The role

Today our jewellery manufacturing buys to order. A customer PO lands, we order loose diamonds from our own diamond-growing and polishing unit and findings (chains, earring backs, clasps and other bought-in components) from supplier partners, and both take 4–6 weeks. Customers often give us less time than that, so we rush, pay for it, or ship late. At the same time, parts of our factory sit under-loaded in off-season months and overloaded in peak.

You will fix both problems. You will forecast demand, place projection orders for diamonds and findings ahead of confirmed POs, hold the right buffer stock, and load slow months with pre-production of proven styles so we ship faster in season.

This is a pure planning role. You will not sell, buy on price, or run the shop floor. You will decide what we need, how much, and when — and be accountable for the numbers.

About us

Dholakia Lab Grown Diamond (DLGD) is the lab-grown diamond jewellery arm of the Hari Krishna (HK) Group. We are fully integrated, from growing and polishing lab-grown diamonds to designing and manufacturing jewellery for leading retailers and brands across the US, UK and Europe.

HK Group, founded in 1992, is one of India's largest diamond and jewellery exporters, with more than 11,000 people. In 2026, GJEPC recognised the Group as India's largest diamond jewellery manufacturer and exporter.

What you will do

1. Forecast demand

- Build a rolling 12-month demand forecast by customer, programme, style family and month, refreshed monthly.
- Use order history, seasonality (holiday, Valentine's, Mother's Day, bridal), customer sell-through and replenishment data, and known promotions.
- Agree forecasts and blanket commitments directly with key customers' planning and merchandising teams, so our forecast rests on their plans, not only our history.
- Measure and report forecast accuracy and bias every month, and explain the misses.

2. Plan loose diamonds

- Translate the jewellery forecast into diamond requirements by shape, size/sieve, colour, clarity and certification.
- Place monthly projection orders with our diamond unit so common qualities are polished and waiting before customer POs arrive.
- Set and maintain safety stock for high-runner qualities; keep slow-moving and special qualities on order-to-order.
- Cut rush orders (2-week turnarounds) to the exception, not the norm.

3. Plan findings and bought-in components

- Build the findings plan (chains, earring backs, clasps, jump rings,



settings and other parts) from the forecast and bills of materials.
- Place projection and blanket orders with supplier partners, with agreed call-off schedules and minimum stock levels.
- Standardise components where possible, so one stock serves many styles.
- Track supplier lead time and on-time delivery, and escalate chronic gaps.

4. Level production across the year

- Map capacity by department (casting, setting, polishing, assembly and others) month by month against demand.
- Identify slow months and plan pre-production of proven, repeat styles into finished or semi-finished stock for peak season.
- Only pre-build what has a firm customer commitment or a strong repeat history; agree the list with Sales and the Business Head before production starts.
- Release work orders to the shop floor in line with the plan, and track plan vs actual.

5. Run the monthly planning cycle (S&OP;)

- Lead a monthly sales and operations planning meeting with Sales, Merchandising, Production, Procurement and Finance.
- Bring one agreed number for demand, supply, inventory and capacity, with the risks and the decisions needed.
- Model the cash and inventory cost of each planning choice before it is made.

6. Own inventory health

- Monitor diamond, findings, WIP and finished-goods stock against agreed limits.
- Flag ageing and excess stock early and propose how to use or re-allocate it.
- Build and maintain the planning tools, dashboards and ERP master data the process depends on.

What you own, and what you don't

- Demand: you own the forecast and its accuracy. Sales targets and customer pricing sit with Sales.
- Diamonds and findings: you own what to order, how much and when, within an approved inventory budget. Supplier selection and price negotiation sit with Procurement.
- Production: you own the monthly production plan and pre-build list. Shop-floor execution and staffing sit with Production.
- Inventory: you own stock levels against agreed limits. Write-offs and valuation sit with Finance.





Projection orders and pre-builds above the approved inventory budget need sign-off from the Business Head and Finance. How we will measure you

- On-time, in-full delivery to customers
- Orders delayed by diamond or findings shortage
- Rush diamond orders as a share of total
- Forecast accuracy and bias, by customer and style family
- Inventory turns and ageing (diamonds, findings, finished goods)
- Capacity utilisation in off-season months

Your first 90 days

- Days 1–30: Map the current order-to-delivery flow, lead times by supplier, and the last 24 months of orders by customer and style. Identify the 20% of diamond qualities and findings that drive 80% of volume.
- Days 31–60: Launch the first rolling forecast and the first projection orders for high-runner diamonds and findings. Propose safety-stock levels and an inventory budget.
- Days 61–90: Run the first full monthly S&OP; meeting. Present an off-season pre-build plan for the next slow period, with its cash and risk impact.

Who we are looking for

Must have

- 8+ years in demand, supply or materials planning in manufacturing, with at least 3 years owning a forecast and inventory outcomes yourself.
- Experience planning made-to-order or short-lifecycle products with long-lead materials (jewellery, watches, apparel, footwear, consumer goods or similar).
- A proven record of cutting lead times or stock-outs without inflating inventory, with numbers to show it.
- Robust Excel and data skills; comfortable building forecast models and planning dashboards from raw ERP data.
- Hands-on ERP/MRP experience (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics or a jewellery ERP).
- The confidence to challenge Sales on forecasts and push back on rush requests, with data.

Strong advantage

- Jewellery or diamond industry experience, especially with US, Europe & UK retail customers.
- Working knowledge of diamond grading (shape, size, colur, clarity) and jewellery bills of materials.
- S&OP; / IBP process leadership, or APICS CPIM / CSCP certification.
- Experience with statistical forecasting tools or Python / Power BI.

Education

- Degree in engineering, supply chain, operations, statistics or a related field. An MBA in operations is welcome but not required.

The details

- Title: Senior Manager – Demand & Supply Planning
- Reports to: COO
- Works with: Sales and Merchandising, Production, Procurement, our diamond unit, Finance
- Team: Individual contributor at start, with scope to build a planning team of 2–3
- Location: Mumbai,

📌 Senior Manager, Demand & Supply Planning (Mumbai)
🏢 Dholakia Lab Grown Diamond
📍 Mumbai