Full job description

The Role

Are you highly organised, enthusiastic, and looking to kick-start your career in a fast-paced manufacturing environment? Alpha Tanks is looking for a Production Planner / Co-ordinator to join our Operations team — a brilliant opportunity for a Business Graduate with technical curiosity, or a Graduate Engineer, to build a career at the heart of the business.

You don't need years of experience — you need a can-do attitude, a willingness to learn, and the drive to get stuck in. Full training and support will be provided.

The Production Planner / Co-ordinator is responsible for translating customer demand and sales forecasts into achievable production schedules, while taking ownership of material availability, material control, and stock accuracy across the operation. This is a hands-on, cross-functional role that sits at the intersection of Planning, Purchasing, Production, and Engineering, and is well suited to a graduate looking to build a career in operations.

The role requires someone who is highly organised, enthusiastic, and comfortable learning on the job — a genuine can-do attitude is more important than a finished skill-set on day one.

Key Responsibilities

Production Planning & Scheduling

• Develop and maintain the master production schedule in line with customer orders, sales forecasts, and available capacity.
• Create and issue work orders for planning production
• Plan individual work cells and machines to balance throughput against on-time delivery (OTD) targets.
• Adjust plans in response to unplanned events (breakdowns, absenteeism, late material, rush orders) while protecting the schedule as far as possible.
• Participate in daily planning / production meetings to align priorities across departments.

Material Management & Material Control

• Monitor and control material and component availability against the production schedule, flagging shortages before they impact the plan.
• Co-ordinate Purchasing/Procurement to ensure timely inflow of raw materials and bought-in parts.
• Play a key role in the implementation of the the Stock Management and Bill Of Materials Module in a new ERP system
• Maintain accurate stock and inventory records within the ERP system, including cycle count and stock reconciliation support.
• Monitor Work-in-Progress (WIP) and support traceability of materials through the production process.
• Investigate and resolve stock discrepancies, and support root-cause corrective actions.
• Support Bill of Materials (BOM) and routing accuracy, updating the master file for product or process changes (process times, work centre routings, etc.).

Co-ordination & Communication

• Act as a key liaison point between Engineering, Production, Materials and Quality, to keep the schedule realistic and achievable.
• Escalate any risk to meeting customer requirements promptly, internally and externally, and drive issues to resolution.
• Update customer portals and respond to customer planning queries where required.

Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Prepare planning and material reports for management review.
• Track and report daily/weekly KPIs — OTD, schedule adherence, efficiency, and stock accuracy.
• Support data analysis to identify trends, bottlenecks, and opportunities for improvement.
• Contribute to continuous improvement and Lean initiatives affecting planning and material flow.

Requirements

• Degree (Level 7 or 8) Business, Supply Chain, Operations Management, or Engineering degree preferred.
• Graduate Engineers or Business Graduates with an interest in manufacturing/technical environments are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Direct experience is not essential — this role is well suited to a graduate or early-career candidate.
• Any exposure to a manufacturing, planning, materials, or office-based operations environment is an advantage.
• Familiarity with ERP/MRP systems is a plus but not required — full training will be provided on our new ERP system.

Skills & Attributes

• Highly organised, with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage competing priorities.
• Enthusiastic, proactive, and genuinely willing to learn on the job.
• A can-do attitude — this is the single most important quality for this role.
• Strong numerical and analytical ability; comfortable working with data and Excel.
• Clear communicator, confident working across departments and with customers.
• A practical, problem-solving mindset and the resilience to work well under pressure.

What Alpha Tanks Offers

• Structured mentoring and on-the-job training from experienced professionals
• Hands-on exposure to production management of projects across pressure vessels, tanks, and bespoke fabrication
• Supportive, team-based working environment
• Competitive graduate salary
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