MRP Planner - Food Manufacturing

Job Description

Job Description

Role Overview:

CCFF is seeking an analytical and detail-oriented MRP Planner to join our Supply Chain team. This position will be based full-time at our Irwindale, California facility and will be responsible for material requirements planning for both our Irwindale, California and Greenwood, Indiana manufacturing facilities.

The MRP Planner will analyze demand, inventory, bills of material, production requirements, open supply, lead times, and shelf-life constraints across both plants. The planner will identify shortages and inventory risks and recommend purchasing, production, and interplant transfer actions to support customer service, production continuity, and inventory objectives.

Because our raw materials and finished products have defined shelf lives, this role must balance material availability with inventory age, expiration risk, production timing, and customer requirements. The ideal candidate has strong planning fundamentals, enjoys working with data, and is interested in improving planning processes through reporting, automation, and emerging technologies.

During the first three to six months, the MRP Planner will apply their expertise to evaluate, update, and strengthen existing planning data, parameters, processes, and reporting. In parallel, the planner will manage current shortages, aging inventory, and expedited costs. This is a build-and-run opportunity for someone who enjoys improving established planning practices while supporting ongoing business needs.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage material requirements planning for both Irwindale, CA and Greenwood, IN manufacturing facilities.
• Analyze demand, inventory, bills of material, production schedules, open purchase orders, lead times, and planning parameters raw materials, packaging materials, work-in-process, and finished goods to identify shortages and recommend purchasing or production changes.
• Incorporate raw material and finished-product shelf lives into planning decisions by monitoring inventory age, expiration risk, projected consumption, and customer-specific shelf-life requirements.
• Develop recommendations to improve material availability and reduce waste, including adjusting purchase quantities, prioritizing aging inventory, managing tote inventory, and transferring materials between plants.
• Maintain shortage, inventory-aging, and planning-exception reports and communicate risks and recommended actions to Purchasing, Production, Quality, Warehouse, Operations, and Customer Service.
• Coordinate purchase-order expedites, reschedules, reductions, and cancellations, and support production-prioritization decisions during material constraints.
• Evaluate interplant transfer opportunities based on demand, inventory availability, shelf life, production timing, transportation time, and cost.
• Review and improve planning data and parameters, including lead times, safety stocks, order quantities, shelf lives, bills of material, and transfer lead times.
• Use ERP data, Excel, Power Query, Power BI, or similar tools to analyze planning exceptions and provide clear, actionable reporting for both facilities.
• Document and improve MRP processes, participate in the testing of planning tools and automation, and help evaluate practical uses of AI to support exception management and planning analysis.
• Support cycle-counting activities by helping identify priority items, researching inventory variances, and coordinating corrective actions to improve inventory accuracy and MRP reliability.
• Apply professional judgment to validate system-generated recommendations before they are used for purchasing, production, or inventory decisions.

Success Measures:

• Reduction in production downtime and schedule disruptions caused by material shortages
• Reduction in expired, obsolete, and written-off inventory across both facilities
• Reduction in expedited freight and rush-purchasing costs

Ideal Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Seven or more years of experience in MRP, material planning, production planning, inventory planning, or a related supply chain role.
• Strong knowledge of MRP, inventory management, bills of material, lead times, safety stock, and manufacturing processes.
• Proven ability to manage planning responsibilities across multiple manufacturing facilities and collaborate effectively with both on-site and remote teams.
• Demonstrated ability to apply material-planning expertise to assess, strengthen, and mature an existing MRP function, including its data, parameters, processes, and reporting.
• Experience using a manufacturing ERP system; experience with Deacom is preferred.
• Experience planning shelf-life-sensitive, lot-controlled, or expiration-dated materials and products.
• Experience in food, beverage, dairy, bakery, ingredients, flavors, or another shelf-life-controlled manufacturing environment is preferred
• Strong Excel and data-analysis skills; experience with Power BI, SQL, or other data analysis and visualization software is a plus.
• Ability to interpret large data sets and translate findings into clear, actionable purchasing, production, and inventory recommendations.
• Strong communication, problem-solving, organizational, and prioritization skills.
• Experience improving MRP processes, supporting ERP enhancements, testing planning tools, or participating in automation initiatives is a plus.
• Interest in using reporting, automation, and AI-enabled tools to improve material planning and decision-making.

Why Join Us:

• This role offers the opportunity to make an immediate operational impact while helping shape the future of material planning at CCFF
• Be part of a mission-driven food company focused on quality and innovation
• Competitive salary, benefits, and opportunities for career growth
• Supportive and collaborative work culture
• Commitment to sustainability, food safety, and ethical sourcing

Equal Employment Opportunity

All candidates are subject to a criminal background check and standard drug screen. All offers are contingent upon favorable results. California Custom Fruits and Flavors is committed to recruiting, selecting, and developing employees based on individual ability and job performance.

\nCompany Description

About California Custom Fruits and Flavors
Founded in 1986, California Custom Fruits & Flavors (“CCFF”) is a leading developer and manufacturer of custom-formulated specialty ingredients & flavors. CCFF develops tailored solutions for its diverse customer base of brands, retailers, and co-manufacturers across numerous food products and channels. With world-class facilities in California and Indiana, CCFF has served as a leading partner and innovator of industry-leading flavors and formulations for nearly four decades.

CCFF is backed by Peak Rock Capital, a leading middle-market private investment firm that makes equity and debt investments in companies in North America and Europe. Peak Rock's equity investment platform focuses on opportunities where it can support senior management to drive rapid growth and performance improvement, with expertise in corporate carve-outs and partnering with families and founders seeking first-time institutional capital.

Company Description

About California Custom Fruits and Flavors\nFounded in 1986, California Custom Fruits & Flavors (“CCFF”) is a leading developer and manufacturer of custom-formulated specialty ingredients & flavors. CCFF develops tailored solutions for its diverse customer base of brands, retailers, and co-manufacturers across numerous food products and channels. With world-class facilities in California and Indiana, CCFF has served as a leading partner and innovator of industry-leading flavors and formulations for nearly four decades.\n\nCCFF is backed by Peak Rock Capital, a leading middle-market private investment firm that makes equity and debt investments in companies in North America and Europe. Peak Rock's equity investment platform focuses on opportunities where it can support senior management to drive rapid growth and performance improvement, with expertise in corporate carve-outs and partnering with families and founders seeking first-time institutional capital.\n