Material Planner

Description Bagira Systems is a Czech-Israeli company and a global leader in training and simulation systems. Bagira provides advanced mission readiness solutions used by hundreds of thousands of soldiers in more than 40 locations worldwide. The R&D center in Brno employs over 150 specialists focused on developing unique hardware and software simulators for security forces. Why this role exists Today, material planning is done on the side of someone else's desk. MRP runs, purchase requests, request approvals and long-lead-item buying decisions are handled by a person whose primary job is something else entirely. That works only as long as nothing goes wrong — and it does not scale. Material availability is the single most common reason a production order slips. The Material Planner exists so that one person owns the question “will the material be there when production needs it?” end to end: from the MRP run, through the purchase request, through the approval, to the proactive stocking decision on long-lead items. This role is the planning brain between development, production and procurement. Procurement executes the buy; the Material Planner decides what to buy, when, and in what quantity. Key responsibilities MRP execution & analysis Run MRP in SAP Business One on a defined cadence (weekly at minimum; ad hoc after major demand or BOM changes). Review and work the MRP exception messages — expedite, de-expedite, cancel, reschedule — rather than accepting recommendations blindly. Validate MRP output against known realities: open engineering changes, supplier constraints, demand signals not yet in the system. Maintain the MRP scenario settings (planning horizon, item scope, warehouse scope) and document the standard run procedure. Purchase request creation Convert validated MRP recommendations into complete, accurate purchase requests for the procurement team — correct item, quantity, required date and preferred vendor where known. Bundle and time requests sensibly: respect MOQs, order multiples, price breaks and shipping consolidation rather than generating one request per MRP line. Track requests through to purchase order so that nothing falls into the gap between planning and procurement. Purchase request review & approval Act as the approval gate for purchase requests raised by development and other departments before they reach procurement: check item data, quantity, justification and required date. Push back on incomplete or duplicate requests; merge departmental requests with planned MRP demand where the same items are involved. Operate within the SAP B1 approval routes (including the hybrid SAP-client / email approval pattern being introduced in the consolidation program) and keep the audit trail clean. Long-lead-item (LLI) management Own the LLI list: identify items whose lead time exceeds the production planning horizon and keep the list current as supplier lead times move. Make proactive buy-to-stock decisions on LLI items ahead of confirmed demand, within an agreed budget and risk framework. Set and maintain safety-stock levels and reorder points for LLI and other critical items. Monitor LLI stock against forecast consumption and flag both shortfall risk and over-stock early. Planning master data ownership Own the planning parameters in SAP B1 item master data: lead times, MOQs, order multiples, safety stock, planning method (MRP / reorder point / manual) per item. Feed corrections back to the responsible owners when BOM errors, wrong units of measure or obsolete items distort MRP results. Review planning data for new part numbers as they are released (in coordination with the unified yy0000000Rxx part-number scheme and, later, the PLM platform). Shortage management & coordination Maintain a live shortage list against open and planned production orders; drive expediting actions with procurement. Communicate material availability to production planning so production orders are scheduled against reality, not hope. Coordinate with the warehouse on receipts, discrepancies and stock accuracy issues that affect planning. Coordinate with development on the material impact of engineering changes — phase-in / phase-out of components, last-time buys on items going obsolete. Inventory health Monitor excess and obsolete stock; propose run-down, rework or scrap actions. Track and report planning KPIs: material availability for production orders, stockout incidents, inventory turns, MRP exception backlog. What this role is not This is not a procurement role. You decide what to buy and when; the procurement team selects suppliers, negotiates prices and places the purchase orders. This is not a production scheduling role. You ensure material is available; production planning decides what runs on which line and when. This is not a warehouse role. You depend on stock accuracy and will help improve it, but you do not run the warehouse. This is not an SAP administration role. You are a power user of SAP B1 MRP and master data, not the system administrator. Required experience and skills Must-have 2+ years in material planning, production planning, supply planning or a closely related role in a manufacturing environment. Hands-on experience running MRP in an ERP system and working the resulting exception messages — SAP Business One strongly preferred; other ERPs (SAP ECC/S4, Dynamics, Helios, etc.) acceptable with proven MRP depth. Solid understanding of BOMs, lead times, safety stock, MOQs and reorder logic — and how bad master data corrupts MRP output. Strong Excel skills for analysis on top of ERP data (pivot tables, lookups; Power Query a plus). Czech and English at working level — English is the working language with the Israeli entity and suppliers. Disciplined and structured: planning lives and dies on routine and follow-through. Strongly preferred SAP Business One experience specifically (MRP wizard, purchase request workflow, item master planning data). Experience with long-lead-item management in electronics, mechanical or similar component-heavy manufacturing. Experience operating formal approval workflows for purchase requests. Exposure to engineering change processes and their material impact. Nice to have Power BI literacy — enough to read and challenge a planning dashboard. Hebrew language skills (for coordination with the IL entity). APICS/ASCM certification (CPIM or similar) or equivalent formal training in production and inventory management. Personal attributes we are looking for Proactive, not reactive. The whole point of this role is buying long-lead items before the shortage exists. We need someone who looks forward, not someone who firefights. Comfortable saying no. You will reject incomplete purchase requests and push back on departments. Firm and constructive, not bureaucratic. Numerate and skeptical. MRP output is a recommendation, not an instruction. We want someone who checks before they commit company money. A communicator across functions. You sit between development, production, procurement and warehouse — and between two countries. Honest about risk. If a material is going to be late, we want to know the day you know, not the day production stops. What We Offer Opportunity to take real ownership early in your career Exposure to a multi-technology environment Close cooperation with development and QA teams Clear path toward product development (IG/CGF applications) Supportive and collaborative team environment