Pigment Network Planner

Company Description

Join Oterra in making natural food and beverages easy, for a sustainable and healthy world.

Headquartered in Denmark, with production sites in Europe, Latin America, and the US, we’re a passionate team of over 1400 team members in 30 countries worldwide, serving 120 markets globally. As the leading worldwide provider of natural colors, we offer food and beverage manufacturers an alternative to artificial colors. Food and health are at the heart of everything we do and every day over 400 million people eat a product with our colors in it.

Job Description

The Pigment Network Planner is responsible for end-to-end supply network planning for a designated pigment family across all manufacturing sites and regions. The role ensures a balance between demand, supply, inventory, and capacity, leveraging the global production network to deliver high service levels, cost efficiency, plan stability, and minimal obsolescence.  The planner provides cross-plant coordination and global visibility for pigment flows from raw material procurement through to customer delivery. This role reports to the Global Network Planning Manager.

Core Responsibilities

1. Supply and Inventory Planning

• Develop 13-week global supply plans across plants to optimize capacity, lead times, and cost to ensure feasibility.
• Oversee inventory policies, including safety stock levels, redistribution strategies, and inventory days of supply targets.
• Monitor and actively reduce obsolescence risk, including short-dated stock management.

2. Master Production Scheduling (MPS) & Data Governance

• Validate, update, and release weekly MPS for the assigned pigment family; ensure MRP master data accuracy (lead times, BOMs, routings…).
• Maintain weekly deliverables such as released MPS, scenario packages, exceptions log, and risk register.

3. Network Deployment & Constraint Management

• Propagate requirements upstream and manage constrained plans downstream across supply nodes.
• Generate constrained MPS scenarios; evaluate capacity, lead time, and cost trade-offs; recommend preferred deployment.
• Coordinate mitigation of multi-site constraints with Production and Procurement.

4. Scenario Planning, Escalation & Gap Closure

• Prepare scenario packages and decision sheets for weekly network and site meetings.
• Drive gap closure by assigning owners, setting deadlines, tracking progress, and confirming closure.
• Escalate unresolved trade-offs or constraints with clear business impact assessments.

5. Strategic Programs & Lifecycle Management

• Lead pigment deployment readiness for new product introductions (NPI) and manage phase-outs with minimal waste and disruption.
• Support long-term planning (capacity expansions, regional conversions) and interface with S&OP to identify horizon gaps.
• Act as the bridge between Product Management and Operations for lifecycle transitions.

6. Service & Customer Support

• Provide visibility on product availability and constraints to Sales and Customer Service.
• Align allocation decisions with Sales when demand exceeds supply.
• Contribute to OTIF service levels agreement (SLA).

7. Continuous Improvement & Systems Use

• Standardize templates and meeting agendas to improve decision lead time.
• Proactively refine MRP inputs to reduce manual interventions.
• Leverage ERP/MRP (SAP S4, PP/DS), IBP, Excel, and Power BI for analytics and reporting.

Main Key Performance Indicators contribution

• On Time In Full (OTIF) service levels
• Plan stability — % of week-over-week MPS changes within threshold
• Supply plan accuracy and adherence
• Cost-to-serve and supply cost efficiency
• SLA (Service Level Agreement) compliance
• Inventory turns, days of supply, and obsolescence (% reduction YoY)

Core Competencies

• Ability to manage complexity across global networks
• Structured problem solving and strong analytical capability
• Agility in responding to disruptions and changing priorities
• Clear, proactive communication across regions and functions
• Collaborative and supportive mindset fostering teamwork and trust
• Ability to influence stakeholders without direct reporting lines
• Continuous improvement orientation and adaptability
• Change management capability to support ongoing transformation

Location & Travel

• Global scope role, location based at Mount Pleasant - Wisconsin
• Travel required for cross-plant coordination and stakeholder engagement 

Additional Information

What We Offer

At Oterra, we take care of our people – because when you’re supported, you can do your best work. Our benefits are designed to support your health, your future and your life outside of work:

• Health & Well-being: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus life and disability insurance.
• Financial Security: A retirement savings program with 401(k), company match, and bonus program.
• Time for You: Paid holidays, vacation time, and personal/sick days each year.
• Engagement in the Workplace: Monthly employee engagement events and team celebrations
• Growth & Empowerment: A collaborative culture that encourages career growth and professional development opportunities

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Oterra is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex/gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, age, ancestry, national origin, genetic information, marital status, citizenship status (unless required by the applicable law or government contract), disability or protected veteran status or any other status or characteristic protected by law. Oterra is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. We are committed to building a team that represents diverse and inclusive backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. Oterra will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States for this opening. Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.