Production Planning Manager

Title: Manager, Master Planning

Department: Supply Chain

Reports To: Director, North America Production Planning

Direct Reports: 3–4

Position Summary:

Our client is seeking a Manager, Master Planning to lead end-to-end production and materials planning for a large manufacturing facility. This role is responsible for driving the integrated planning process, balancing demand, capacity, materials, labor, and inventory to ensure customer service, operational, and financial objectives are achieved.

The Manager, Master Planning will lead a team of planners and schedulers while serving as the key liaison between manufacturing operations, supply chain, procurement, finance, customer service, and commercial teams. This individual will play a critical role in the S&OP/IBP process by translating demand forecasts into executable supply plans and clearly communicating constraints, risks, and recommendations.

Key Responsibilities:

Integrated Production & Capacity Planning

• Own the facility master production plan, aligning demand forecasts, inventory targets, and capacity requirements.
• Develop and maintain short-, mid-, and long-term production plans across weekly, monthly, and annual planning horizons.
• Evaluate labor, equipment, storage, and packaging capacity constraints and develop mitigation strategies.
• Lead scenario planning for new product introductions, line transitions, equipment upgrades, seasonal demand shifts, and operational changes.
• Assess risks and trade-offs related to service, inventory, cost, and capacity while providing actionable recommendations to leadership.

Materials & Inventory Planning

• Provide leadership and oversight for raw material, packaging, and indirect materials planning activities.
• Ensure material availability supports production requirements while maintaining inventory targets and minimizing obsolescence.
• Partner with procurement and suppliers to manage lead times, shortages, and supply risks.
• Own inventory performance metrics, including inventory turns, excess and obsolete inventory, and aging analysis.

Scheduling & Execution Support

• Oversee detailed production scheduling to ensure efficient sequencing and alignment with the master plan.
• Collaborate with operations teams to manage schedule adherence, changeovers, downtime impacts, and recovery plans.
• Support daily and weekly execution reviews and adjust plans as needed to meet operational requirements.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Materials Planners and Production Schedulers.
• Establish planning priorities, standard work processes, and performance expectations.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on planning effectiveness, process efficiency, and data accuracy.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the primary planning interface with Demand Planning, Customer Service, Procurement, Finance, and Operations.
• Support S&OP/IBP processes by providing visibility into capacity, inventory positions, and supply chain risks.
• Lead monthly site reviews of the master plan, communicating constraints, changes, and recommendations to plant and business leaders.

Performance Management & Continuous Improvement

• Define, monitor, and report key planning metrics including service level, schedule adherence, plan attainment, inventory turns, and capacity utilization.
• Lead root cause analysis and corrective actions for service failures and planning deviations.
• Drive enhancements to ERP/MRP planning systems, data integrity, planning processes, and governance practices.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Business, or a related field.
• 7 years of experience in production planning, master planning, or supply chain planning within a manufacturing environment.
• Prior experience within food, beverage, consumer packaged goods (CPG), or other regulated manufacturing industries strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience leading, coaching, or mentoring planners and schedulers.
• Strong knowledge of MRP, capacity planning, inventory management, and supply planning principles.
• Advanced proficiency with ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, JD Edwards, or similar platforms, as well as Microsoft Excel.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in high-volume manufacturing, packaging, bottling, or complex SKU environments.
• Experience supporting new product launches and production line expansions.
• APICS/ASCM certification (CPIM, CSCP) or equivalent credentials.
• Experience participating in or leading S&OP and Integrated Business Planning (IBP) processes.

Key Competencies:

• Strategic thinking with a strong execution mindset
• Data-driven decision making
• Ability to manage complexity and ambiguity
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Collaborative leadership approach
• Continuous improvement mindset
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities

Financial Responsibility:

This position significantly influences operational and financial performance through planning decisions, inventory management, capacity utilization, and resource deployment. While not holding final budget authority, the role is accountable for managing planning resources and supporting the achievement of business objectives through effective supply chain execution.