Material Planning and Inventory Manager

Career Area:

Supply Chain and Logistics

Compensation Grade:

23

Job Description:

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other.  We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

Job Title: Material Planning and Inventory Manager

Salary/Grade: £50,000 - £56,000 per annum (depending on experience)

Location: Larne

Benefits: 

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

• Up to 12% bonus

• Contributory pension scheme - Caterpillar will double the employee's contribution up to 6%

• Contributory share scheme - Caterpillar will match 50% of the employee's contribution.

• Optional flexible benefits including access to health and dental care plans, EV car lease, holiday purchase.

This position requires 4.5 days a week in the office.

About EPD

Caterpillar's Electric Power Division (EPD) offers integrated solutions, parts, and services to meet the needs of our various commercial and industrial electric power customers. EPD supports a wide range of customer applications across the globe, including providing back-up power to hospitals, providing emergency power when natural disasters strike, and supporting critical infrastructure for data centres, municipalities, and more.

With a rich history of more than 95 years in the electric power business, our team has world-class expertise and a proven ability to adapt to changing demands. We’re committed to providing sustainable and reliable solutions to our customers.

We are looking for top talent to build and scale the next generation of technologies, products and services to help our customers build a better—more sustainable—world. We need self-motivated, intelligent and team-oriented individuals to make our plans a reality. Individuals with high emotional intelligence, humility and openness to discovery will thrive in the teams we are building. Join our team to help build a better, more sustainable world for future generations!

The opportunity

As the Material Planning and Inventory Manager, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring the smooth flow of materials and orders across our global supply chain. Reporting to the Supply Chain Manager, you will take ownership of order processing, material planning, inventory management, and supplier performance for the Larne site and several third-party locations worldwide.

This is a key position where you will balance competing priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment, driving operational excellence and supporting strategic supply chain initiatives. In this role you will manage a team of supply chain professionals, anticipate challenges, and find solutions that keep everything moving. Your ability to collaborate, organise, and adapt will be essential to ensuring on-time delivery.

What you will do:

• Align demand planning with manufacturing, product groups, marketing, and material planning to ensure customer requirements are met.

• Manage a team of supply chain professionals, ensuring efficiency and accuracy. Conduct performance reviews and implement development plans to support your team’s career growth.

• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration to gather accurate inputs for demand forecasts and production schedules.

• Resolve conflicts between supply constraints and customer expectations through proactive communication and planning.

• Identify and implement process improvements to enhance compliance, reduce errors, and increase operational efficiency.

• Lead change management initiatives for new systems and procedures, ensuring smooth adoption and minimal disruption.

• Collaborate with supply chain and finance teams to define and maintain optimal inventory levels.

• Monitor inventory health using KPIs and dashboards to support data-driven decision-making.

• Improve forecast accuracy through data analysis and market trend evaluation to minimize excess and obsolete inventory

What you have:

Supply Chain Management:

• Understands key supply chain components and considerations for different products.

• Experience in material planning and inventory management within the manufacturing industry.

• Participates in supply chain analysis to identify trends and improvements.

Operational Functions:

• Resolves obstacles to meet facility build schedules.

• Experience proactively removing material flow barriers to meet production and build schedules.

• Documents regulatory and reporting requirements.

• Assesses situations with departmental goals in mind; seeks guidance when conflicts arise.

Tactical and Strategic Planning:

• Ability to support short‑term operational planning by adjusting material and inventory strategies to changing demands, schedules, and supply constraints.

• Supports short-term operational plans and adapts to changes.

• Monitors progress, reports variances, and implements corrections.

Process Management:

• Skilled at identifying bottlenecks within the material planning cycle (e.g., long lead times, inaccurate demand signals, supplier constraints, data quality issues) and evaluating their impact on inventory levels and production readiness.

• Applies process flow, cycle time, and waste reduction concepts.

• Identifies bottlenecks and documents decision impacts.

Decision Making & Critical Thinking:

• Evaluates past decisions for improvement.

• Validates options, predicts impacts, and advises on data analysis.

• Knows when and how to escalate issues.

Problem Solving:

• Identifies problems, explores stakeholder perspectives, and develops resolution alternatives.

• Uses fact-finding and diagnostic tools; analyzes risks and benefits of approaches.

Top candidates will have:

• Managed a team of supply chain professionals.

Additional information:

• There is a travel requirement <25% of the time.

About Caterpillar

Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. For nearly 100 years, we’ve been helping customers build a better, more sustainable world and are committed and contributing to a reduced-carbon future. Our innovative products and services, backed by our global dealer network, provide exceptional value that helps customers succeed. #CaterpillarNI #LI

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply.

Posting Dates:

February 16, 2026 - March 2, 2026

The panel cannot make assumptions when shortlisting therefore please demonstrate your qualifications and experience on your CV relevant to the criteria outlined.

Pending the number of applications, the criteria for the position may be enhanced to facilitate shortlisting.

Not ready to apply? Join our Talent Community.