Lead Planner - MRO

Pivotal•Palo Alto, CA

6d•$122,000 - $136,000•Onsite

About The Position

Pivotal is seeking an experienced, proactive Lead Planner, MRO to own maintenance planning, scheduling, and material coordination for its BlackFly and Helix eVTOL fleet. The role converts maintenance requirements, customer service requests, and engineering dispositions into execution-ready work packages, and maintains the schedule, status, and availability of aircraft in the MRO-owned fleet. The Lead Planner works across MRO technicians, Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality, Flight Operations, Customer Support, and Marketing to balance customer service, fleet availability, and material readiness. The role aims to reduce aircraft downtime and provide leadership with a clear, data-driven view of fleet readiness. The position is onsite at Pivotal's headquarters in Palo Alto, California, with occasional travel to support field maintenance operations.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Aviation Maintenance Management, Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience is considered.
At least 5 years of experience in aviation maintenance planning, MRO production control, or a similar planning and scheduling role in aerospace, automotive, or electromechanical industries.
Working knowledge of aircraft maintenance programs, including inspection intervals, life-limited and serialized parts, service bulletins, and return-to-service records.
Expertise in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, ERP/MRP systems, and Jira or a similar work-tracking tool.
Proactive problem-solving, clear communication, and excellent follow-through; comfortable holding stakeholders accountable.
Ability to travel occasionally to support field maintenance operations.
Must be eligible for employment in the United States and willing to work onsite at the Palo Alto, California headquarters.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Epicor and/or PICO ERP/MRP systems.
FAA Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) certificate or hands-on aircraft maintenance experience.
Experience with AS9110 or AS9100 quality systems and maintenance tracking software.
Experience with eVTOL, electric, or light aircraft, including high-voltage battery systems.
APICS Certification in CPIM or CSCP.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain maintenance work packages in Epicor and PICO ERP/MRP, including job creation, routing, operations, and material planning; release jobs and ensure packages are ready for execution.
Monitor job progress with technicians through completion, adjusting operations, labor, and material transactions as needed to maintain accurate job records.
Create and manage RMAs, Sales Orders, and other ERP transactions for repair, warranty, and customer support activities.
Maintain accurate maintenance records, serialized component tracking, and configuration data for traceability and operational readiness.
Partner with Supply Chain to plan spares, rotables, and consumables, maintain MRP integrity, and flag shortages before they affect the schedule.
Own the induction schedule for customer aircraft, building service timelines based on scope, technician availability, tooling, facility space, and parts lead times.
Plan scheduled maintenance, inspections, life-limited part replacements, and service bulletins against fleet hours, cycles, and calendar intervals.
Lead weekly planning with MRO leads and technicians to set priorities, release work, and communicate daily and weekly schedules, including field deployments.
Create and manage the schedule for MRO-owned aircraft, including a check-out/check-in system for demos, marketing events, flight testing, and training; resolve conflicts and ensure returned aircraft are inspected before re-release.
Maintain a single source of truth for aircraft status, such as airworthy, in maintenance, AOG, awaiting parts, or awaiting engineering.
Track Jira ticket creation and status to capture aircraft downtime, root causes, and stakeholders or dependencies delaying return to service; escalate aged items to closure.
Publish weekly fleet status summaries and MRO metrics, including uptime, turnaround time, schedule adherence, and backlog.
Maintain AS9100-compliant planning records and ensure work packages reference current approved maintenance data.
Develop procedures and work instructions for maintenance planning, induction, and aircraft check-out, and drive continuous improvement in planning accuracy and turnaround time.