Production Planning Manager

Manager, Production Planning

Location: Milwaukee Area, Wisconsin

Compensation: $140,000 to $160,000 Base Salary

About the Company


Ashton North is partnering with a growing private equity-backed manufacturer seeking a Manager, Production Planning to lead a team responsible for production planning, scheduling, capacity management, and manufacturing execution across a highly customized manufacturing environment.

This is a critical leadership position that serves as the operational hub connecting engineering, manufacturing, sales, distribution, inventory management, and executive leadership. The organization continues to grow through product expansion, operational transformation, and acquisition integration, creating an exciting opportunity for a planning leader who thrives in complexity and enjoys building scalable processes.

The successful candidate will lead a team of planners while helping the organization improve planning discipline, operational visibility, manufacturing performance, and customer delivery execution.

The Opportunity


The organization operates in a high-mix, low-volume manufacturing model that combines make-to-order, make-to-stock, engineer-to-order, project-based, and distribution operations. The business manages thousands of active SKUs, multiple product families, multi-level bills of material, and more than 4,000 production orders per month.

Success in this role requires someone who can bring structure to complexity, communicate effectively across functions, develop scalable planning processes, and drive continuous improvement while operating in a fast-paced growth environment.

Key Responsibilities

Production Planning Leadership
• Lead and develop a team of production planners responsible for supporting manufacturing operations.
• Establish planning priorities that align customer demand, manufacturing capacity, inventory strategy, and operational objectives.
• Drive production scheduling and execution activities to ensure customer delivery commitments are achieved.
• Balance manufacturing workloads against available capacity and resources.

Capacity Planning & Operational Performance
• Evaluate current and future manufacturing capacity requirements.
• Analyze demand trends, production constraints, and resource utilization to support operational decision making.
• Monitor and improve key performance indicators, including on-time delivery, schedule attainment, manufacturing throughput, and planning effectiveness.
• Develop reporting and metrics that provide visibility into operational performance and planning execution.

ERP, MRP & Process Development
• Utilize Microsoft Dynamics Business Central and related planning tools to support manufacturing operations.
• Drive improvements to ERP and MRP planning processes, reporting capabilities, and operational workflows.
• Develop scalable planning processes that support future growth and operational complexity.
• Identify opportunities for automation, process simplification, and improved decision-making.

Cross Functional Leadership
• Serve as the primary planning liaison between engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, inventory control, sales, distribution, and leadership teams.
• Communicate production priorities, capacity constraints, inventory risks, and delivery commitments.
• Influence cross-functional teams to support process improvements and operational alignment.
• Lead change management efforts as new products, systems, and business initiatives are introduced.

Inventory & Materials Planning
• Partner with purchasing and inventory teams to ensure material availability.
• Identify and proactively address material shortages, supply risks, and production constraints.
• Support inventory optimization strategies that balance customer service requirements with inventory investment.
• Improve visibility into demand trends and material requirements planning activities.

Qualifications

Required Experience
• Bachelor's degree and progressive experience within manufacturing operations, production planning, supply chain, materials management, or related disciplines.
• 6+ years of experience in production planning, production control, master scheduling, materials management, or manufacturing operations.
• Experience leading planners, schedulers, or similar operational teams.
• Strong ERP and MRP system experience within a manufacturing environment.
• Experience managing planning activities in a high mix/customizable manufacturing environment.
• Experience working with multi-level bills of material and complex product structures.
• Engineer-to-order, configured products, custom manufacturing, or highly customized production environments.
• Experience supporting organizational growth, operational transformation, or acquisition integration initiatives.
• Strong analytical, communication, and organizational skills.
• Electrics or embedded software manufacturing experience
• Strong work history and tenure

Preferred Experience
• Microsoft Dynamics Business Central or Dynamics NAV experience.
• Exposure to demand planning, SIOP/S&OP processes, and inventory optimization strategies.
• Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement experience.
• Private Equity (PE) experience
• Been in a rapidly growing manufacturing company
• Experience supporting multiple locations

Ideal Candidate Profile


The ideal candidate is a manufacturing planning leader who thrives in dynamic environments and enjoys solving complex operational challenges.

They are comfortable working across multiple functions, influencing stakeholders, improving processes, and creating structure where processes continue to evolve.

They understand how to manage planning through systems, metrics, and process discipline while remaining adaptable enough to support a growing organization where priorities can change quickly.

Most importantly, they are a strong communicator and relationship builder who can serve as the central coordination point between manufacturing, engineering, sales, inventory management, and operations leadership.

Why Consider This Opportunity
• Lead a team at the center of manufacturing operations.
• Join a growing private equity-backed organization with significant expansion plans.
• Opportunity to influence systems, processes, and operational strategy.
• High visibility role partnering directly with operations leadership.
• Complex and challenging manufacturing environment that rewards initiative and continuous improvement.