Supply Chain Analyst / Production Planner

About the role

The Production Planner/Supply Chain Analyst will be responsible for managing the production schedule and ensuring timely delivery of materials and components. This role requires strong coordination across various departments and proficiency in both manual and digital planning tools.

Responsibilities

• Own the weekly and monthly production schedule for all build programs, translating engineering demand into executable floor plans
• Manage the clear-to-build (CTB) process: verify material availability, tooling readiness, work instruction completeness, and labor capacity before committing to each build cycle
• Create and maintain work orders, build sequences, and production milestones in coordination with engineering and operations leadership
• Balance production capacity against demand across multiple concurrent programs with varying complexity and priority
• Adjust plans dynamically as engineering changes, supply delays, or quality issues arise — communicating impacts and recovery plans proactively
• Run daily/weekly production stand-ups to align the floor on priorities, flag blockers, and track progress against commitments
• Coordinate with procurement and supply chain to ensure on-time delivery of all materials, components, and purchased parts needed for upcoming builds
• Track long-lead items and critical-path components, escalating risks early when lead times threaten build schedules
• Manage material requirements planning (MRP) manually or through available tools, given the absence of a fully mature ERP system
• Work with receiving and warehouse teams to confirm incoming inventory matches build plan needs and is staged for production
• Maintain accurate bills of material (BOM) consumption tracking and flag discrepancies between planned and actual usage
• Plan labor and staffing needs week-to-week, coordinating with supervisors and contractors to ensure adequate headcount for planned build rates
• Monitor workstation utilization, identify bottlenecks, and recommend rebalancing or overtime as needed to meet commitments
• Cook with machine shop and additive manufacturing teams to schedule prototype part fabrication aligned with build timelines
• Track equipment availability and maintenance windows, incorporating downtime into production schedules
• Maintain production dashboards tracking schedule adherence, clear-to-build status, and delivery performance
• Publish weekly production status reports to leadership, highlighting risks, recovery actions, and forecast changes
• Conduct root cause analysis on missed builds or schedule slips, driving corrective actions to prevent recurrence
• Identify opportunities to improve planning processes, reduce lead times, and increase schedule predictability
• Support the development and implementation of planning tools and systems as the organization matures beyond manual tracking

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent
• 3+ years of experience in production planning, scheduling, or materials coordination in a manufacturing environment
• Experience managing production schedules and coordinating across supply chain, engineering, and shop floor teams
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-changing environment
• Proficiency with spreadsheets and planning tools (Excel, Google Sheets, Smartsheet, or equivalent)
• Strong communication skills — ability to drive alignment across cross-functional teams and escalate issues clearly
• Comfort working in environments without fully mature ERP systems, using manual processes and custom tools to track production

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain management, industrial engineering, operations management, or related field
• 5+ years of experience in production planning in low-volume, high-mix manufacturing (prototype, aerospace, defense, or R&D environments)
• APICS CPIM, CSCP, or equivalent supply chain certification
• Experience with MRP/ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite) and understanding of how to operate effectively when systems are immature or absent
• Experience managing clear-to-build processes and production readiness reviews
• Experience planning builds with complex, multi-level BOMs and long-lead procured components
• Familiarity with lean manufacturing principles, kanban, and pull-based production systems
• Experience working in a development or NPI (New Product Introduction) environment where designs change frequently
• Track record of building planning processes from scratch in a growing organization
• Strong analytical skills — ability to model scenarios, forecast capacity, and make data-driven tradeoff recommendations