Production Planner / Scheduler – Aerospace Manufacturing

Position Summary

The Production Planner / Scheduler is responsible for owning and continuously improving production schedules, order tracking, and planning processes within a fast-paced manufacturing environment. This hands-on role will take ownership of the Open Order Report (OOR), ensuring accurate visibility into order status, capacity, priorities, and delivery commitments while supporting on-time customer deliveries.

Initially, this position will focus on streamlining and enhancing existing Excel-based planning tools and scheduling processes. As operations mature, the individual will help evaluate and recommend MRP/ERP solutions that improve efficiency, visibility, and scalability.

Success in this role requires strong organizational skills, attention to detail, adaptability, and the ability to work cross-functionally in a high-mix manufacturing environment where priorities can change quickly.

Key Responsibilities

Production Planning & Scheduling

• Own, maintain, and continuously update the Open Order Report (OOR) and master production schedule.
• Translate customer demand, order priorities, and delivery requirements into executable production schedules.
• Monitor work orders throughout the manufacturing process, from material procurement through shipment.
• Identify potential schedule risks, delayed orders, and resource constraints, and develop recovery plans.
• Coordinate with production leadership to optimize labor utilization, tooling availability, equipment capacity, and material readiness.

Scheduling Process Improvement

• Evaluate and improve existing scheduling tools, reporting methods, and planning workflows.
• Eliminate redundant data entry and improve scheduling accuracy and visibility.
• Develop standardized planning processes, status reporting methods, and update procedures.
• Create dashboards and reporting tools that provide real-time visibility into order status, bottlenecks, workload, and delivery performance.
• Establish metrics that support daily production meetings and operational decision-making.

Capacity Planning & Material Readiness

• Validate production schedules against capacity, labor availability, lead times, and material constraints.
• Proactively identify shortages, bottlenecks, and resource conflicts.
• Recommend and implement recovery actions to maintain delivery commitments.
• Adjust production priorities as customer requirements, engineering changes, quality issues, or operational conditions evolve.

Systems & Cross-Functional Support

• Document planning processes and identify opportunities for automation and system improvements.
• Evaluate and recommend MRP/ERP solutions that align with business needs and operational requirements.
• Collaborate with Purchasing, Production, Engineering, Quality, and Customer Service teams to ensure schedule alignment and accurate order status.
• Support future implementation and transition efforts for new planning systems and tools.

Qualifications

Required

• U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident.
• 3+ years of experience in production planning, scheduling, manufacturing operations, or a related field.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including formulas, pivot tables, lookups, dashboards, and reporting tools.
• Proven experience maintaining and improving production schedules in a manufacturing environment.
• Strong organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

Preferred

• Experience in aerospace, composites, defense, or other discrete manufacturing environments.
• Familiarity with work orders, Bills of Materials (BOMs), routings, capacity planning, and material requirements planning.
• Experience evaluating, implementing, or utilizing MRP/ERP systems.
• Experience with Power BI, Power Query, or similar reporting and analytics tools.

Education

• High School Diploma or equivalent required.
• Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations Management, Business, Engineering, or a related field preferred.

Compensation & Schedule

• Schedule: Monday-Friday, 6:00 AM - 2:30 PM
• Overtime available as needed

Ideal Background

Production Planning • Manufacturing Scheduling • Supply Chain Operations • Aerospace Manufacturing • Capacity Planning • ERP/MRP Systems • Order Management • BOM & Routing Management • Inventory Planning • Operational Excellence • Continuous Improvement • Excel-Based Production Scheduling and Reporting.