Planner- Global II IND

• Assure the delivery of finished product from manufacturing facilities meets First Solar’s allocations, customer contracts and requirements (“Supply/Demand”) at the best weighted average cost of production and delivery.
• Analyze capacity and demand
• Allocate finished goods
• Communicate plans and requirements to, and negotiate support from, First Solar organizations to assure timely product delivery at lowest overall delivered cost.
• Key member of sales and operations planning team
• Drive manufacturing reforecast process

Experience:

• 5 plus years' experience in an international manufacturing environment in a Planner or Demand/Supply position.
• Experience with spreadsheet modeling and forecasting
• Additional experience in Customer Support, Production or Plant Operations or Supply Chain is an advantage.

Education:

• Four-year college degree in Business or related fields or equivalent.

Required Skills:

Behavioral:

• Refer to "Manager/Professional" competencies.

Technical:

• Advanced knowledge of sales and operations planning regarding the following key processes – scheduling capacity, manufacturing capacity planning, and inventory management.
• Advanced knowledge of finished goods allocation, specifically acquiring input data, developing an executable solution and analyzing the results.
• Knowledge of SAP/APO optimizer a plus
• Proven organizational skills – ability to prioritize.
• Proven computer skills, including Microsoft Office or equivalent.
• Intermediate to Advance level skills in Microsoft Access and Excel.
• Experience with statistics and liner programming a plus
• Demonstrated experience in planning management.
• Demonstrated experience in negotiating with internal and external organizations
• Knowledge of production planning, operations and supply chain in an international manufacturing environment.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities

• Working with Customer Service, determine customer expectations based on existing contracts, changes in market conditions, and other related factors.
• Working with Plant Operations, project finished product production for up to five years.
• Communicate weekly, monthly and quarterly production plans and requirements to First Solar Supply Chain to identify material requirements to support production.
• Working with Logistics, optimize product delivery schedule, by product type and to specific customers, as well as logistics routes, to assure timely customer delivery at lowest overall delivered cost.
• Balance the actual output of finished product from First Solar manufacturing with customer expectations.
• Notify Customer Service of product availability, by customer, by efficiency, on a weekly basis and, working with operations and logistics, assure shipments are planned and initiated.
• Document and maintain business processes for Planning.
• Provide similar support and structure to other First Solar businesses as required.
• Maintain effective communications levels and foster team building.
• Rely on experience and judgment with minimal direct supervision to plan and accomplish goals.
• Assure adherence to all First Solar processes and procedures, including ISO9000, ISO14000, safety, housekeeping, etc.
• May travel, including internationally, to support customers and operations.
• First Solar customers’ expectations are met or exceeded regarding delivery performance.
• Production plans are communicated to assure internal organizations are lined up to support customer requirements.
• Failure to perform responsibilities will impact First Solar’s customer satisfaction, and, ultimately, financial performance