Supply Planner

Do you have a solid base in manufacturing and product development methodologies? Would you like a position where you work in a truly international environment? Then this might be a chance for you!

About IKEA

One brand, many companies, and many, many people – that’s us in a nutshell. Spread all over the world, we have a passion for home furnishing and an inspiring shared vision: to create a better everyday life for the many people. This, together with our straightforward business idea, shared values, and a culture based on the spirit of togetherness, guides us in everything we do.

To offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low, that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. To meet the needs of our customers we have a unique business model and value chain. It includes product development, design, supply, manufacture and sales. And of course, it starts and ends with our customers.

At IKEA, we see things a little differently. We onboard our suppliers as partners with whom we create long term relationships. We want them to grow with us, become more efficient and achieve lower prices.  

• You can have the confidence and freedom to do things your own way, including organizing your time. Your well-being is our priority. A variety of rewarding work awaits you, which you will be able to combine alongside your hobbies or family.  

• Use opportunities for learning and growth working with suppliers! You will be able to travel to look at various manufacturing companies, understand new and different technologies, people and cultures.  

• Everybody is seen as a talent. In regular informal talks with your manager you can explore your development and carrier opportunities. We will support you on the way by internal and external trainings. We embrace making mistakes and learning from them 

Michaela has been working as a Supply Planner at IKEA for 6 years. She says this about her work:  

“I tell my friends: no, I don't really work in a department store and no, I don’t know if we have a particular wardrobe in stock. I provide logistics from suppliers to department stores. I travel a lot globally and enjoy finding and cultivating suppliers, and view the production cycle in many different environments, which is great! I learn about exciting technology, how things work, and seek efficiency. I'm very interested in that. I'm not just sitting in the office and using Excel all the time. “

About the Job 

You will work in a small, 3-member micro-team with a Business Developer, who negotiates prices and take care of the overall commercial relation with the supplier, and a Production Engineer who takes care about production process and quality. As part of the annual action plan that your team will compile, you will be responsible for improving the logistics process in order to ethically reduce production costs in the overall IKEA supply chain. You will also perform:  

• Planning – elaboration of forecasts for yearly quarters drawn from global partners who cover the entire product category, matching of global need forecasts with the production capacities of suppliers 

• Operation – order management, handling problems along the supply chain, monitoring shipping capacity and the smooth running of the entire logistics process, regular communication with suppliers (emails, calls), meetings with management and the team 

• Developing partnerships with suppliers – the micro-team regularly travels to the field in order to understand and solve issues firsthand and help with the implementation of action plans 

To be successful in this role, the below competences are important for you. 

• Knowledge of supply chain logistics including different restocking as well as a good understanding of capacity planning, 

• A sense for detail: every table in Excel must be accurate and understandable while you handle a large amount of varied work – like emails, phone calls, chats with people stopping by for a talk 

• You can artfully deal with people, using empathy and good communication within your micro-team and also in cooperation with suppliers and other stakeholders in the IKEA supply chain,  

• Analytical skills that are necessary for working within complex IT systems, numerically demanding project orders, Excel documents 

A Supply Planner will be hired for the Textile Products Team based in Karachi. 

Traveling is a part of the assignment since our Supply Planners need to work closely with our suppliers. 

The selection process will take place continuously, so please send in your application in English as soon as possible, but no later than May 31, 2023.