Lead Scheduling & Planning — On-Site Transformation

Confidential Company; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Company in the Chicago area seeks a Scheduling & Planning Manager for a 6–12 month contract in a fast-paced, high-volume manufacturing environment undergoing transformation. This role is a hands-on change-agent leader responsible for improving scheduling discipline, driving cross-functional alignment, and delivering measurable efficiency gains.

The ideal candidate will own end-to-end scheduling and production planning, strengthen ERP/MRP usage, establish KPIs, and partner with

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive experience in production planning, scheduling, or supply chain operations within a manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated success leading scheduling improvements, operational transformations, or process optimization initiatives.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing capacity planning, production sequencing, material requirements planning (MRP), and inventory management.

Responsibilities

• Lead and optimize production scheduling and planning activities across a high-volume manufacturing operation.
• Evaluate existing scheduling processes and immediately identify opportunities to improve efficiency, accuracy, and execution.
• Develop and implement production schedules that balance customer demand, manufacturing capacity, labor availability, material requirements, and operational constraints.
• Improve scheduling visibility, production readiness, and communication across departments.
• Proactively identify and resolve scheduling conflicts, capacity constraints, material shortages, and production disruptions.
• Establish clear scheduling priorities and accountability to support operational performance.
• Rapidly assess current planning and scheduling processes, identifying critical gaps, inefficiencies, and opportunities for immediate improvement.
• Develop and execute a prioritized action plan focused on quick wins and sustainable operational improvements.
• Challenge existing processes and implement practical, data-driven solutions.
• Standardize scheduling and planning practices to improve consistency, reliability, and scalability.
• Strengthen the use of ERP/MRP systems, reporting tools, and planning data to support decision-making.
• Establish measurable KPIs and reporting processes to monitor progress and drive accountability.
• Create sustainable processes, documentation, and tools that remain effective beyond the contract assignment.

Skills

7+ years experience

ERP/MRP proficiency

Strong analytical skills

Cross-functional leadership

On-site work

Tools

ERP/MRP software

Excel

Job description

Confidential Company in the Chicago area seeks a Scheduling & Planning Manager for a 6–12 month contract in a fast-paced, high-volume manufacturing environment undergoing transformation. This role is a hands-on change-agent leader responsible for improving scheduling discipline, driving cross-functional alignment, and delivering measurable efficiency gains.

The ideal candidate will own end-to-end scheduling and production planning, strengthen ERP/MRP usage, establish KPIs, and partner with