Sr Manager, Production Planning

FormFactor Inc.•Farmers Branch, TX

21h•Onsite

About The Position

FormFactor is seeking an experienced Sr Manager, Production Planning to lead production planning, scheduling, and capacity alignment for our growing Farmers Branch, TX manufacturing operation. This role is responsible for translating customer demand, inventory strategy, and manufacturing capacity into executable production plans that enable on‑time delivery, efficient use of resources, and successful production ramp‑ups. The Sr Manager, Production Planning is a people leader and site‑level planning owner, responsible for managing planners and schedulers while partnering closely with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Engineering, Program Management, and Global Planning leadership. This role plays a critical part in factory start‑up, production transitions, and long‑term scaling of FormFactor’s U.S. manufacturing footprint.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
8+ years of experience in production planning, manufacturing planning, or supply chain roles.
3+ years of people management experience leading planners or schedulers.
Strong working knowledge of ERP systems (Oracle experience strongly preferred).
Proven ability to lead planning through production ramps, transitions, or site startups.
Advanced Excel and data analysis skills; comfort presenting planning insights to senior leadership.
Minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 8 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 5 years experience; or equivalent work experience

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting complex manufacturing environments (semiconductor, electronics, precision manufacturing preferred).
Experience in semiconductor capital equipment or high‑mix / low‑volume manufacturing.
Exposure to global manufacturing networks and cross‑site planning coordination.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and develop a team of Production Planners and/or Schedulers supporting multiple products or value streams.
Set clear performance expectations, conduct regular one‑on‑ones, and execute performance reviews.
Build planning bench strength through training, cross‑coverage, and succession planning.
Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and data‑driven decision making within the planning team.
Own the master production plan for the Farmers Branch site, aligning demand, capacity, labor, and material availability.
Translate sales forecasts, customer demand, and program milestones into executable production schedules.
Balance competing priorities including cycle time, WIP, throughput, inventory targets, and on-time delivery.
Manage constraints and proactively mitigate risks related to capacity, material shortages, or production variability.
Support factory ramp‑up, production line transfers, and site transitions from other FormFactor locations.
Partner with Engineering and Manufacturing on New Product Introduction (NPI) and volume ramp readiness.
Ensure routings, bills of material, and planning parameters are accurate and optimized in the ERP system.
Drive planning readiness for new lines, new tools, and evolving product mixes.
Act as the primary planning interface for Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Program Management, Customer Operations, Sales, and Global Planning teams.
Partner with Procurement and Materials teams to align build plans with supplier capacity and lead times.
Actively support customer escalations by equipping Customer Operations and Sales with actionable, real-time supply and demand gap-closure plans.
Provide clear planning inputs for S&OP, MRP, and executive level reviews.
Communicate risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations to site and global leadership.
Own planning data integrity and execution within FormFactor’s ERP environment (Oracle).
Establish and monitor key planning KPIs such as schedule adherence, OTD, and CRD gap closure.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives to improve planning accuracy, responsiveness, and scalability.
Leverage data and analytics to inform decision making and long‑term planning strategy.