Supply Chain Specialist

John Crane, a business of Smiths Group, is a global leader in mission-critical flow control solutions for energy and process industries that enable efficient and sustainable operations. Our products include mechanical seals and systems, couplings, filtration systems, and predictive digital monitoring technologies. 

We have a global network of more than 200 sites in over 50 countries and employ more than 6,000 people worldwide. We partner with our customers to help them keep their operations safe, reduce downtime, improve efficiency, and meet the latest environmental standards. 

John Crane is part of Smiths Group. For over 170 years, Smiths has been pioneering progress by engineering for a better future. We serve millions of people every year, helping to create a safer, more efficient, productive, and better-connected world across four global markets: energy, security & defence, space & aerospace, and general industrial. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Smiths employs approximately 16,000 colleagues in over 50 countries. 

Job Description

We are looking for a proactive and analytical Regional Supply Chain Specialist to join our team in Slough, Berkshire. Reporting to the Regional Supply Chain Manager, you will play a key role in supporting day-to-day supply chain execution across our regional operations. Working closely with Planning, Procurement, Operations and Logistics teams, you will help ensure supply chain activities run efficiently, data remains accurate and performance is clearly visible through meaningful reporting and analytics.

This role combines operational coordination with data-driven decision making, making it an excellent opportunity for a supply chain professional who enjoys analysing performance, solving problems and turning insights into actions that drive continuous improvement. You will support critical planning activities, maintain reporting tools and dashboards, and provide valuable insights that help optimise supply chain performance and business outcomes. 

If you are passionate about supply chain excellence, enjoy working cross-functionally and thrive in a fast-paced environment where you can influence performance through data and collaboration, we'd love to hear from you. 

Key responsibilities:

• Coordinate daily supply chain activities across planning, procurement and operations, including orderbook management and Master Production Scheduling (MPS). 
• Support local planning teams with material availability and alignment to production plans.
• Analyse supply chain data and translate insights into practical actions that improve operational performance. 
• Develop, maintain and enhance dashboards and reports using tools such as Excel and Power BI. 
• Monitor supply chain performance and identify trends, risks and opportunities. 
• Perform root cause analysis and support corrective actions to resolve operational issues.
• Escalate significant supply chain risks and exceptions where required.
• Maintain high levels of data accuracy and integrity across ERP and MRP systems.
• Support data governance activities and compliance with planning processes and parameters.
• Identify and resolve data inconsistencies and system-related issues.
• Support supply chain projects through analysis, reporting and performance tracking.

Qualifications

• Experience working within a supply chain, manufacturing or operations environment. 
• Strong understanding of supply chain planning principles and processes. 
• Experience interpreting data and translating findings into meaningful business insights.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Experience working with ERP and MRP systems.
• Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills. 
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and experience using reporting tools such as Power BI would be advantageous.
• Excellent communication and organisation skills.

Additional Information

With colleagues stretching across the globe, we are proud of our diversity. To foster inclusivity, we run employee resource groups (ERGs) to provide a safe space for employees to connect and support each other. Our cross-business ERGs include Veterans, Pride Network, Black Employee Network, View email address on jobs.smartrecruiters.com Network, and Neurodiversity. 

Across our company, we recognize excellence, culminating in the Smiths Excellence Awards, our annual celebration of the most extraordinary activities, people, and projects that best showcase our strengths and help drive our business forward. We announce these on our annual Smiths Day, a global celebration of Smiths around our network. 

Join us for a great career with competitive compensation and benefits, while helping engineer a better future. 

We believe that different perspectives and backgrounds are what make a company flourish. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment regardless of color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, economic status, disability, age, or any other legally protected characteristics. We are proud to be an inclusive company with values grounded in equality and ethics, where we celebrate, support, and embrace diversity.

At no time during the hiring process will Smiths Group, nor any of our recruitment partners ever request payment to enable participation – including, but not limited to, interviews or testing. Avoid fraudulent requests by applying jobs directly through our career’s website ( Careers - Smiths Group plc )