Manager, Production Planning & Control
About The Position
Stellant Systems is hiring a Manager, Production Planning & Control for its Torrance, California facility. The role leads the facility’s planning organization and team of planning professionals, developing and executing production plans to support on-time delivery, material readiness, and schedule execution across the manufacturing enterprise. It combines forward-looking production planning with real-time shop floor control, and serves as the primary escalation point for material issues and operational disruptions. The manager oversees master production scheduling and serves as the functional owner of the MRP system, maintaining its parameters and data integrity. The role monitors shop-floor execution, coordinates corrective actions, manages material risks with Procurement, and provides planning performance visibility through KPIs and dashboards. The manager also represents Planning in program and customer reviews, works closely with Supply Chain and other stakeholders, and develops the planning team through leadership, training, and process improvement.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, Industrial Engineering, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent aerospace/defense experience.
- At least 7 years of production planning or operations experience in aerospace, defense, or complex manufacturing.
- At least 5 years of direct people-management experience, including performance management and team development.
- Hands-on MRP/ERP experience, including managing parameters and maintaining data integrity; SAP, Oracle, Infor, or equivalent systems.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel.
- Knowledge of production planning and inventory management principles.
- High attention to detail and excellent time-management skills.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to present complex information clearly and concisely.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
- Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident) per ITAR requirements.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with Power BI or similar reporting tools.
- APICS CPIM or CSCP certification, or active pursuit of certification.
- Experience in space, satellite, missile, or defense manufacturing environments.
- Familiarity with AS9100, EVMS, and/or Lean Six Sigma methodologies.
- Experience managing planners in a mixed make/buy environment with long-lead and critical-path materials.
Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and manage a team of planners; assign workloads, conduct performance management, and resolve most escalations independently.
- Ensure planning tools, processes, and staff are aligned with business needs, and maintain a clearly defined training plan for the planning team.
- Oversee master production scheduling (MPS) in alignment with customer delivery commitments, capacity constraints, and demand signals from S&OP.
- Serve as functional MRP owner by managing parameters such as lot sizing, lead times, and safety stock; analyze and drive closure of exception messages; and maintain system data integrity.
- Monitor real-time shop-floor execution, identify schedule deviations early, manage work-order priorities, and coordinate corrective actions to protect on-time delivery.
- Identify material shortages and long-lead risks; partner with Procurement on mitigation strategies and own the material risk log through closure.
- Develop and publish planning KPIs, including schedule adherence, kit delivery, and MRP exception rates, and create dashboards that provide leadership visibility into planning health.
- Analyze metrics and drive root-cause analysis and corrective actions to address performance gaps.
- Represent Planning in program reviews, customer milestone meetings, and cross-functional operations forums.
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with Supply Chain peers and other internal stakeholders.
- Identify process-improvement and cost-reduction opportunities in material planning using lean tools, standard work, and training.
- Communicate material plans, forecasts, and strategies to senior management and key stakeholders.
- Foster a collaborative, high-performing team culture and provide training and development opportunities to enhance team skills.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
