Production and Inventory Planner

As our Production and Inventory Planner you will be responsible for maintaining optimal inventory levels across our supply chain network while ensuring customer service levels are met. With a strong background in supply planning for CPG organizations you will continuously analyze demand forecast accuracy, inventory levels, vendor performance, supply constraints and capacity limitations to avoid overstocks and out of stock scenarios.  You will also manage inventory, overseeing its deployment relative to age or transitions and sales targets. Working alongside your partners in Demand Planning/Sales, Logistics, Order Management and Finance, you will support and execute on our business objectives, driving forward the mission to Kick Sugar, Keep Candy! 

This role reports to Director, Production and will be hybrid in Vancouver, BC.

Who We Are:
SmartSweets is revolutionizing the candy industry by innovating the delicious candy you know and love with less sugar. We are passionate about growing and championing a diverse Squad of high-performing individuals and are fueled by our sweet culture. We are proudly Female-Founded and on our way to kicking 5.5 billion grams of excess sugar out of candy in a single year, what we call our Mission to Mars. 🚀

How You Will Support Our Mission (Responsibilities):  

Production Planning

• Implement and support managing a 52-week rolling production plan, internally and at co-manufacturers and co-packers.
• Analyze current production numbers and workflow; identify opportunities for improvement to ensure we utilize external manufacturing capability and capacity effectively.
• Identify and analyze supply or capacity constraints, conflicting supply priorities and recommend solutions to address the shortfalls.
• Develop and manage capacity analysis tool to monitor production capacity and long-term plan(s).
• Work closely with Demand Planning to create effective and efficient models for predictive modeling, forecasting, and probability modeling.
• Monitor inventory write off and slow movers, identify potential risks and develop a mitigation plan with other functions.
• Deliver inventory targets by sku on a monthly basis.
• Purchase order management for all external manufacturers.
• Develop relationships with outside parties including manufacturing network.
• Provide analytical support and expertise for on-going business needs such as; new product launches, promotional activity, lead time requests, inventory levels, and production schedule adherence.

Inventory Planning

• Daily monitoring and updating of production and inventories owned by SmartSweets.
• Maintain and action daily inventory adjustments for all warehouses.
• Ensuring warehouses are adhering to first expire first out (FEFO) stock allocation.
• Reconcile ERP with warehouse inventory daily for all locations. 
• Assist Order Management team on specific inventory allocation. 
• Liaise with US and CAD 3PLs to investigate inventory discrepancies and update systems accordingly – manage daily cycle counting schedule and shrink reporting.
• Weekly meeting with the warehouse to review business needs and escalate issues.
• Monitor and troubleshoot EDI errors and escalate as necessary.
• Manual fulfillment of orders as and when needed. 
• Ownership of CHEP pallet program – tracking and invoicing. 
• Work closely with the Order Management team on rush requests and expedited shipments. 
• Reverse logistics inventory ownership – RMA execution at 3PLs and NetSuite. 
• Sku conversion request and execution as and when needed. 
• Ownership of month end inventory processes. 
• Travel onsite for year-end counts (US or CAD facilities). 
• Ownership of inventory destruction or donation (Make) and execution. 

Administrative & Other Functions: 

• Running reports and preparing summaries for management and other teams.
• Pulling supply chain information reports and providing analysis as requested.
• Facilitate the documentation of production planning processes and workflows through Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
• Develop and track KPIs to drive Supply planning performance improvement.
• Develops new tools and improves existing metrics to evaluate supply performance.
• Ownership of inventory destruction or donation. 
• Lead co-man meetings and other appropriate meetings. 
• Ad hoc projects as and when requested.

 
What You Bring (Qualifications & Experience):  

• Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain Management/Operations Management preferred
• 5 years minimum of experience in supply planning and inventory planning (Food CPG is considered an asset).
• Apics/CPIM Designation or Bachelors degree with concentration in Operations/Supply Chain desired.
• 3 years minimum of Inventory Management/Logistics/Production experience (Food Industry an asset).
• Experience with physical and system inventory reconciliations.
• Advanced competency in Microsoft Excel.
• Comfortable with Google Drive, Microsoft ppt and ERP systems (NetSuite an asset).
• Demonstrated ability to be a team player.
• Can organize and prioritize multiple projects in a fast-paced, changing environment.
• Can perform well and deliver high-quality under deadlines.
• Amazing communication and interpersonal skills.
• Great analytical and data oriented mind to dive deep into the “why” and “how” continually.
• Desire to live and breathe our core values, are fired up by our #kicksugar mission, and must love to have fun!
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Suite (Demonstrated proficiency with MSExcel a must). 
• Experience using ERP systems (Netsuite is considered an asset).
• Results-oriented, agile, analytical and collaborative.
• Excellent organizational abilities.
• Able to work autonomously with minimal supervision in high pressure environments.
• Excellent time management skills with the ability to manage simultaneous data analysis requests of varying size and scope.
• Self-motivated and excited to excel within a fast-paced company, comfortable adapting to and driving change.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Self-Starter who thrives on teamwork and maintains the “make it happen” spirit.

Compensation and Sweet Perks (Benefits): 
The approximate base salary range for this position is $65,000 - $85,000. The actual base salary will be based on various factors, including the candidate’s level of skills, experience and education aligned with the needs of the role, budget and market. This position is eligible for participation in a bonus program based on performance and company results. Please note, individuals must be employed by 09/30/25 to be eligible for the 2025 bonus.

In addition to base salary, we offer a comprehensive benefits (Sweet Perks) package: 
🍭Bear Benefits (free candy!)
👪Extended Benefits (health, dental, life & disability, EAP, STD & LTD) 
🥰2 Gummy Days (personal days)
🗓️SweetWeek (company shutdown in December)
🌞Summer FriYAYs (half days off on Friday in the summer)
🕑Life, Work, Flow Philosophy (flexible work environment) 
📞Monthly Cell Phone bill reimbursement 
💻Home Allowance to optimise your remote workspace
👶Parental Leave Top Up Program (inclusive to all parents)
📚Individual Development Program and funding 
💗Community Love (paid Volunteer Day)
🐶Puppy Friendly Office
🥳Regular Squad Social Events 

If this sounds like a sweet opportunity for you, apply directly on our Careers Page. Include your resume, cover letter, and let us know what excites you about kicking sugar out of candy!  

Our Commitment to Celebrating Individuality (DEI) 
We are committed to elevating the voices of Squad and community members on the mission to Kick Sugar, Keep Candy! We believe representing the uniqueness of all makes us stronger as a whole. We are making a difference by encouraging all Squad Members to practise allyship, educate themselves, inspire others to take action and support underrepresented communities.