Production Planner

Production Planner

Wawona Frozen Foods · Fresno, CA · On-site · Full-time, [Exempt] · Planning Department

Turn the demand plan into the schedule that runs our operation, and be the person who keeps every line staged, set up, and running.

About Wawona Frozen Foods

Wawona Frozen Foods is a family-owned company and the leading U.S. processor of frozen peaches. We pack roughly 90 million pounds of peaches and other fruit each year in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley.

For more than five decades, the Smittcamp family has grown, packed, and shipped fruit to the nation's largest club and grocery retailers, school nutrition programs, foodservice distributors, and food and beverage manufacturers. Our state-of-the-art production methods and facilities deliver consistent, high-quality products while meeting the highest food safety standards required by the USDA and state regulators.

Our vision is simple: a family business putting a Wawona fruit in every freezer, fruit cup, and smoothie in America.

About This Role

The Production Planner turns the demand plan into an executable production schedule. You'll schedule production, guide labor planning, coordinate materials, and direct raw material moves so every line is staged and ready to run.

You'll build and manage the schedule in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. You'll own production-side readiness for BOMs, specifications, and Released Production Order (RPO) setup, and track the metrics that drive line efficiency, run time, and utilization.

You are the gatekeeper for every schedule addition, change, and substitution. Nothing reaches the floor until you have reviewed its impact on capacity, labor, materials, cost, food safety, and customers.

We're looking for someone who is highly collaborative, has a bias for action, and makes data-driven decisions using Business Central, Power BI, and Excel automation.

What You'll Do

Production scheduling

• Convert the Demand Planner's demand plan into a feasible production schedule by line, shift, and day.
• Build, maintain, and publish the schedule in the Business Central Planning Worksheet.
• Sequence runs to minimize changeovers and downtime while meeting service levels, inventory targets, and sanitation and allergen requirements.
• Maintain a rolling look-ahead and communicate changes promptly to Operations, Warehouse, Quality, and Supply Planning.
• Track schedules against actuals, and monitor co-packer and customer contract commitments.

Gatekeeper for additions, changes, and substitutions

• Serve as the single point of control for all schedule changes and material or packaging substitutions.
• Evaluate each request for impact on capacity, labor, materials, cost, food safety, and customer commitments before approval.
• Confirm substitutions are approved by Quality and reflected in the BOM and production order before release.
• Document changes and communicate decisions to all affected teams.

Labor scheduling guidance

• Translate the schedule into labor requirements by line and shift using current labor standards.
• Give Operations supervisors the labor plan in advance to support crew scheduling.
• Help Production update labor standards and machine settings as needed.

Supply and material planning

• Coordinate with Supply Planning on MRP so raw materials, ingredients, and packaging are ready for each run.
• Flag material shortages early, with recommended actions.
• Manage non-inventory packaging materials.
• Stay in contact with co-packers to meet their production needs, and provide post-run reports.

Warehouse movement of raw materials

• Guide the Warehouse Manager and team on the timing and sequence of material moves to the lines.
• Ensure materials are staged ahead of each run for proper setup and uninterrupted production.
• Coordinate put-away, consumption, and returns of unused materials to keep inventory accurate.

BOMs, specifications, and RPO setup

• Participate in the BOM process, reviewing new and revised BOMs and routings for accuracy.
• Review and prepare product specifications with Quality and R&D before scheduling.
• Create and set up RPOs in Business Central with the correct BOM, routing, quantities, dates, and lot requirements.
• Verify production orders are complete, released on time, and closed out accurately.

Reporting and continuous improvement

• Track and report on production activity, including schedule attainment and line performance.
• Build and maintain Power BI and Excel reports for Production teams and leadership.
• Apply costing and cost-control knowledge to scheduling decisions.
• Lead or contribute to continuous improvement projects in planning and operations.
• Participate actively in operations, scheduling, and planning meetings.

Safety and compliance

• Participate actively in Wawona's safety program.
• Comply with all GMP, HACCP, Food Safety, Food Defense, and SQF policies, and schedule manufacturing to internal quality and regulatory standards.
• Raise or act on any safety, quality, or compliance concern within the scope of the role.

How Success Is Measured

You'll track and report these metrics to drive line efficiency, run time, and utilization. Planning and Operations leadership set the targets.

What You Bring

Required

• Bachelor's degree in business, operations, supply chain, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 2+ years of supply chain or production planning experience, with emphasis on scheduling, inventory management, analysis, and MRP.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (or Dynamics NAV), including the Planning Worksheet, production BOMs, routings, and RPOs.
• Demonstrated skill with Power BI, automation, forecasting, and planning tools.
• Advanced Excel, including formulas and macros, plus Outlook, Project, and other Microsoft Office programs.
• Understanding of GMP, HACCP, and SQF standards and how they affect scheduling, allergen sequencing, and sanitation.
• Working understanding of costing and cost controls.
• Clear written and verbal communication, including presenting schedule trade-offs.
• Strong organization, with the ability to manage competing priorities and tight deadlines with minimal supervision.

Preferred

• Experience in frozen food, fruit processing, or other seasonal food manufacturing.
• APICS/ASCM certification (CPIM or CSCP).

What sets great planners apart

• Judgment: You hold the line on schedule changes and approve only what the operation can support.
• Collaboration: You build strong partnerships with Warehouse, Supply Planning, Demand Planning, Operations, and Quality.
• Continuous improvement: You always look for ways to cut changeovers, downtime, and waste.
• Integrity: You earn trust through honesty, professionalism, and sound judgment.

Don't check every box? If you love making a complex operation run smoothly, we still want to hear from you.

Location & Schedule

• Location: On-site in Fresno, California. This is not a remote role.
• Schedule: Full-time, standard business hours. Additional hours may be needed during peak and seasonal production.
• Travel: Minimal to Fresno Facility. Includes regular time on the production floor and in warehouse areas.

Compensation & Benefits

Pay range: The pay range for this position is $75,000 – $105,000 per year . This is the range Wawona reasonably and in good faith expects to pay. The actual offer depends on qualifications, experience, and internal equity.

Benefits for full-time employees include:

• 401(k) with a generous company match
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Employer-paid life insurance , plus voluntary life coverage
• Employee Assistance Program
• Section 125 flexible spending and dependent care accounts
• Paid time off and paid holidays , including California paid sick leave
• Culture perks: Wawona Wednesdays, End-of-Season Appreciation Events, Employee of the Month, and Wawona gear

Why You Should Join Us

• Real ownership. You own the production schedule for a category-leading operation, and your decisions show up on the line every day.
• Modern tools. Work in Business Central, Power BI, and Excel automation, with room to build better reports and processes.
• Visible impact. Every changeover you save and every run you stage on time moves line efficiency and customer service.
• We learn together. We invest in training, resources, and tools.
• A family business that treats you like family. We celebrate our people and want every employee to have a long career here.
• Central Valley living. Lower cost of living than coastal California, with Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon nearby.

Additional Information

Equal opportunity. Wawona Frozen Foods is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race (including traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture and protective hairstyles), color, religion or religious creed (including religious dress and grooming), national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age (40 and over), physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, reproductive health decision-making, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by FEHA, the ADA, or other federal, state, or local law. We proudly encourage military veterans to apply.

Reasonable accommodation. We engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process and provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities, consistent with the ADA and FEHA. To request an accommodation during the application or interview process, contact [HR contact / email].

Fair chance hiring. Consistent with the California Fair Chance Act and applicable local ordinances, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. We do not ask about conviction history until after a conditional offer of employment.

Pay equity and salary history. We do not ask applicants about prior salary history.

Applicant privacy. Personal information collected during the hiring process is handled under our California Applicant Privacy Notice: [link].

Work authorization. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States and be physically located in the United States. [Add E-Verify statement, if applicable.]

At-will employment. Employment with Wawona Frozen Foods is at-will. This posting is not a contract of employment and may be changed to reflect business needs.

Notice to recruiters and agencies. Wawona Frozen Foods does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters, employment agencies, or vendors. Without a signed Recruitment Fee Agreement, Wawona will not consider or pay any referral compensation or recruiter fee. Unsolicited resumes, including those sent to hiring managers, become the property of Wawona Frozen Foods, and Wawona has no financial obligation for them. Verbal commitments from any Wawona employee are not binding. This policy applies to all Wawona locations and offices.