Production Planner

The Production Planner is the strategic owner and governance lead for the Master Production schedule (MPS) and all production planning activities across Injection Molding Operations (IMO), Assembly and Packaging Operations (APO), and finished goods. This role translates demand signals into a long- and short-range executable production strategy, establishes and enforces planning policies (including frozen-fence governance), and provides enterprise-level leadership across Sales, Purchasing, Engineering, Warehouse, and Manufacturing to ensure on-time delivery, operational stability, and continuous improvement. This role sets planning standards, drives cross-functional accountability, manages planning and production control resources, and serves as the primary escalation point for planning trade-offs impacting customer commitments, capacity, and inventory.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Own, govern, publish, and continuously improve the Master Production Schedule (MPS) across all production work centers, ensuring real-time enterprise‑wide visibility and alignment with business priorities.

• Establish and enforce finite scheduling standards that balance demand, capacity, labor, and material constraints; the MPS serves as the authoritative source of truth for production activity.

• Oversee and ensure accuracy of work order creation and release in the ERP system, delegating transactional execution while retaining accountability for plan integrity.

• Define, enforce, and continuously refine the frozen‑fence policy, including approval thresholds, exception criteria, and impact analysis.

• Establish clear ownership and exception‑management processes for work order release, ensuring proactive issue identification and resolution.

• Serve as the senior planning partner to APO and IMO leadership to address capacity, staffing, and execution constraints.

• Lead cross‑functional material readiness planning with Warehouse Inventory Control and Purchasing to mitigate shortages and support long‑range planning.

• Integrate Manufacturing Engineering maintenance, PM, and capacity plans into the MPS to support sustainable throughput.

• Direct management of Production Control team and coordination with APO/IMO teams on floor execution, schedule variances, disruptions, and re‑sequencing decisions.

• Own plan‑vs‑actual performance governance, facilitate weekly and monthly reviews, identify root causes of variance, and drive corrective actions.

• Provide executive‑level impact assessments and recommendations for planning conflicts, trade‑offs, and frozen‑fence exception requests.

• Define, monitor, and report key planning KPIs, including schedule attainment, MPS stability, inventory health, and service‑level performance.

• Lead, mentor, and develop planning and production control staff, establishing best practices, standard work, and succession capability.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives related to planning accuracy, ERP utilization, and cross‑functional execution discipline.

• Demonstrate professional conduct and ethics in accordance with IMI policies.

• Maintain compliance with all applicable regulations.

• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Industrial Engineering, Business, or related field; or equivalent experience.

• Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in production planning, scheduling, or supply chain management within a manufacturing environment.

• Minimum of 3 years of leadership or functional ownership experience with demonstrated cross‑functional influence.

• Advanced proficiency with ERP systems, including MPS, capacity planning, and work order management.

• Strong working knowledge of Bills of Materials (BOMs), routings, and manufacturing lead times.

• Advanced analytical skills with high proficiency in Excel or similar tools.

• Strong communication skills with the ability to present trade‑offs and recommendations to senior leadership.

• Ability to operate effectively under pressure and manage competing priorities.

• Demonstrated initiative, accountability, and reliability.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with finite scheduling tools or advanced planning software.

• Familiarity with regulated manufacturing environments (medical device, pharmaceutical, or similar).

• Bilingual (Spanish / English).

Physical / Mental Demands:

• The job is performed indoors in a variety of settings including office, manufacturing floor and warehouse with no abnormal hazards or risks. Protective safety clothing may occasionally be required including appropriate dress code: no makeup or jewelry, shoe coverings, gloves, hair net, and lab coat as needed.

• Must be able to work under conditions that require sitting, standing, walking.

• Must be alert, able to concentrate, and use good judgment.

• Work under pressure in a fast-paced environment.

• Work may require occasional weekend or evening hours to support production schedules.