Production Planning Lead

Koppers•Pittsburgh, PA

About The Position

The Production Planning Lead will be responsible for coordinating with sales and operations to develop and maintain a rolling production plan. This role involves forecasting future capacity, identifying and escalating production limits, and supporting quarterly estimate and annual planning processes. The Lead will leverage data analytics to improve demand forecasting, inventory management, and drive operational efficiencies. This position requires strong cross-functional leadership, excellent communication skills, and the ability to influence without direct authority.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Operations, Engineering, or related.
3 to 5+ years of experience in sales, operations, supply chain, or manufacturing.
Knowledge of accounting and finance procedures.
Proven track record of problem solving, order management, and supply-chain experience.
Demonstrated ability to convert complex operational data into practical planning decisions, executive-ready summaries, and cross-functional action plans.
Strong strategic thinking and analytical problem solving skills.
Excellent communication, negotiation, and relationship building abilities.
Proficiency with CRM systems, Excel/Power BI, forecasting tools, and data analysis.
Ability to manage complex projects and collaborate cross functionally.
Ability to influence without direct authority, resolve competing priorities, and create alignment across commercial, operational, procurement, logistics, and finance teams.
Entrepreneurial mindset with a results-driven approach.

Nice To Haves

MBA preferred.
Multi-site manufacturing, railroad, wood treating, or heavy materials experience preferred.
Strong working knowledge of ERP (Oracle preferred), inventory management, demand planning, production scheduling, and reporting systems preferred.
Willingness to travel to customer sites, mills, industry events, and field locations.

Responsibilities

Coordinate with sales and operations to develop a weekly treating schedule at key plants based on demand, capacity, and product availability.
Forecast future capacity to guide sales on a month-by-month basis.
Maintain a rolling production plan that translates customer demand, inventory position, plant capacity, and raw material availability into clear weekly and monthly execution priorities.
Identify and escalate production limits, capacity gaps, and inventory risks, to recommend action to sales, operations, procurement, logistics, and product management leadership.
Develop and operate a monthly planning forecast to drive quarterly estimate and program.
Utilize data to guide procurement on inbound production for each plant, recommend sorter rates, and develop capacity models to ensure customer’s needs and contract terms are met.
Provide a 12-month forecast to key raw material suppliers (i.e. Creosote, Procurement, etc.).
Partner with sales and product management to reconcile demand assumptions, sales forecasts, contractual commitments, and market change to create a monthly planning cycle.
Support quarterly estimate and annual planning processes by providing production volume assumptions, inventory projections, capacity outlooks, and key operational risks.
Leverage operational data to help key leaders in RPS drive out inefficiencies, eliminate waste, increase quality, boost productivity, generate value for the customer, and raise profitability.
Utilize data analytics to improve demand forecasting and inventory management, minimizing stockouts and excess inventory to optimize working capital.
Develop and manage Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for various segments of the division.
Use Excel and PowerBI to design dashboards for internal and external customers.
Create standardized reporting routines that highlight forecast accuracy, inventory coverage, production attainment, plant utilization, aging inventory, and customer service risk.
Work closely with manufacturing and operations to align production capacity with demand.
Partner with logistics and supply chain teams to ensure efficient fulfillment and distribution.
Lead regular planning discussions with plant, sales, procurement, and logistics stakeholders to ensure decisions are aligned, documented, and followed through to completion.
Communicate planning decisions, tradeoffs, and risks clearly to leadership, including the impact on customers, production efficiency, inventory levels, and financial performance.
Own the weekly production planning cadence, including demand review, capacity review, inventory review, issue escalation, and follow-up on action items.
Drive alignment between short-term execution needs and longer-term business planning assumptions for sales, procurement, manufacturing, and finance.
Develop planning standards, templates, and common definitions that improve consistency across locations and reduce reliance on informal or site-specific processes.