China Planning Systems Expert

We are seeking a detail-oriented and proactive China Performance Unit Planning Systems Expert to support our PU planning community in maximising the effectiveness of our digital planning systems, including Kinaxis Maestro.

This role is pivotal in ensuring consistent planning practices with global operating templates, supporting end users, troubleshooting system issues, and driving adoption of new processes and enhancements.

Key Accountabilities

System Expertise & User Support

• Serve as the primary go-to expert for Kinaxis Maestro for the PU community, providing hands-on support to end users.
• Monitor and analyse how PU end users perform planning activities, ensuring alignment with global planning playbook standards as configured in the tool.
• Address end user queries related to system functionality, troubleshooting, and best practices.
• Act as the first line of support for system defects, triage in and escalating through a defined process based on criticality and business impact as needed.
• Represent the PU in future digital enhancements as we evolve our Planning digital landscape, to include functionalities such as machine learning, AI and Decision Intelligence.

Training & Adoption

• Conduct PU training sessions, coaching users to enhance their proficiency in Kinaxis Maestro.
• Actively participate in the global community of Planning System SMEs, led through the Planning COE, to share trends, arising concerns and improvement areas across geographies.
• Develop and maintain PU training materials, PU SOPs, and best practice documentation aligned to the global planning operating model.
• Ensure smooth onboarding of new PU users, guiding them through planning processes within the system.
• Drive adoption of new system capabilities, ensuring effective change management.

Process Optimization & Governance

• Identify gaps or inefficiencies in how PU users apply planning process functionality within Kinaxis.
• Collaborate with global and Community of Practice teams to drive continuous improvement in planning practices as executed within Kinaxis.
• Ensure adherence to global standards, policies, and governance frameworks.
• As part of the global community, provide feedback to IT and Process Owners on system enhancements and user experience improvements.
• Once appropriate certified, carry out agreed authoring and minor enhancements within the system to meet prioritised needs.

Inventory management

• Support inventory management in inventory health for finished goods, raw/pack materials and/or spare parts (as applicable), defining target stock and improving forecast-to-replenishment processes.
• Ensure inventory record accuracy and compliance through cycle counts, root-cause analysis, and strong governance of master data and warehouse transactions.
• Provide visibility via dashboards and KPI reporting to enable proactive decisions and continuous improvement across Planning, Procurement, Manufacturing, Logistics, Finance and Sales.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business, or a related field (Master’s preferred).

Language skills

• Fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English (both can be working languages).

Experience

• 5+ years of experience in Supply Chain Planning, with a strong understanding of demand, supply, and inventory planning with hands-on experience as a Contributor within Kinaxis RapidResponse / Kinaxis Maestro.
• Proven experience in Supply Chain planning with hands-on experience leading teams with a digital E2E tool.
• Strong analytical skills and proficiency in supply chain software (Kinaxis Maestro desirable) and ERP systems (SAP ECC, S4 Hana, JDE).
• Ability to assess planning behaviours and drive user process standardisation within a tool.
• Excellent process and digital problem-solving and troubleshooting abilities.
• Experience in change management and user adoption strategies.
• Ability to work cross-functionally with local, PU and global planning teams, and technical IT teams.