Supply Planning Manager

About Sara Lee

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery became a stand- alone company in 2018 when it was purchased by Kohlberg and Company (private equity) from Tyson Foods. Our 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®, 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

Reporting to the Senior Manager of Supply Planning, the Supply Planning Manager leads and develops assigned supply and deployment planners supporting a portfolio of internal bakeries and/or external manufacturing partners. The role balances hands-on planning execution, team development, and process improvement while partnering closely with manufacturing leadership and cross-functional teams. The manager owns assigned supply and deployment planning responsibilities, including master production scheduling and finished-goods deployment, and partners with logistics to align finished-goods availability and inventory positioning with customer requirements.

The position is accountable for balancing customer service, cost, and working capital objectives while proactively identifying and mitigating supply risks. The Supply Planning Manager also leads and contributes to supply planning activities within the monthly Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process. This role offers the opportunity to make an immediate impact by improving current planning processes and tools, while helping shape Sara Lee Frozen Bakery’s future planning capabilities.

Apply your planning software experience and work collaboratively with planners, manufacturing partners, and cross-functional teams to provide input into future planning tool design and processes, simplify workflows, improve decision-making, and build scalable capabilities in a fast-paced environment.

Supply Planning Manager will manage two planners with an area of focus on assigned bakeries (production plants). Residing in our Corporate office in Oakbrook, IL (Hybrid).

Responsibilities

Lead continuous improvement across all aspects of supply planning to establish robust, dependable, proactive, and repeatable end-to-end planning processes.

Lead the cadence of assigned supply and deployment planning activities, including manufacturing alignment, supply and demand balancing, and the monthly Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process. Provide planning and change-management support for assigned bakeries and external manufacturing partners while leading assigned planners and responsibilities across the broader planning team.

Balance hands-on planning and tactical execution with leadership responsibilities, including managing priorities, developing planners, and leading process improvements.

Lead, coach, and develop planners to strengthen technical skills, planning judgment, accountability, and ownership; build understanding and adoption of process changes.

Develop and improve planning tools, processes, and performance-management routines to measure and improve service, cost, and working capital results.

Apply hands-on experience with supply planning software to collaboratively design Sara Lee Frozen Bakery’s future planning processes and tools. Partner with planners, manufacturing, Demand Planning, Logistics, and technology teams to translate process gaps into business requirements, simplify workflows, and reduce manual effort. Improve current Excel-based tools while helping design, test, document, and implement scalable planning capabilities and supporting a future transition to planning software.

Monitor, analyze, and communicate key performance indicators (KPIs), identify performance gaps, and drive corrective actions against budget and established targets.

Partner with manufacturing sites and cross-functional teams to understand production schedules, capacity, changeovers, material availability, and other operating constraints that affect supply plans.

Build strong partnerships with Operations, Demand Planning, Customer Service, Sales, Marketing, Finance, Procurement, and Logistics; influence constructively, work through disagreements professionally, and build support for change.

Proactively identify and communicate service risks, capacity constraints, demand changes, and supply disruptions; recommend actions and coordinate timely responses to protect customer service.

Evaluate and provide supply planning input for new product introductions and promotions, while leading the response to significant demand changes, capacity constraints, and supply disruptions.

Own deliverables with limited direction, balance competing priorities, and communicate priorities, risks, recommendations, and progress early and clearly.

Learn the business quickly, build productive relationships with bakery teams, and deliver practical improvements while supporting daily planning in a fast-paced environment.

Occasional travel to production plants.

The responsibilities outlined above are not intended to be all-inclusive. Additional duties and responsibilities may be assigned based on business needs.

Knowledge and Skill Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations, Business Administration, or a related field required; MBA preferred.

5+ years of progressive supply chain experience, including substantial hands-on experience in supply planning, production planning, or master scheduling.

Experience with consumer packaged goods (CPG) or food manufacturing preferred. Experience applying best-in-class supply planning processes within a mid-sized to large CPG organization is preferred. Candidates should demonstrate the ability to adapt these practices to a manufacturing environment with evolving processes and Excel-based planning tools.

Prior people leadership or supervisory experience preferred, with the ability to coach and develop planners.

Strong supply planning fundamentals, including demand and supply balancing, production and capacity planning, inventory management, deployment, and understanding of manufacturing constraints.

Working understanding of plant operations, including production schedules, capacity, changeovers, materials, and operating constraints; direct plant experience is a plus.

Strong ability to balance tactical planning detail with leadership, prioritization, team development, and continuous improvement.

Hands-on experience using supply planning software to develop and evaluate supply plans is required, such as SAP IBP/APO, Kinaxis, John Galt, o9, OMP, or comparable platforms. Candidates should be able to apply that experience to improve current tools and shape future planning capabilities at Sara Lee Frozen Bakery. Advanced Microsoft Excel skills and experience improving spreadsheet-based planning processes are also required. Experience with planning system implementation, enhancement, or user adoption is preferred.

Practical understanding of how supply planning software translates demand, inventory policies, lead times, material availability, and capacity constraints into supply recommendations. Ability to evaluate system outputs, explain planning assumptions and trade-offs, and translate planning logic into business requirements, processes, and tools that improve service, inventory, cost, and manufacturing execution. Use scenario analysis and exception-based planning to evaluate alternatives and recommend actions. Understand how master data and planning parameters influence system recommendations, and apply that knowledge when developing Sara Lee Frozen Bakery’s planning processes and tools.

Demonstrated ability to collaboratively design and implement planning processes with planners, manufacturing teams, and cross-functional partners. Identify gaps, build agreement on practical solutions, test improvements, and coach teams through adoption to deliver measurable efficiency and faster, better-informed decisions in a fast-paced environment.

Strong quantitative and analytical capabilities, attention to detail, sound judgment, and ability to make effective decisions in a changing business environment.

Ability to work independently with limited direction, manage multiple deliverables, and proactively communicate priorities, risks, recommendations, and progress.

Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate across all levels of the organization, including senior leadership.

Strong working knowledge of end-to-end supply chain principles and processes, including S&OP, supply planning, production planning, deployment, and forecasting.

APICS/ASCM certification preferred.

Benefits & Compensation

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery offers a competitive compensation and benefits package designed to support your whole-life well-being. Benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage, tax-advantaged savings accounts (HSA/FSA), a 401(k) plan with company match, company-paid life and disability insurance, and access to wellness resources such as virtual healthcare and an employee assistance program. Employees are also provided a generous paid-time off program including company-paid holidays.

Compensation is based on factors such as experience, education, skills, and role scope, ensuring a fair and competitive salary aligned with market standards. - $100,000-130,000 + bonus.

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.