Director of Production & Materials Planning

We are an established food manufacturer producing a diverse portfolio of products across a multi‑site manufacturing network. This senior leadership role leads production and materials planning for three facilities, guiding a distributed team and improving schedule adherence, capacity utilization, inventory performance, and customer service.

Responsibilities

• Lead production and materials planning across three manufacturing facilities and approximately 500 active SKUs.
• Develop and maintain master production schedules that balance demand, inventory, materials, and manufacturing capacity.
• Use Rough‑Cut Capacity Planning (RCCP) to identify potential labor, equipment, material, and production‑line constraints before they affect customer commitments.
• Oversee detailed production scheduling based on actual plant capacity, changeovers, sanitation, maintenance, staffing, and equipment availability.
• Build, develop, and manage a distributed team of production schedulers and material planners.
• Establish consistent planning processes, expectations, and performance measures across all facilities.
• Partner with Procurement to ensure ingredients, packaging, labels, and other materials are available when production begins.
• Collaborate with plant leadership to resolve scheduling conflicts, capacity limitations, material shortages, and other production risks.
• Support the SIOP/IBP process by translating demand plans into achievable supply and production plans.
• Improve inventory performance while maintaining appropriate service levels and production continuity.
• Evaluate planning technology and advanced planning tools to improve visibility, accuracy, and decision‑making.
• Create KPIs, dashboards, and reporting tools for schedule adherence, capacity utilization, inventory, service levels, and planning performance.
• Communicate risks, trade‑offs, and recommendations clearly to senior leadership and cross‑functional partners.
• Lead continuous‑improvement initiatives using Lean, Kaizen, Six Sigma, or related methodologies.

Requirements

• 5+ years of production planning, master scheduling, materials planning, or supply planning experience in a manufacturing environment.
• 2+ years leading production planners, material planners, schedulers, or similar planning professionals.
• Direct production‑planning experience within food, beverage, dairy, or CPG manufacturing.
• Hands‑on responsibility for Master Production Scheduling (MPS) and Rough‑Cut Capacity Planning (RCCP).
• Experience developing executable production plans that account for materials, labor, equipment capacity, changeovers, sanitation, maintenance, and other manufacturing constraints.
• Experience planning across multiple plants, production lines, or a complex, high‑SKU manufacturing operation.
• Strong MRP/ERP systems knowledge and advanced Excel skills.
• Experience leading or playing a significant role in the SIOP, S&OP, or Integrated Business Planning process.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with finite‑capacity scheduling or advanced planning systems.
• Experience with aseptic production or packaging.
• Experience incorporating co‑manufacturers or contract manufacturers into production and materials plans.
• APICS CPIM or CSCP certification.
• Lean, Kaizen, or Six Sigma experience.

Pay

$160,000 – $200,000 per year