Senior Planner, Launch

Job Title: Sr. Planner, Launch

Location: North Little Rock, AR

Reports To: Sr. Manager, Launch

Who We Are: 

For more than a century, L’Oréal has devoted its energy, innovation, and scientific excellence solely to one business: Beauty. Our goal is to offer each and every person around the world the best of beauty in terms of quality, efficacy, safety, sincerity, and responsibility to satisfy all beauty needs and desires in their infinite diversity. 

This position is responsible for planning, implementing, and overseeing all supply chain activity for new product launches in the North Little Rock site for their specific portfolio. In this capacity, you will have the exciting opportunity to interface with both our internal manufacturing site teams and our divisional business partners. This role offers substantive career development opportunities and the chance to work in a fast-paced, challenging environment. The North Little Rock manufacturing site is the largest in the US, responsible for producing mascaras and color cosmetic products that support our CPD and LDB divisions.

Core Responsibilities

Lead the manufacturing activities related to new products or renovation projects by being the liaison between the North Little Rock factory and the cross-functional stakeholders at L’Oreal, with the main goal of influencing and achieving timelines that support the business while supporting the factory’s capabilities.

• Create and maintain relationships and communications related to timelines for all launches and renovations with both internal factory departments (Manufacturing Supply Chain/Industrial Quality/Production Floor/CapEx/Finance) and external partners (Development, R&I, Global Supply Chain, Packaging, Sourcing, Color & Artwork).
• Discuss, validate, and call out risks to project timelines, including but not limited to change part deliveries, line trials, material lead times, new formula releases, quality testing, and final finished good releases. Hold all teams accountable to their deliverables in the timeline.
• Serve as a central point for the site, bringing teams together to address necessary steps & milestones, kick off the project & task force, and drive accountability to ensure a successful launch.
• Work with the Master Scheduler to define the prioritization and planning of launches within the 12-month rolling production plan. 
• Work with suppliers and procurement teams to ensure materials are ordered and delivered within expected lead times to meet the project timeline.
• Develop all batch-size calculations and logistics requirements (specifications) for launch, including optimal minimum order quantity and materials lead-time requirements. 
• Communicate production availability dates to Global Supply Chain teams and provide launch availability sheets as required by Division. 
• Issue transparent and clear launch alerts to internal and external stakeholders when timelines are at risk, and use this communication to build trust and provide solution-oriented next steps to get launch timing back on track. 

• Responsible forBill ofMaterial(BOM)creationand maintenanceinMINDsaccording to the information received from Packaging, Sourcing, and Product Development. 
• Lead/facilitate feasibility analysis of new projects, and make recommendations for acceptance at the manufacturing facility based on packaging technology, processing technology, launch format, launch quantity, and processing capabilities. Be able to influence cross-functional teams and gain alignment on these topics.
• Anticipate issues and understand the urgency and impact of the production plan and service to the brand to properly escalate for resolution. Create an action plan that is feasible, reduces risk, and maintains the timeline to that action plan.
• Fully support an interdependent safety culture and work to accomplish the safety mission in the plant of zero accidents proactively.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in business/engineering or supply chain discipline preferred 
• 4+ years of experience in a high-performance manufacturing facility - cosmetics industry preferred
• Must have strong written/verbal communication and analytical skills
• Must demonstrate excellent business and personal ethics
• Must have strong leadership skills with relevant experience in project management, manufacturing practices, and dealing with internal/external customers
• Must have the ability to handle multiple tasks and priorities simultaneously
• Ability tointerface withplant and corporate personnel at various organizational levels and external suppliers
• Ability to manage change, provide program management, and achieve results

Preferred Qualifications:

• SAP experience preferred
• Advanced Excel strongly recommended (Pivot tables, VLOOKUPs)
• APICS, CIPM, or NAPM, CPM certification is beneficial

What’s In It For You:

• Competitive Benefit Package (Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K, Pension Plan)
• Hybrid Work Policy (3 Days in Office, 2 Days Work from Home) 
• Flexible Time Off (Paid Company Holidays, Paid Vacation, Vacation Buy Program, Volunteer Time, Summer Fridays & More!)
• Access to Company Perks (VIP Access to L’Oréal’s Internal Shop for Discounted Products, Monthly Mobile Allowance)
• Learning & Development Opportunities for Career Progression (Unlimited Access to E-learnings, Lunch & Learn Sessions, Mentorship Programs, & More!)
• Employee Resource Groups (Think Tanks and Innovation Squads)
• Access to Mental Health & Wellness Programs 

Don’t meet every single requirement? At L'Oréal, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and innovative workplace. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with the qualifications listed in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway! You may just be the right candidate for this role or others!

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and take pride in a diverse environment. We would love to find out more about you as a candidate and do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital or veteran status, medical condition or disability, or any other legally protected status.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you may request a reasonable accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to access job openings or apply for a job on this site as a result of your disability. You can request reasonable accommodations by contacting [email protected]. If you need assistance to accommodate a disability, you may request an accommodation at any time. 

Our Safe Together Plan: Your safety is our highest priority. We will proceed with caution and adhere to enhanced protection standards to ensure our sites are safe for all employees. We must all operate with the shared responsibility for each other’s health & safety in mind.