Master Scheduler & Digital Planning Manager

POSITION SUMMARY

The Master Scheduler & Digital Planning Manager is responsible for leading production planning, master scheduling, Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP), operational analytics, and digital manufacturing initiatives within a high-mix, low-to-medium volume manufacturing environment.

This position serves as the organization's primary authority on production flow, manufacturing capacity, schedule risk, operational forecasting, and performance measurement. Using M1 ERP, Foundry, Artificial Intelligence (AI), advanced analytics, and integrated manufacturing systems, this role drives improved schedule adherence, throughput, on-time delivery, and data-driven decision-making across the organization.

The Master Scheduler & Digital Planning Manager owns the enterprise Master Production Schedule (MPS), facilitates the Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process, and provides leadership for Production Planning and Production Control activities. This position aligns customer demand, manufacturing capacity, material availability, labor resources, and business priorities while providing executive leadership with accurate and timely visibility into operational performance.

This role serves as the business owner for operational planning systems, performance reporting, capacity modeling, schedule adherence methodology, and operational analytics. Success will be measured through improvements in delivery performance, planning accuracy, throughput, labor utilization, schedule stability, and overall manufacturing effectiveness.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Develop and maintain the master production schedule (MPS) across multiple product lines in a high-mix manufacturing environment.

Optimize production by balancing demand, capacity, inventory, and lead times while coordinating labor, equipment, facilities, suppliers, and materials across all value streams.

Ensure alignment between customer demand, manufacturing capacity, workforce needs, material availability, and overall business priorities.

Monitor schedule adherence and proactively adjust and develop recovery plans to address constraints, disruptions, delivery risks and priorities.

Leverage AI/ML-based planning and scheduling tools to improve forecast accuracy, capacity planning, and sequencing.

Deploy predictive analytics for demand variability, bottleneck detection, and throughput optimization.

Continuously evaluate and enhance algorithm performance and applicability within the manufacturing environment.

Serve as the subject matter expert (SME) for ERP, APS (Advanced Planning & Scheduling), and MES systems related to scheduling.

Ensure data integrity for key planning inputs such as BOMs, routings, lead times, and capacity models.

Develop dashboards and reporting tools to provide real-time visibility into schedule performance, KPIs, and risks.

Lead system enhancements, integrations, and digital transformation initiatives tied to production planning.

Drive Schedule adherence and capacity utilization.

Communicate schedule changes, risks, and recovery plans clearly to stakeholders.

Manage scheduling complexity associated with frequent changeovers, diverse product configurations, and variable processing times.

Optimize sequencing to minimize setup time while maintaining customer delivery commitments.

Implement strategies for flexible manufacturing and rapid response to changing customer demands.

Develop short, medium, and long-range production plans aligned with customer commitments and business objectives.

Establish and maintain finite-capacity planning methodologies.

Lead weekly and monthly planning reviews.

Evaluate the operational impact of changing customer priorities, engineering changes, and new business opportunities.

Ensure planning processes support both operational execution and strategic business objectives.

Own and facilitate the monthly Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process.

Develop demand, capacity, and supply planning scenarios.

Identify and communicate future constraints, risks, and resource requirements.

Present operational forecasts and recommendations to executive leadership.

Drive organizational alignment regarding production priorities and resource allocation.

Monitor and report S&OP plan attainment.

Own the development, governance, and reporting of operational performance metrics.

Establish standard KPI definitions, calculations, reporting methodologies, and accountability structures.

Lead operational performance reviews with leadership teams.

Analyze trends and provide recommendations based on operational data.

Ensure performance reporting drives action and continuous improvement.

Serve as the business owner for Foundry-related operational planning and analytics initiatives.

Develop and maintain operational and executive dashboards, workflows, visual management systems and decision-support tools.

Integrate ERP, labor, quality, engineering, and manufacturing data into a unified operational environment.

Develop automated repor…