Production Scheduling Manager

Caterpillar Inc.•Decatur, IL

2d•$112,710 - $169,060•Onsite

About The Position

As the Production Scheduling Manager, you will lead and oversee production scheduling activities to ensure safe, efficient, and high‑quality manufacturing operations at our Decatur, Illinois facility. This role supervises schedulers and directs complex production schedules by balancing capacity, inventory, workflow, and operational constraints to meet business and customer requirements. You will analyze and troubleshoot scheduling challenges, drive process improvements, and collaborate cross‑functionally to optimize production flow and execution. The role plays a critical part in improving production efficiency, schedule reliability, and operational excellence across the manufacturing organization.

Requirements

Accuracy and Attention to Detail: Ability to manage complex scheduling data with precision, assess the impact of errors, and implement controls to ensure reliable outputs.
Cross‑Team Integration: Proven ability to collaborate across functions, share relevant information, and break down silos to achieve integrated production outcomes.
Decision Making and Critical Thinking: Ability to analyze production data, prioritize competing demands, assess risks, and support informed scheduling decisions.
Effective Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills to convey scheduling priorities, constraints, and recommendations clearly to diverse stakeholders.
Problem Solving: Experience identifying scheduling and operational issues, evaluating alternatives, and supporting practical, data‑driven solutions.

Nice To Haves

Manufacturing or industrial scheduling experience supporting production environments with multiple constraints such as labor availability, inventory levels, machine uptime, or quality considerations.
Exposure to production scheduling or planning systems (ERP, MES, or scheduling tools) and comfort working with structured production data to support decision making.
Process improvement mindset, with experience supporting updates to scheduling workflows, standard work, or operating procedures to improve efficiency or reliability.
Knowledge of production control concepts, including schedule stability, workflow sequencing, and common causes of schedule disruption.
Experience partnering across functions such as manufacturing operations, materials, quality, or engineering to resolve production or product‑related issues.
Familiarity with standard operating procedures (SOPs) and the role they play in supporting consistent, repeatable manufacturing execution.

Responsibilities

Supervise production schedulers and oversee daily and mid‑range production scheduling activities to support manufacturing execution.
Analyze and troubleshoot production scheduling issues; recommend and implement process improvements to optimize scheduling effectiveness.
Direct and manage complex production schedules by evaluating workflow, labor availability, inventory levels, capacity constraints, machine downtime, and product quality considerations.
Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to identify and resolve product‑ and process‑related issues while incorporating customer and business requirements into production plans.
Monitor production process efficiency and quality, ensuring schedules support operational excellence and continuous improvement objectives.