Planner Scheduler

Abzena Inc.•Bristol, PA

14d

About The Position

With extensive experience in developing biologics and bioconjugates, we offer a seamless service delivered by fully integrated teams, from early discovery to commercial manufacturing. Forward-thinking and committed, we find the best solution and use the right technologies to design, develop and manufacture your products to ensure we get vital medicines to patients quickly and safely. We are dedicated to quality excellence. We are driven to get better treatments to market, efficiently and responsibly by reducing timelines and delivering the highest quality products and services. We are Abzena. More than a CDMO, we are a responsible and dedicated partner that takes care of your products from concept to patient. The Scheduler owns the site Master Production Schedule across Process Development and cGMP manufacturing. This role builds, publishes, and maintains the integrated schedule for Process Development, Tech Transfer, Validation, and routine clinical and commercial operations. The Scheduler balances client commitments, capacity constraints, and GMP readiness, while driving stable execution through schedule governance, data discipline, and cross-functional alignment with Supply Chain, Manufacturing, MSAT, Quality, and Project Management. This role leads planning cadences, manages schedule changes and escalation, and provides clear visibility to site leadership on risks, tradeoffs, and recovery plans to protect delivery, quality, and safety.

Requirements

BA/BS or MA/MS degree that included laboratory work in biology, microbiology, chemical engineering or related field.
Minimum 5 years of experience in manufacturing operations, preferably in a cGMP environment.
Minimum 5 years in operations planning or master scheduling, preferably in a cGMP environment.
Analytical Thinking: Ability to interpret complex data and make decisions based on capacity constraints.
Communication: Excellent verbal and written skills to coordinate with multiple departments.
Attention to Detail: High precision in documentation and scheduling to avoid compliance risks.
Problem-Solving: Ability to act with urgency to resolve scheduling deviations.

Responsibilities

Own the Site Master Production Schedule across Process Development and cGMP manufacturing, including Process Development, Tech Transfer, Validation, and routine clinical and commercial production.
Production Scheduling: Build, publish, and maintain the integrated site schedule in Access Orchestrate and/or our internal ERP system (IFS), including sequencing logic, changeovers, and constraints.
Capacity Planning: Develop and maintain capacity models for labor, equipment, facilities, and key shared resources. Identify constraints, quantify impacts, and recommend tradeoffs to protect delivery and GMP readiness.
Material Readiness: Drive material readiness by partnering with Supply Chain and MSAT to confirm raw materials, components, APIs, documentation, and release status align with the schedule. Lead readiness reviews and escalate gaps early.
Cross-Functional Coordination: Lead planning cadences, including daily schedule reviews and weekly cross-functional planning meetings with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, MSAT, Quality, Project Management, Finance, and site leadership. Drive decisions, assign actions, and track closure.
Data Integrity: Maintain planning master data in IFS to support accurate schedules and capacity views, including routings, lead times, yields, calendars, batch durations, and changeover assumptions. Drive data discipline with functional owners.
Manage schedule risk and recovery planning. Lead recovery scheduling during disruptions such as equipment downtime, QA holds, material shortages, staffing gaps, or late deliverables. Communicate impacts, options, and recovery timelines.
Serve as the primary scheduling liaison across functions. Align expectations, resolve conflicts, and escalate decisions when priorities compete.
Leadership: Lead site function activities for GMP readiness to schedule by serving as the primary scheduling liaison between manufacturing, supply chain, operations and project management. You'll communicate changes to the schedule, manage expectations, and facilitate a smooth production flow.
Management: Track and report planning and execution performance. Own KPI definitions, targets, and reporting, including schedule adherence, plan attainment, on time delivery, capacity utilization, changeover loss, material readiness hit rate, and schedule changes inside the freeze window.
Drive continuous improvement in planning processes, scheduling standards, and meeting effectiveness. Reduce schedule volatility, improve constraint visibility, and improve throughput without compromising quality or safety.
Planning: Apply standard principles and best practices in all aspects of master scheduling for daily activities. A strong understanding of planning, scheduling, and inventory management concepts is essential.
Maintain compliance with site safety and quality expectations. Ensure schedule decisions support cGMP requirements and GDP documentation for schedule changes and planning decisions.