Senior Production Planner

Job Description

Job Description

Robert Half is partnering with a distribution client in the recruiting for a Senior Production Planner responsible for developing, coordinating, and optimizing production plans and schedules to support customer demand, inventory objectives, and manufacturing efficiency in an aftermarket organization. The ideal candidate brings strong production planning experience in an aftermarket manufacturing environment, with a proven ability to manage demand variability, support service-level commitments, and collaborate across operations, procurement, inventory, and customer service teams.

This is a permanent placement opportunity offering full health benefits, competitive salary with annual bonus eligibility, 401k match and generous time off.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain detailed production schedules based on customer orders, forecasted demand, inventory targets, capacity, and material availability.
• Support aftermarket operations by planning for replacement parts, service part requirements, and short-lead-time customer orders.
• Review and analyze demand trends, inventory levels, open work orders, and backlog to align production priorities with business needs.
• Coordinate closely with purchasing, warehouse, production, and customer service teams to ensure materials and resources are available to meet schedule commitments.
• Monitor production progress and adjust schedules in response to supply disruptions, capacity constraints, engineering changes, and urgent customer demand.
• Use ERP/MRP systems to manage planning activities, identify shortages, release work orders, and recommend corrective actions.
• Partner with procurement to expedite critical materials, resolve shortages, and minimize disruptions to production and customer deliveries.
• Maintain appropriate inventory levels for raw materials, work-in-process, finished goods, and service parts while supporting inventory turn goals.
• Communicate schedule risks, delays, and recovery plans to internal stakeholders in a timely and professional manner.
• Analyze planning and scheduling performance metrics, including on-time delivery, schedule attainment, backlog, and inventory performance.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives related to planning accuracy, lead time reduction, inventory optimization, and production flow.
• Ensure planning parameters, bills of material, lead times, and item master data are maintained accurately within the ERP system.

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, operations, business, or a related field preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in production planning, materials planning, or scheduling within a manufacturing environment preferred.
• Direct experience in an aftermarket, service parts, replacement parts, or made-to-stock/make-to-order manufacturing environment strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of production scheduling, material planning, inventory control, and capacity planning.
• Experience using ERP/MRP systems to support planning and scheduling decisions.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills and strong analytical capabilities preferred.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment with changing demand requirements.