Planning Manager at Syngenta in Bangkok, Bangkok, th

Company Description

Syngenta is one of the world’s leading agriculture innovation company (Part of 33.4 billion USD Syngenta Group) dedicated to improving global food security by enabling millions of farmers to make better use of available resources. Through world class science and innovative crop solutions, our 60,000 people in over 100 countries are working to transform how crops are grown. We are committed to rescuing land from degradation, enhancing biodiversity and revitalizing rural communities.

A diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace environment are enablers of our ambition to be the most collaborative and trusted team in agriculture. Our employees reflect the diversity of our customers, the markets where we operate and the communities which we serve. No matter what your position, you will have a vital role in safely feeding the world and taking care of our planet.

Job Description

Role purpose

Lead an integrated, risk-aware planning capability that translates Thailand’s commercial ambition into an executable and compliant supply plan. The role owns the country planning rhythm across demand, supply, inventory, new-product introduction and product life-cycle management, balancing customer service, working capital, cost and business continuity.

The Planning Manager ensures a single, trusted plan across local and regional systems and forums, with particular attention to Thailand’s crop-season volatility, promotional demand, imported and locally sourced supply, registration and permit readiness, and the constraints of agricultural product shelf life and packaging.

Key accountabilities

1. Integrated business planning (IBP / S&OP)

• Own the Thailand monthly IBP / S&OP cycle including demand review, supply review, inventory and financial reconciliation, executive decision meeting, and follow-through on agreed actions.
• Maintain one aligned country plan across commercial, finance, P&S and regional partners; ensure assumptions, decisions, risks and escalations are visible and traceable.
• Challenge demand assumptions constructively, especially around crop-season peaks, campaigns, tender or key-account opportunities, channel stock and market disruptions.
• Develop scenario plans for material upside/downside, supply disruption, regulatory delay, weather-driven volatility and capacity constraints.

2. Demand, supply and deployment planning

• Lead the demand-planning and supply-network-planning process using approved planning systems and data sources; maintain a rolling plan at strategic, tactical and operational horizons.
• Convert the unconstrained demand signal into feasible supply, import, production, packaging and deployment plans, protecting customer promise dates wherever possible.
• Identify capacity, material, packaging, lead-time and logistics constraints early; prepare options and facilitate timely decisions with local and regional stakeholders.
• Coordinate with local manufacturing / tolling partners, regional supply sites, procurement, quality and logistics to sustain stable execution and service during peak season.

3. Inventory, obsolescence and working-capital management

• Set and maintain inventory policies and targets by product, season, supply route, shelf life and service requirement, aligned with country and regional guidelines.
• Drive actions to prevent stock-outs, excess stock, ageing, slow-moving and obsolete inventory across finished goods, raw materials and packaging.
• Ensure inventory projections, write-off exposure and recovery actions are transparent in the IBP process and reflected in financial outlooks.

4. New product introduction, range and master data

• Plan end-to-end supply readiness for new product introductions, label or pack changes and portfolio expansion, coordinating commercial, regulatory, quality, procurement, manufacturing and regional data-management teams.
• Confirm registration, license, import / manufacturing permits, artwork, packaging, master data and initial inventory readiness before launch milestones are committed.
• Lead supply-side product life-cycle actions: controlled run-down, rework or redeployment options, system-data retirement and prevention of residual inventory.

5. Compliance, continuity and operational excellence

• Embed planning controls that support Thailand regulatory, product stewardship, quality, trade and record-keeping requirements; maintain proactive alerts for critical document and license validity.
• Maintain country planning risk registers, business-continuity contingencies and escalation paths for supply interruption, import delay, quality hold, data error and seasonal demand shocks.
• Lead continuous improvement through tiered performance reviews, visual management, standard work, root-cause problem solving and automation / data-quality improvements.

Qualifications

Essential knowledge

• End-to-end supply-chain planning in an agricultural, crop-protection, seeds, FMCG, chemical, pharmaceutical or similarly regulated environment.
• IBP / S&OP principles; demand and supply planning; inventory optimization; product life-cycle management; and planning master-data governance.
• Thailand operating context, including seasonal demand patterns, local manufacturing / tolling and import supply models, and the importance of regulatory and quality readiness.
• Working knowledge of financial drivers: inventory, cost-to-serve, working capital, write-off risk and forecast-to-financial reconciliation.

Essential skills

• Strong analytical judgement: interprets imperfect data, exposes assumptions and turns trade-offs into clear options and decisions.
• Confident facilitation and stakeholder management across Thai and regional, cross-functional teams; able to challenge respectfully and build alignment.
• Hands-on proficiency with enterprise planning and ERP tools (for example SAP / planning platforms), Excel and dashboarding / data-visualization tools.
• Clear written and verbal communication in Thai and English; able to present operational risks and recommendations concisely to senior leaders.
• Structured problem solving, project management, negotiation and calm execution under seasonal time pressure.

Experience and qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, engineering, business, operations or a related discipline; advanced qualification is an advantage.
• Typically 7+ years of progressively responsible experience in supply planning, demand planning, S&OP / IBP, manufacturing planning or supply-chain operations.
• Demonstrated experience managing cross-functional planning forums and resolving supply, inventory or service trade-offs.
• Experience in Thailand and collaboration with ASEAN / Asia regional teams is strongly preferred.

Competencies and behaviors

• Customer-focused — makes service commitments explicit and balances them responsibly against supply, quality, compliance and cost.
• Decisive and accountable — escalates early, brings evidence-based options, and closes actions with clear ownership.
• Collaborative — builds trust across commercial, operational and regional boundaries; listens actively and handles disagreement constructively.
• Improvement-minded — simplifies processes, raises data discipline and uses digital tools to improve visibility and speed.
• Trusted and compliant — acts with integrity, protects product quality and stewardship, and follows required controls without compromise.
• Resilient and adaptable — stays composed through peak-season volatility and shifts priorities without losing execution discipline.

Critical success factors and challenges

• Create a credible single plan despite fragmented signals, highly seasonal agricultural demand and frequent changes in market opportunity.
• Balance availability with healthy inventory, shelf-life exposure and cash discipline across imported, locally manufactured and third-party supplied products.
• Anticipate regulatory, documentation, quality, capacity and logistics risks early enough to preserve market access and customer service.
• Build a planning culture in which decisions are fact-based, timely and jointly owned across the Thailand business and regional network.