Production Planning Manager

Job Title: Master Production Scheduler

Department: Procurement

Reports To: VP of Procurement

FLSA Status: Exempt

Location: Covington, LA (travel as needed to plants)

Position Summary

The Master Production Scheduler is responsible for developing, maintaining, and executing integrated master production schedules across multiple manufacturing facilities. This role ensures production plans align with customer demand, manufacturing capacity, material availability, inventory targets, and financial performance.

This position serves as a central planning authority supporting supply-and-demand balancing, finished goods availability, inventory optimization, and capacity planning. The Master Production Scheduler partners closely with Operations, Maintenance, Procurement, Sales, Quality, Finance, and Logistics to provide clear visibility into constraints, lead times, risks, and trade-offs. The role supports both plant and executive leadership with data-driven insights to enable strong operational and financial decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

Production Planning & Scheduling

• Develop, maintain, and continuously improve short- and mid-term master production schedules across multiple facilities.
• Convert demand forecasts, customer orders, promotions, and inventory targets into executable production plans.
• Balance capacity, labor availability, equipment uptime, and maintenance constraints to meet service, cost, and financial objectives.
• Maintain rolling 8–12 week schedule visibility to support proactive planning and risk mitigation.
• Incorporate sequencing and changeover considerations to reduce disruption, inefficiency, and cost.

Inventory Management & Optimization

• Manage finished goods (FG), work-in-process (WIP), and excess & obsolete (E&O) inventory to optimize working capital while protecting customer service levels.
• Establish and maintain safety stock targets based on demand variability, lead times, and production capabilities.
• Identify inventory risks and recommend corrective actions related to shortages, excess, or obsolescence.
• Evaluate and communicate the financial impact of inventory decisions, including carrying costs, write-offs, service-level trade-offs, and COGS implications.

Capacity, Constraint, & Risk Management

• Identify and communicate capacity constraints, bottlenecks, and production risks across facilities.
• Develop mitigation plans for raw material or packaging shortages, equipment downtime, maintenance events, labor constraints, and demand volatility.
• Perform scenario planning and trade-off analysis (cost vs. service vs. utilization) to support leadership decisions.
• Maintain annual and rolling capacity models, identifying opportunities for improvement in partnership with Operations, Finance, and Quality.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Procurement to ensure timely availability of raw materials and packaging while minimizing expediting and premium freight.
• Collaborate with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, and Regulatory to align schedules with production realities, asset reliability, food safety, and compliance requirements.
• Support Sales and Customer Service by providing visibility into lead times, production constraints, and fulfillment capabilities.
• Serve as a trusted planning partner to plant leadership and executive management.

Financial Acumen & S&OP Alignment

• Maintain strong understanding of manufacturing cost drivers, including labor, utilization, downtime, bottlenecks, sequencing, changeovers, yield loss, scrap, substitutions, and expediting.
• Support S&OP processes by aligning production plans with budget vs. actual performance, forecast accuracy, demand variability, and scenario planning for promotions, LTOs, and seasonal demand.
• Evaluate and recommend cost vs. service trade-offs, including when overtime is justified, when backorders are financially preferable, and opportunities for line consolidation or changeover reduction.
• Quantify and communicate financial impact of promotional spikes, short-term demand shifts, and scheduling decisions.

Continuous Improvement & Quality Support

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives related to scheduling accuracy, forecast reliability, inventory turns, and throughput.
• Support production stability and rework reduction efforts.
• Participate in food safety and quality initiatives, including HACCP support as required.
• Apply Lean, Six Sigma, or CI tools to improve planning effectiveness and execution.

Reporting & Leadership Support

• Develop, maintain, and report KPIs related to scheduling, inventory, service, and capacity.
• Analyze root causes of performance gaps and communicate corrective actions.
• Provide clear reporting to senior leadership highlighting risks, opportunities, trends, and performance drivers.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Master Schedule Accuracy
• Schedule Adherence
• Production Attainment
• OTIF (On Time In Full)
• o PLK
• o All other customers
• Material Shortage Incidents
• COGS impacts related to scheduling efficiency
• Capacity Utilization
• Changeover Efficiency
• Inventory Turns (FG & WIP)
• Identification and communication of risks & opportunities

Leadership Behaviors

• Act as an Owner: Create value for the business and stakeholders.
• Collaboration: Build strong working relationships across functional teams.
• Inspire Others: Demonstrate passion, positivity, and determination.
• Drive Innovation: Identify and implement new solutions to enhance performance.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain, Operations, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 5+ years of experience in production planning, scheduling, or supply chain roles.
• Strong working knowledge of MRP/ERP systems and production planning tools.
• Proven experience managing multi-site production schedules.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Willingness to travel to manufacturing facilities as needed.

Preferred

• APICS / ASCM, CSCMP, or similar professional certification (CPIM, CSCP, SCPro).
• Lean, Six Sigma, or Continuous Improvement experience.
• Experience in FDA-regulated and HACCP-driven environments.
• Experience in food, beverage, or CPG manufacturing.
• Advanced Excel and data analysis skills.