Production Planner

Production Planner External Planning

The Production Planner External Planning develops and maintains production and capacity plans with external manufacturing partners (co-manufacturers) to support product availability, appropriate inventory levels, and customer service. The role translates demand into executable schedules while considering materials, manufacturing capacity, product shelf life, and cost. Working closely with Demand Planning, Supply Chain, Procurement, Quality/Food Safety, Logistics, and Customer Service, the Production Planner monitors execution, identifies supply constraints, and recommends adjustments. The role contributes planning data and scenario analysis to the Integrated Business Planning (IBP) process and supports continuous improvement across the external manufacturing network.

Essential Job Functions:

• Develops, updates, and executes production and capacity plans for external manufacturing partners, aligning schedules with demand, inventory targets, material availability, and IBP priorities.
• Coordinates production scheduling, sequencing, and product mix with co-manufacturers, accounting for capacity, lead times, shelf-life requirements, and cost and service trade-offs.
• Maintains short-, medium-, and long-range supply plans; evaluates feasibility and recommends adjustments to address changing demand or manufacturing conditions.
• Monitors supply risks, including material shortages, capacity constraints, quality holds, and aging inventory; develops scenarios and recommends mitigation actions or production reallocations.
• Serves as a day-to-day planning contact for co-manufacturers, confirming production commitments, communicating schedule changes, and following up on execution gaps.
• Coordinates with Procurement, Quality/Food Safety, Logistics, Warehousing, and Customer Service to support material readiness, product release, and timely product availability.
• Tracks schedule attainment, service levels, inventory health, waste, and other key performance indicators; investigates variances and supports corrective actions with partners.
• Provides capacity, constraint, and supply plan information to Demand Planning, Commercial teams, and IBP discussions to support cross-functional decisions.
• Improves planning processes, data accuracy, reporting, and system use to strengthen visibility and execution across the external manufacturing network.

Skills:

Planner, Production planning, Erp, Sap, Production, Supply chain, Production scheduling, Inventory, Mrp, Schedule planning, Planning scheduling, Purchasing, Logistics, Erp system, Microsoft office, Inventory control, Purchase order, Procurement, Inventory management, Supply chain processes, Bill of material, Work orders, Project management, Microsoft excel, Operation, Material planning, Data entry, Production planning/scheduling

Top Skills Details:

Planner

Additional Skills & Qualifications:

Minimum Job Requirements: Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations, Business, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience. Minimum of 1 years of experience in production planning, supply planning, scheduling, or related supply chain work. Experience coordinating production with manufacturers and using ERP or production planning systems. Ability to analyze demand, inventory, capacity, and production data using Excel or comparable reporting tools. Strong communication, organization, problem-solving, and cross-functional coordination skills.

Preferred Skills and Experiences: Experience with co-manufacturing or external manufacturing networks; food, beverage, CPG, or shelf-life-sensitive products; IBP/S&OP and advanced planning or ERP tools (such as SAP). Experience using syndicated market or consumption data and business intelligence tools such as Power BI or Tableau. Knowledge of product lifecycle planning, promotions, innovation launches, product transitions, and SKU rationalization APICS CPIM, CSCP, or another relevant supply chain certification; experience supporting forecasting process improvements, system implementations, or advanced analytics capabilities.

Job Type & Location:

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Sacramento, CA.

Pay and Benefits:

The pay range for this position is $40.00 - $45.00/hr. Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: Medical, dental & vision Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital 401(k) Retirement Plan Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) Short and long-term disability Health Spending Account (HSA) Transportation benefits Employee Assistance Program Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)