Title:  Production Planner

Production Planner

Reference #30951

Toronto, Ontario

About the Role

We are seeking a highly skilled, detail-oriented and proactive Production Planner to join our team.  This advanced-level role is responsible for leading complex production planning activities, driving continuous improvement initiatives and ensuring efficient manufacturing operations while aligning with broader business objectives. The ideal candidate demonstrates intense ownership, meticulous attention to detail, and strong accountability, along with the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and mentor junior planners.

Production Planning role establishes and maintains the strategic plan for their assigned product line which translates firm and forecast demand, as well as changes to same, into the time-bound action plans that our Supply Chain and Operations organizations execute against.  This strategic plan ensures that we are buying and building the correct items at the correct times to ensure On-Time Delivery to Customer Contract Dates, On-Plan Revenue Recognition, and Inventories maintained at acceptable levels. 

What You’ll be Doing

• Work Order & Production Scheduling
  • Lead the maintenance of Work Order (WO) date integrity, making data-driven decisions based on MRP outputs and shortage situations
  • Analyze and act on Material Availability reports, ensuring on-time WO start and completion
  • Open, release and close manufacturing Work Orders with high accuracy and traceability
  • Oversee Kanban planning processes, identifying opportunities for optimization and standardization
  • Provide strategic input into factory scheduling and ensure planning alignment with business priorities
• Cross-Functional Communication & Reporting
  • Collaborate with Production Supervisors to recover at-risk schedules, prioritize WOs and optimize work center capacity
  • Provide strategic updates to the Master Scheduler, flagging risks to customer deliveries and recommending recovery plans
  • Lead reporting on schedule performance (e.g., WO completion metrics, root cause analysis) and present findings to leadership
  • Facilitate strong workflow communication across production, supply chain, quality and engineering teams
  • Contribute scheduling insights to daily Operations Status meetings and support scenario planning as needed
• Engineering & Product Changes

• • Lead and coordinate engineering change implementations (ECRs, ECOs) with minimal disruption to production
  • Ensure MRP system updates are accurate, timely, and fully reflect the impact of product transitions and inventory consumption.
• Continuous Improvement & Process Optimization
  • Drive and support Continuous Improvement (CI) and Kaizen initiatives related to planning, scheduling and material flow.
  • Generate and analyze weekly metrics related to on-time WO completions to drive improvement
  • Lead root cause investigations for scheduling misses and implement process or system-level corrective actions
  • Own and continuously improve planning documentation
  • Mentor and support junior planners, sharing best practices
  • Assist the work center supervisor with capacity planning for assigned work orders and feedback information to the Master Schedulers for consistent improvement in factory scheduling

Education and Experiences We Seek

• Education & Experience
  • Bachelor’s degree in Materials Management, Operations Management, Business, or a related field with 4+ years of experience in production planning
  • OR 8+ years of progressive experience in Production Planning within an MRPII environment
• Technical Skills
  • Advanced experience with ERP/MRP systems (SAP, Oracle, etc.)
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, with familiarity in PowerBI or similar analytics tools
  • In-depth understanding of Bill of Materials (BOMs), routings, lead times, and capacity constraints
  • Experience with Engineering Change processes and integration into planning systems
• Soft Skills
  • Intense ownership – takes full responsibility for planning outcomes and drives proactive decision-making
  • Meticulous attention to detail – ensures high accuracy across planning, system transactions, and inventory management
  • Strong accountability – consistently delivers on commitments, owns results and holds others accountable
  • Problem solving and analytical skills – uses data to drive action and resolves issues with urgency
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills – builds strong relationships across teams, influencing outcomes with clarity and credibility
  • Highly organized with efficient time management – manages competing priorities, anticipates risk, and aligns daily actions with business goals 
  • Mentorship mindset – supports peer development, shares knowledge generously and contributes to team capability growth
  • Continuous improvement advocate – identifies gaps, recommends enhancements and supports implantation of lean processes

It Would Be Great if You Also Had

• Experience in manufacturing, aerospace, or defense industries
• Proven success managing engineering changes within planning organization
• APICS (CPIM) or similar certification is a plus
• Working knowledge of lean manufacturing principles and process improvement methodologies (e.g., Kaizen, 5S, Value Stream Mapping)
• Highly energized, results orientated problem solver
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including effective communication and presentation abilities with all levels of staff / peers / managers
• Commitment to change using a Continuous Improvement approach
• Strong leadership/communication skills in a Team environment and acting as a role model
• Experience in change management and must be innovative, adaptable and resourceful.
• Change management processes and methodologies
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic, matrixed environment
• Proven ability to identify performance issues and implement the necessary changes in a timely and effective manner
• A self-starting, hands-on, “roll-up-the-sleeves” approach combined with a confident, executive presence
• Champions a culture of accountability
• The ability to see and apply ‘big-picture’ thinking