Production Planner

We are partnering with a manufacturing company who are looking to add four new Production Planners to their staff. Both in assembly and fabrication. Job descriptions are below. Please reach out to cthonn@skywatersearch.com for more information.

Senior Production Planner – Assembly

Position Overview

The Senior Production Planner is responsible for converting customer demand and the master production plan into a practical, regularly updated assembly schedule in a project-driven manufacturing environment. This role balances order priorities, engineering readiness, material supply and available production capacity to support reliable delivery performance.

Working closely with planning, project management, engineering, supply chain, quality and production teams, the planner turns changing project requirements into clear production priorities and actionable shop-floor plans.

Key Responsibilities

Production Planning and Schedule Management

Develop and maintain a rolling 12-week assembly schedule based on the master plan, customer demand, capacity, ramp-up requirements, engineering releases and lead times.

Track production progress and adherence to the schedule, revising priorities as conditions change.

Monitor schedule performance, customer delivery dates and work-in-process (WIP), and maintain accurate planning information in the ERP system.

Identify potential delivery risks early and recommend practical recovery plans or changes in priority.

Master Schedule Coordination

Connect the site-level master schedule with day-to-day production execution.

Assess the scheduling impact of engineering changes, customer updates and supply interruptions, coordinating adjustments with the master scheduler and affected teams.

Capacity and Issue Resolution

Identify constraints related to labor or equipment capacity, materials, fabricated components and engineering readiness.

Coordinate with the appropriate teams to resolve constraints and escalate risks that could affect production or delivery commitments.

Cross-Functional Communication

Partner with engineering, supply chain, production, quality and project management to align design releases, material availability and manufacturing priorities.

Facilitate daily and weekly schedule reviews with production supervisors, project management and fabrication planning.

Process Improvement and Team Support

Recommend improvements to assembly flow, resource utilization, schedule reliability and planning practices.

Help establish consistent production planning and scheduling standards.

Support the development of production coordinators as the team expands.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree and at least four years of experience in production planning, scheduling or manufacturing operations; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.

Strong ERP/MRP knowledge, including bills of material (BOMs), routings, master scheduling and capacity planning.

Experience coordinating work across engineering, supply chain, project management and manufacturing teams.

Strong analytical, organizational, communication and problem-solving skills.

Ability to manage competing priorities and make sound decisions in a fast-moving manufacturing environment.

Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and production scheduling tools.

Preferred Qualifications

Background in engineer-to-order (ETO), make-to-order (MTO) or project-based manufacturing.

Familiarity with SIOP/S&OP and master scheduling processes.

Experience with Epicor or a comparable ERP system.

APICS CPIM or CSCP certification.

Senior Production Planner – Fabrication

Position Overview

The Senior Production Planner – Fabrication develops and manages detailed fabrication schedules in a project-driven manufacturing environment. The role coordinates workload, materials and engineering readiness to ensure fabricated parts are completed when needed to support downstream assembly.

This planner works closely with fabrication, engineering, supply chain, programming and assembly planning, and coordinates fabrication jobs from release through completion and closeout.

Key Responsibilities

Fabrication Scheduling and Execution

Translate the 12-week assembly plan into a detailed schedule by work center and production resource.

Sequence and balance work to make effective use of fabrication capacity while meeting component requirements for assembly.

Track job status, shop-floor progress and WIP, adjusting the schedule as priorities, capacity and material availability change.

Measure and monitor schedule attainment, on-time delivery of components to assembly and WIP levels.

Job Lifecycle and Data Management

Coordinate fabrication jobs through release, material issue, component receipt and timely closeout.

Keep job dates, quantities, schedules and production records current in the ERP system.

Capacity and Constraint Management

Identify constraints involving workload, equipment or labor capacity, material supply, programming and engineering readiness.

Work with cross-functional partners to resolve blockers, communicate schedule risks and develop recovery options when commitments are at risk.

Cross-Functional Planning and Communication

Coordinate with engineering, supply chain, production, programming, quality and project management to support fabrication priorities.

Communicate the scheduling effects of engineering changes, customer revisions, material shortages and manufacturing disruptions.

Lead regular fabrication scheduling meetings to review progress, priorities and outstanding issues.

Continuous Improvement and Planning Expertise

Identify opportunities to improve fabrication flow, resource utilization, schedule performance and planning processes.

Develop and promote consistent scheduling and production planning practices.

Provide guidance to other planners and schedulers and serve as a resource for fabrication planning within the ERP system.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree and at least four years of experience in production planning, scheduling or manufacturing operations; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.

Strong ERP/MRP knowledge, including bills of material (BOMs), routings, production scheduling and capacity planning.

Experience working across engineering, supply chain and manufacturing functions.

Strong analytical, organizational, communication and problem-solving skills.

Ability to balance multiple priorities and make effective decisions in a fast-paced production setting.

Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and production scheduling tools.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in engineer-to-order (ETO), make-to-order (MTO) or project-based manufacturing.

Experience with Epicor or a comparable ERP system.

APICS CPIM or CSCP certification.