Head of Inventory & Material Planning

Overview

In this role you will lead the Inventory & Material Planning strategy for British Airways Engineering, shaping the allocation and lifecycle of rotable assets across a complex portfolio. You will guide forecasting, provisioning and asset governance to balance availability, resilience and cost. You’ll manage a large team and influence maintenance, fleet plans and asset investments with a data-driven, cross-functional approach. This is a strategic opportunity to impact critical aircraft readiness and long-term capability in a global aviation leader.

Pay / Benefits

• Staff travel benefits including unlimited basic and premium standby tickets
• Up to 30 discounted Hotline airfares per year for you and your circle

Responsibilities

• Lead inventory and material planning strategy across Engineering
• Oversee demand forecasting, provisioning and asset lifecycle planning
• Ensure materials are available to support maintenance programmes, fleet requirements and aircraft recovery activity
• Manage inventory investment, capital expenditure and asset value
• Strengthen supply chain resilience through governance and planning
• Build strong relationships with suppliers and internal stakeholders
• Lead, coach and develop a large multi-disciplinary team

Key requirements

• Strong inventory, material planning or asset management expertise
• Ability to make informed decisions using data and insight
• Commercial awareness and understanding of balancing availability with cost
• Experience managing large asset portfolios and long-term planning horizons
• Strong stakeholder management skills
• Track record of building capability and leading large teams
• Significant senior leadership experience in inventory, material planning, supply chain, asset management or engineering operations within a complex operational environment – essential
• Experience working within aviation, aerospace, engineering, transport or another safety-critical regulated industry
• Strong knowledge of maintenance planning, material availability, rotable asset management and lifecycle decision-making – essential
• Proven experience managing significant inventory budgets, capital expenditure, supplier relationships and cost optimisation initiatives
• Demonstrable experience leading multi-disciplinary teams, building capability and delivering performance through others
• Degree-level qualification or equivalent professional experience in engineering, supply chain, logistics, business or a related discipline; relevant professional accreditation desirable

• Strategic leadership
• Stakeholder management
• People development and coaching
• Demand forecasting
• Provisioning
• Asset lifecycle planning

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