Planning Manager

Leads and implements all planning, scheduling, forecasting, and material management activities supporting APU repair, overhaul (R&O), and spare/spot operations including outside processing, and managing internal jobs in terms of costs and availability.

Responsibilities

• Develop, publish, maintain, and manage the Master Production Schedule (Build Schedule) to support customer commitments and operational objectives.
• Create detailed production schedules that effectively balance customer demand, material availability, labor resources, and manufacturing capacity.
• Monitor schedule performance and proactively adjust plans to address changing business conditions, customer priorities, and production constraints.
• Develop contingency plans and recovery schedules to mitigate material shortages, supplier delays, production disruptions, and unforeseen events.
• Manage contract line-item delivery schedules and customer commitments.
• Support Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning (SIOP) activities and capacity planning initiatives.
• Lead all material planning activities to ensure adequate availability of raw materials, components, and assemblies required to support production schedules.
• Support inventory reduction initiatives and eliminate unnecessary inventory growth.
• Collaborate with Sales, Engineering, Operations, and Procurement to reduce excess and obsolete inventory.
• Monitor material shortages, excess inventory, and inventory performance metrics.
• Serve as the primary liaison between Production, Engineering, Procurement, Logistics, Sales, Program Management, Quality, and Finance regarding planning and scheduling activities.
• Facilitate cross-functional problem solving to resolve scheduling conflicts, capacity constraints, material shortages, and customer delivery issues.
• Collaborate with Procurement and Supplier Management teams to improve supplier performance and material availability.
• Support supplier delivery performance and ensure material availability aligns with production requirements.
• Partner with Procurement on supplier planning, lead-time management, and strategic sourcing initiatives.
• Coordinate logistics requirements to support efficient material flow and customer deliveries.
• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve planning-related policies, procedures, work instructions, and standard operating processes.
• Lead planning process improvements utilizing Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Identify opportunities for inventory reduction, lead-time improvements, increased throughput, and cost savings.
• Support ERP/MRP system optimization, enhancements, implementations, and reporting requirements.
• Collaborate with IT and business system administrators to improve planning tools, reports, and system functionality.
• Lead and develop planning personnel and support cross-training within the supply chain organization.
• Establish departmental objectives aligned with company goals and operational priorities.
• Foster employee engagement, accountability, teamwork, and professional development.
• Conduct performance management activities and support employee growth initiatives.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, Operations Management, Business Administration, Engineering, or related field preferred. Equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
• 8–10 years of progressive experience in production planning, materials management, supply chain, procurement, or manufacturing operations – with APU experience preferred.
• Aerospace, aviation, defense, MRO, or highly regulated manufacturing experience strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting aftermarket repair and overhaul operations with multiple product lines and customer requirements.
• Previous leadership experience managing personnel and processes.

Skills

• Master Production Scheduling (MPS)
• Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and Enterprise Resource Planning (Syteline)
• Inventory Management
• Demand Forecasting
• Capacity Planning
• Supply Chain Management / Vendor Management
• Process Improvement / Continuous Improvement
• Project Management
• Strategic Thinking
• Financial and Business Acumen
• Problem Solving and Root Cause Analysis
• Leadership and Employee Development
• Communication and Collaboration
• Technical Capacity/Initiative and Decision Making

Preferred Certifications

• APICS CPIM Certification
• ASCM CSCP Certification
• Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma Certification

Technical Requirements

• Strong ERP/MRP system experience (SyteLine preferred).
• Advanced spreadsheet and analytical capabilities.
• Knowledge of APU R&O operations, routings, BOM structures, forecasting, inventory management, and supply chain processes.
• Strong understanding of demand planning, capacity planning, and operational performance metrics.