Production Planner

Talent HRizon is partnering with one of our clients to identify an experienced Production Planner to support production planning, scheduling, forecasting, operational decision-making, and data validation across the business.

This is a highly analytical role that works closely with Supply Chain, Production, Operations, Procurement, and Finance/Cost Accounting to ensure production plans are accurate, executable, and aligned with customer demand, material availability, inventory, and plant capacity.

This is not a traditional scheduling-only position. The Production Planner will be responsible for developing and managing production schedules, analyzing forecasts, validating ERP-generated recommendations, identifying planning risks, and making sound operational decisions in a fast-moving manufacturing environment.

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he successful candidate will have strong manufacturing experience, deep production-planning knowledge, exceptional attention to detail, and the ability to operate independently. This role requires someone who understands how demand, materials, inventory, capacity, lead times, work orders, production performance, and cost are interconnected.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and communicate production schedules based on customer demand, forecasts, inventory levels, material availability, production capacity, and operational priorities.
• Analyze demand forecasts and translate them into executable production plans.
• Review and validate ERP-generated planning and work-order recommendations for accuracy and operational feasibility.
• Identify forecasting errors, scheduling conflicts, material constraints, capacity limitations, and other risks before they affect production or customer delivery.
• Manage and validate production-planning and scheduling information within Sage X3 and related business systems.
• Create, review, and manage work orders while ensuring production priorities are aligned with business requirements.
• Monitor schedule adherence and adjust production plans as demand, materials, capacity, or operational conditions change.
• Understand the end-to-end manufacturing and supply-chain process and anticipate the downstream impact of planning decisions.
• Partner closely with Production and Operations leadership to validate schedules, priorities, material requirements, and execution assumptions.
• Coordinate with Procurement and Supply Chain teams to understand material availability, lead times, shortages, and supply risks.
• Work closely with Finance and Cost Accounting to understand product structures, costing, variances, and operational impacts.
• Analyze operational data to identify bottlenecks, risks, trends, and opportunities for improvement.
• Provide insights regarding inventory, production requirements, demand trends, capacity, and operational risks to cross-functional teams.
• Validate product, item, planning, and work-order data based on established business rules and product knowledge.
• Communicate schedule changes, constraints, and risks clearly to production and other stakeholders.
• Participate in production meetings and provide clear direction regarding current and upcoming production requirements.
• Use actual production performance and operating results to continuously improve future forecasts, schedules, and planning assumptions.
• Support continuous-improvement initiatives focused on planning accuracy, ERP utilization, production efficiency, inventory optimization, and cost reduction.
• Other duties as assigned.

Recipe for Success (Qualifications)

• Bachelor’s degree preferred in Supply Chain Management, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Business Administration, Engineering, Finance, Mathematics, or a related analytical discipline.
• Minimum of 5 years of production planning, demand planning, manufacturing planning, supply chain planning, or closely related manufacturing experience.
• Demonstrated experience developing and managing production schedules within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong understanding of demand planning, forecasting, work orders, material requirements, inventory, production capacity, lead times, and manufacturing operations.
• Prior experience working in a manufacturing facility is required.
• Strong ERP/MRP experience with the ability to understand how demand, inventory, materials, production, work orders, and costing interact within the system.
• Sage X3 experience is a significant plus.
• Strong analytical, quantitative, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to analyze forecasts, identify inconsistencies, challenge system-generated recommendations, and make sound planning decisions.
• Exceptional attention to detail with a demonstrated habit of validating information rather than accepting system outputs at face value.
• Ability to operate autonomously, prioritize competing requirements, and make effective decisions in a fluid manufacturing environment.
• Strong business acumen and understanding of how production-planning decisions affect customer service, inventory, cost, labor, and overall plant performance.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the confidence to communicate planning risks and challenge assumptions when necessary.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel and strong working knowledge of Microsoft 365 applications.
• Comfortable working with large amounts of operational data and using technology, analytical tools, and automation to improve planning effectiveness.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and changing operational requirements.
• Ability to work collaboratively with employees across Supply Chain, Production, Operations, Procurement, Finance, Sales, and other functional areas.
• Must be able to maintain strict confidentiality of company financial and operational information.

Work Environment

This is an onsite position and requires regular presence within the manufacturing operation. The Production Planner will work closely with plant leadership and production teams and must be comfortable spending time in both an office environment and on the manufacturing floor.

The right candidate will be someone who can take data, forecasts, system recommendations, and operational realities and turn them into a practical production plan. This individual should be comfortable making decisions, solving problems independently, and continuously improving how the organization plans and executes production.