Manager, Production Planning
About The Position
G&H is a world leader in optical designing, testing and manufacturing. As experts in the technology of light, G&H works with customers to provide optical systems, assemblies, and components for demanding applications. Headquartered in Ilminster Somerset, UK with primary operations in the USA and Europe, G&H is recognized for the breadth of their acousto-optic, electro-optic, crystal-optic, fiber optic, and precision optic products. G&H is recognized as the preferred source for OEMs in the life sciences, industrial, and aerospace and defense industries, with a history of quality and excellence that dates back over seventy-five years. G&H offers exciting and rewarding opportunities for motivated and talented people to join a team of like-minded, highly skilled colleagues who want to grow and succeed with our company. Hiring talent to complement and grow our current teams’ skills and capabilities is a strategic priority to enable our plans for growth. Our seven business locations in the United States and four UK-based businesses employ across a broad range of functions including engineering and process, manufacturing, product management, supply chain and customer services, quality assurance, continuous improvement, compliance and finance.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Business, or a related field.
- 7+ years of production planning, manufacturing planning, or supply chain experience within a manufacturing environment.
- Experience with ERP/MRP systems such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, or equivalent.
- Strong understanding of production scheduling, capacity planning, material planning, and manufacturing operations.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration.
- Leadership experience with the ability to coach and develop team members.
- Advanced ERP/MRP and Microsoft Excel proficiency.
- Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement methodologies.
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities.
Nice To Haves
- Previous experience leading or supervising a production planning team preferred.
- Experience in high-mix, low-volume manufacturing (optics, aerospace, medical devices, defense, or similar) strongly preferred.
Responsibilities
- Lead the development, execution, and maintenance of production schedules to support customer delivery commitments and manufacturing priorities.
- Develop and maintain the Master Production Schedule (MPS), ensuring alignment between demand, manufacturing capacity, and material availability.
- Monitor schedule performance and adjust production priorities to address changing customer requirements or operational constraints.
- Perform rough-cut capacity planning and material requirements planning to support efficient manufacturing execution.
- Identify capacity constraints and work closely with Operations to develop practical solutions.
- Maintain planning parameters and support inventory optimization while minimizing production disruptions.
- Provide day-to-day leadership, coaching, and development for the production planning team.
- Establish priorities, monitor workload, and promote planning best practices across the department.
- Foster collaboration and accountability within the planning function.
- Partner closely with Operations, Procurement, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Customer Service, and Logistics to resolve planning challenges and align production priorities.
- Lead regular planning meetings to communicate schedules, risks, and recovery plans.
- Support Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) activities by providing production planning input.
- Monitor key planning metrics including schedule adherence, on-time delivery, throughput, work-in-process, and inventory performance.
- Identify opportunities to improve planning accuracy, scheduling efficiency, and manufacturing performance.
- Support continuous improvement initiatives and drive adoption of standardized planning processes.
- Respond to production disruptions, material shortages, and changing customer priorities by adjusting production plans and coordinating cross-functional solutions.
- Escalate significant planning risks and recommend corrective actions to Operations leadership.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
