ensure the accuracy of planning attributes is maintained and updated.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

- Daily review all MRP exception messages. Ensure all required purchase orders are released, canceled, expedited, modified according the exeception messages. Communicate changes of the material replenishment plan to production planners and other functional groups.

- Primary supplier contact for all day to day purchase order issues for all assigned items or supply category including the communication and escalation of issues and supplier performance to other functional groups.

- Monitor and ensure planning strategy and goals are executed. Lead and provide support on the disposition of slow moving and obsolete materials. Ensure vendor returns are processed on time. Analyze data to provide root cause analysis and report on key performance metrics.

- Monitor and plan new material items as assigned. Ensure purchase orders are released, and item attibute data is entered accurately in JDE. Provide planning related information to other functional areas during the new product introduction process. participate in meeting and conference calls.

- Monitor and communicate any data integrity issues. Ensure all required parameters are set in JDE for assigned items or supply categories

- Manage vendor purchase order changes, process customer order inquiries, schedule changes and cancellations, and determine, research and correct material inventory discrepancy causes

- Responsible for following all food safety policies, procedures and regulatory criteria including the current SQF code, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and associated preventive controls

- Other duties as assigned

- Travel may be required

Education and Experience:

- Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, or Engineering (or equivalent experience in Supply Chain Planning or Purchasing)

- Purchasing experience required

- 5-10 years of experience in Business, Supply Chain Management, Engineering preferred

- CPM (Certified Purchasing Manager), CSCP (Certified Supply Chain Professional) or CPIM (Certified Production Inventory Management) certification preferred.

- Relevant JDE experience highly preferred.

Knowledge and Skills:

- Proficient with MS Office.

- Knowledge of material planning procedures, requisitions, purchase orders, and planning terminology.

- Analytical problem solving capability, strong organization skills, and ability to manage change effectively.

- Strong interpersonal, communication, and negotiation skills.

- General supply chain knowledge including planning and inventory management.

- Previous experience in Food & Beverage industry

Why Join Us:

Ventura Foods offers career growth opportunities as well as competitive compensation and benefits:​

- Medical, Prescription, Dental, & Vision – coverage beginning on your 1st day for eligible employees​

- Profit Sharing and 401(k) matching (after eligible criteria is met)​

- Paid Vacation, Sick Time, and Holidays​

- Employee Appreciation Events​ and Employee Assistance Programs

- Salary Base Range of $72,316.85 - $110,255.67*

*The “base salary range” provided above is a good faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position in the specified markets. Ventura Foods reserves the right to pay outside of the given range based on a variety of factors including but not limited to: candidate skills and experience, complexity of the job, budgetary factors, and location/geography. Ventura Foods conducts regular reviews of compensation ranges and therefore reserves the right to alter this range at any given time.

Our Culture
Our Culture reflects our commitment to treating every employee with respect and creating an environment where people can do their best work. We rely on a variety of strengths, backgrounds, and experiences across our teams to help us innovate, grow, and deliver for our customers. By fostering a workplace that is supportive, collaborative, and grounded in integrity, we continue to attract strong talent and meet the high expectations of a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Ventura Foods is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

Ventura Foods may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted tools at certain stages of our hiring process, including identifying & sourcing candidates, reviewing applications and matched candidates on job boards and websites, and generating screening questions to help us work more efficiently and consistently. We regularly review our tools to promote fairness and reduce the risk of bias. However, while these tools support our process, every hiring decision is made by a real person on our team. Applicants in the State of New York may request an alternative process by contacting us at [email protected] .