Planning Manager

Optimas Solutions•Wood Dale, IL

8d•Onsite

About The Position

The Planning Manager leads Optimas’ inventory planning and order management function within Epicor Kinetic and reports to the Director of Materials. The role owns MRP/MPS execution and planning parameters at the job and operation level, manages the Planning Specialist team responsible for sales order accuracy, and serves as the escalation point for expedite, deferral, and exception decisions. The manager partners with Purchasing, Inside Sales, Warehouse, Engineering, and Production to align supply and demand, and translates the Director of Materials’ ERP/MRP improvement initiatives into day-to-day planning practices. The position is based in Wood Dale, Illinois, in a fast-paced, floor-oriented manufacturing environment. It leads and develops the planning team, oversees order accuracy and planning processes, supports ERP/MRP improvements, and builds and reports performance KPIs.

Requirements

Seven or more years of experience in production or inventory planning, scheduling, or order management, including prior people-leadership experience.
Hands-on experience with an ERP/MRP system in a manufacturing environment.
Experience reconciling data across multiple systems, such as Epicor and NetSuite.
Familiarity with manufacturing/distribution supply chains and order-to-cash processes.
Proven people-management skills, including coaching and developing a planning or order-management team.
Deep working knowledge of ERP/MRP logic, including planning parameters, exception messages, and data flow across modules.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to identify root causes in broken system or process logic.
Ability to balance competing priorities across Sales, Purchasing, Engineering, and Production while maintaining urgency.
Clear communication skills to explain planning logic and trade-offs to executives and front-line staff.
Comfort operating in a fast-paced, floor-oriented manufacturing environment.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, business, or a related field; equivalent experience is considered.
Epicor Kinetic experience is strongly preferred.
APICS/ASCM certification (CPIM) is a plus.

Responsibilities

Manage, coach, and develop Planning Specialist(s); set priorities, review workload, and build a scalable, cross-trained planning team.
Own planning parameters—including lead times, safety stock, lot sizing, and reorder points—within Epicor Kinetic to maintain accurate supply plans at the job and operation level.
Oversee end-to-end sales order accuracy, including pricing, lead-time, and quantity confirmation, and resolve escalations the Planning Specialist cannot close independently.
Review and approve expedite, deferral, and order-cancellation requests surfaced by the Planning Specialist; chair daily expedite meetings.
Coordinate with Purchasing, Inside Sales, Warehouse, Engineering, and Production on new part creation, MOM requests, and Program/VMI parts.
Represent planning in demand-supply (S&OP) discussions.
Work with IT and the Director of Materials to identify and correct broken system logic and support ERP/MRP process improvements and reporting.
Build and maintain KPIs for schedule adherence, order accuracy, and fill rate, and report planning performance to the Director of Materials.