Materials Planning Lead

Job Description

Job Summary

We are seeking a motivated and organised Materials Planning Lead to join our growing Purchasing team at Zenvo Automotive.

This role will be responsible for coordinating material requirements across our vehicle production activities, ensuring the right components are planned, ordered and available when needed to support the manufacture of our hypercars.

Working primarily through Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you will play an important part in connecting our production schedules, purchasing activities and material availability, helping to ensure continuity throughout the vehicle build process.

As Zenvo develops its manufacturing capability, we are also establishing more structured systems and processes to support our growth. We are looking for someone who can help develop and maintain a reliable material planning process, working closely with Purchasing, Production, Logistics, Engineering and Sales to keep information accurate and material moving.

This is a practical, hands-on planning role suited to someone who enjoys organising complex requirements, solving problems and taking ownership of making sure production has what it needs.

We are not expecting someone to arrive with all the answers. We want someone with a good understanding of materials planning, a structured approach to their work and the willingness to help us build a dependable and increasingly capable operation.

Key Responsibilities

Material Requirements and Production Planning

• Coordinate material requirements against vehicle production schedules, ensuring components are available in the correct quantities and at the required times.
• Use Business Central to plan and monitor material demand, stock availability, purchase requirements and expected deliveries.
• Translate production schedules and manufacturing Bills of Materials (BOMs) into clear material requirements and required delivery dates.
• Identify potential material shortages and work with Purchasing and other departments to resolve them before they affect production.
• Maintain visibility of upcoming material requirements, including long lead-time and critical components.
• Support planning for prototype, development and customer vehicle builds, recognising the different material requirements and priorities of each.
• Monitor changes to production schedules and component requirements, updating material plans accordingly.

Purchasing and Supplier Coordination

• Work closely with buyers to ensure material requirements are converted into purchasing activity at the appropriate time.
• Provide clear priorities and required delivery dates to support supplier order placement and follow-up.
• Monitor outstanding purchase orders and expected supplier deliveries, highlighting risks to production schedules.
• Support the development of sensible stockholding and replenishment approaches, balancing material availability with inventory cost.
• Help coordinate alternative plans when supplier delays or material shortages affect production.

Production Readiness and Material Flow

• Work closely with Production and Logistics to ensure parts are available and ready for kitting ahead of planned manufacturing activities.
• Maintain visibility of material readiness for upcoming vehicle builds and production stages.
• Coordinate with the warehouse team to understand stock availability, outstanding receipts and material allocation.
• Work with Quality and Logistics to identify components awaiting inspection or otherwise unavailable for production use.
• Support the resolution of missing, incorrect or delayed components to minimise disruption to production.
• Help establish clear communication of material shortages, priorities and recovery actions across the business.

ERP and Planning Process Development

• Support the development and effective use of Business Central as our central system for materials planning and control.
• Help maintain accurate planning information, including lead times, stock parameters, part requirements and relevant item data.
• Work with Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering to ensure released BOM information and changes are reflected in material requirements.
• Develop practical methods for monitoring material availability, identifying shortages and communicating readiness to Production.
• Identify opportunities to improve planning accuracy, inventory visibility and material flow as our operation develops.
• Support the move towards more consistent and system-driven planning processes, reducing reliance on manual tracking and reactive purchasing.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Work with Sales and Production Planning to understand upcoming vehicle requirements, customer specifications and changes that may affect material demand.
• Coordinate with Engineering on component changes, release status and associated impacts on existing orders or stock.
• Maintain close communication with Purchasing, Logistics and Production to align delivery commitments with build requirements.
• Participate in production readiness discussions, providing clear updates on material availability and outstanding risks.

Qualifications and Experience

• Experience in materials planning, production planning, supply chain coordination or a similar role within a manufacturing environment.
• Good understanding of purchasing processes, inventory management and material requirements planning.
• Experience using an ERP system to manage material requirements, stock or purchasing activities.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central would be advantageous but is not essential.
• Good organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Confidence working with BOMs, production schedules and component data.
• Comfortable using Excel and other planning tools to analyse and communicate information.
• Experience within automotive, motorsport, aerospace or low-volume manufacturing would be beneficial.

We welcome applications from experienced material planners, production controllers and supply chain coordinators who are looking for an opportunity to take greater ownership of their work.

Personal Attributes

At Zenvo, attitude and approach are just as important as previous experience.

We are developing our manufacturing operation alongside the vehicles themselves. This means we need people who enjoy taking responsibility, working across departments and helping establish better ways of working.

We particularly value:

• Ownership and accountability: Someone who takes responsibility for understanding what is needed, follows things through and does not assume a problem is resolved simply because an order has been placed.
• Proactive thinking: Able to look ahead, identify potential shortages and take action before they become production problems.
• Organisation and attention to detail: Understands the importance of accurate information, clear priorities and disciplined planning in keeping production running smoothly.
• Communication and teamwork: Comfortable working with people across different departments, bringing information together and helping everyone work towards the same production objectives.
• Adaptability and flexibility: Able to respond constructively to changing requirements and priorities as the business and its processes develop.
• Resilience and determination: Maintains a practical and positive approach when dealing with supplier delays, changing schedules or unexpected challenges.
• A continuous improvement mindset: Someone who enjoys finding better ways to work and takes pride in helping establish reliable processes and systems.

What to Expect

Zenvo is at an important stage in the development of its manufacturing operation, with increasing demands on our production capability and the systems needed to support it.

This role provides an opportunity to make a genuine contribution to how we plan and manage the materials required to build our vehicles.

You will work closely with experienced colleagues across Purchasing, Production and the wider business, helping establish the processes that allow us to move from reactive problem solving towards reliable and structured material planning.

There will be challenges as we grow, and not every process will be fully established from day one. We value people who can work through those challenges constructively and help us develop practical solutions.

If you enjoy bringing structure to complex manufacturing requirements, take pride in keeping production moving and want to contribute to building a growing automotive operation, we would be pleased to hear from you.