Master Scheduler

A1J Technologies LLC•San Jose, CA

About The Position

The Master Scheduler develops, maintains, and controls A1J Technologies’ master production schedule, aligning manufacturing activities with customer delivery commitments, machine and labor capacity, material availability, and operational priorities. As the company transitions from a traditional precision machining job shop toward a scalable Tier 1 supplier for commercial aerospace and defense customers, the role supports disciplined production planning, realistic delivery schedules, and improved manufacturing execution. The position translates customer demand and backlog into a realistic, capacity-constrained production schedule that accounts for machining resources, employee availability, engineering readiness, material availability, outside processing, inspection requirements, and manufacturing lead times. It works closely with Manufacturing, Engineering, CNC Programming, Supply Chain, Quality, Sales, Program Management, and Operations leadership to identify constraints, prioritize requirements, manage schedule risks, and support on-time customer delivery. The successful candidate brings analytical capability, manufacturing knowledge, ERP proficiency, and the ability to establish structured scheduling processes in a high-mix, low-volume precision manufacturing environment. The role is primarily office-based, with regular presence on the manufacturing floor and frequent participation in production planning and operational review meetings. Schedule flexibility may be required to support production priorities and coordination between manufacturing shifts.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing, or a related discipline; equivalent relevant manufacturing experience may be considered.
Minimum of 5 years of progressive production planning, master scheduling, or manufacturing scheduling experience.
Demonstrated experience developing and maintaining production schedules in a high-mix manufacturing environment.
Strong understanding of machine and labor capacity, work-center loading, manufacturing routings, and production lead times.
Experience with ERP/MRP systems, work-order management, and production scheduling transactions.
Ability to identify manufacturing bottlenecks, capacity constraints, and delivery risks.
Strong understanding of material availability, engineering readiness, outside processing, and inspection dependencies.
Advanced Microsoft Excel proficiency, including data analysis, scheduling models, and reporting.
Ability to analyze complex manufacturing information and develop realistic, executable production plans.
Strong organizational, analytical, problem-solving, and cross-functional communication skills.
Ability to manage competing priorities and communicate scheduling constraints to Manufacturing and Executive Leadership.
Ability to maintain scheduling discipline while responding to changing customer and production requirements.

Nice To Haves

Experience in aerospace, defense, precision CNC machining, or high-mix, low-volume manufacturing.
Experience with finite-capacity scheduling, machine loading, labor capacity analysis, and constraint management.
Familiarity with JobBoss ERP or comparable manufacturing systems.
Experience developing production scheduling systems where manufacturing standards are incomplete or ERP information is unreliable.
Experience managing large manufacturing backlogs and developing capacity-based delivery recovery plans.
Familiarity with CNC milling, turning, EDM, grinding, lapping, and related precision manufacturing processes.
Experience coordinating manufacturing schedules involving outside processing, complex inspection requirements, and first-article activities.
APICS CPIM or equivalent certification.
Experience implementing scheduling dashboards, production control systems, and operational performance reporting.
Demonstrated success improving on-time delivery, schedule attainment, manufacturing throughput, and WIP control.
Experience supporting Lean Manufacturing, continuous improvement, and production-flow optimization.

Responsibilities

Develop, maintain, and communicate an integrated master production schedule based on customer demand, delivery commitments, manufacturing capacity, and production readiness.
Translate customer orders, backlog, and approved delivery priorities into executable job and operation schedules, including planned release dates and required completion dates.
Establish and control scheduling priorities, schedule revisions, customer expedites, and responses to production interruptions; communicate approved changes across affected departments.
Track scheduled versus actual progress, identify deviations and at-risk work, and coordinate corrective or recovery actions.
Develop and maintain capacity planning models incorporating machine hours, labor hours, shifts, work-center capabilities, equipment availability, downtime, employee qualifications, and operating efficiencies.
Identify overloaded departments, constrained resources, bottlenecks, and capacity shortfalls; assess options such as overtime, additional shifts, alternate work centers, or subcontracting.
Prepare short- and longer-term capacity forecasts and provide Operations leadership with visibility into utilization, constraints, and anticipated production shortfalls.
Analyze customer backlog, past-due orders, and delivery commitments against demonstrated capacity; develop realistic recovery scenarios and capacity-based delivery projections.
Prioritize work according to approved business priorities, contractual requirements, customer commitments, manufacturing readiness, and available capacity; recommend completion dates supported by documented assumptions.
Coordinate manufacturing readiness with Engineering, CNC Programming, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Quality, including materials, routings, programs, tooling, fixtures, documentation, and inspection requirements.
Identify incomplete engineering packages, missing materials, unavailable tooling, unresolved technical requirements, and other constraints before planned production starts.
Account for outside processing, inspection, first-article requirements, engineering changes, and other dependencies in production schedules.
Maintain accurate scheduling information in ERP and approved planning systems, including job status, routing information, promised dates, work-center assignments, and priorities.
Reconcile ERP information with actual manufacturing status; identify unreliable data and validate setup hours, cycle times, and actual manufacturing performance with relevant teams.
Support scheduling dashboards, capacity reports, production control tools, and practical interim planning methods when manufacturing standards or ERP data are incomplete.
Lead or support structured production scheduling and priority review meetings; provide near-term priorities, job sequencing requirements, and schedule-risk information.
Monitor execution, validate progress and expected operation completion dates with Manufacturing, and coordinate recovery actions for downtime, labor shortages, material delays, inspection bottlenecks, and outside-processing delays.
Evaluate schedule impacts from scrap, rework, engineering changes, and unexpected interruptions; escalate unresolved scheduling or capacity conflicts to Operations leadership.
Communicate scheduling information, changes, risks, assumptions, and recovery actions to Sales, Program Management, Manufacturing, Engineering, CNC Programming, Supply Chain, Quality, and other stakeholders.
Develop standardized scheduling procedures, reporting practices, and planning controls; improve schedule accuracy through actual-versus-planned performance analysis.
Identify recurring causes of missed schedules and recommend corrective actions; improve routing accuracy, work-center assignments, manufacturing standards, ERP data quality, and capacity visibility.
Support Lean Manufacturing, production-flow improvement, continuous improvement, and efforts to reduce excessive work in process, unnecessary priority changes, and avoidable interruptions.
Track and support performance measures including schedule attainment and adherence, capacity-loading accuracy, backlog recovery, delivery-risk identification, manufacturing readiness, schedule stability, ERP data accuracy, bottleneck visibility, planned-versus-actual hours, WIP control, and on-time delivery.