Manager, Production Planning

Waters Corporation; Milford (MA); On-site; USD 104,500 - 174,500; Full time

Job summary

Waters Corporation in Milford, MA is seeking a Manager for the Production Planning team. This role involves leading production planning for labor-intensive areas and collaborating with various departments to ensure product availability and operational efficiency.

The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of experience in production planning, leadership skills, and proficiency in SAP APO. This hands-on position emphasizes dynamic leadership, problem-solving, and excellent interpersonal skills.

Qualifications

• Minimum 10 years related experience in production planning and inventory management.
• 5+ years of people-leadership experience managing a team.
• APICS CPIM certification or equivalent highly desired.

Responsibilities

• Implement and maintain comprehensive safety protocols.
• Oversee Production Planning and Scheduling compliance.
• Engage actively in the Integrated Business Planning process.

Skills

Production Planning

Inventory Management

SAP APO

Leadership

Problem Solving

Education

BA/BS in Supply Chain related field

MBA

Tools

SAP APO

Microsoft applications

Job description

Manager, Production Planning

Req # 26673 • Job Family: PP - Purchasing/Procurement • Location: US | US-MA-Milford • Pay Range: USD $104,500.00 – USD $174,500.00

Overview

Waters Corporation is currently seeking a highly motivated and team‑oriented candidate to lead our Production Planning team in Milford, MA. This position will lead two functions including production planning supporting highly labor‑intensive production areas in Assembly Ops such as NPI, Assembly, VICAM, and Kitting, as well as production planning/scheduling in our Machining Ops with multiple semi‑ or fully automated departments. The role oversees a professional staff of five Production Planners.

The owner of this position interfaces with Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Procurement and Production to create build plans to achieve all service metrics, ultimately ensuring product availability per customer expectation. The team also schedules jobs in our Machining Operations to satisfy requirements from internal customers including global Waters sites and our contract manufacturers to ensure global operations supply.

The successful candidate will be an in‑depth planning know‑how leader with root‑cause analysis experience. A passionate, agile & transformational leader who strives to deliver superior value to our internal and external customers every day. They will have the ability to improve the effectiveness of current processes and systems, leading to better production planning and supply attainment performance. This hands‑on position requires dynamic‑proactive leadership, excellent interpersonal skills, problem solving, critical thinking, and a compelling initiative to drive the organization to succeed.

Responsibilities

• Implement and maintain comprehensive safety protocols for all employees, ensuring high self‑awareness and achieving a progressive reduction in injury rates until zero incidents.
• Oversee the site team responsible for Production Planning and Scheduling, ensuring compliance with customer delivery requirements by conducting root‑cause analysis and developing corrective actions for continuous improvement.
• Develop and enforce robust processes and procedures for executing the master production schedule (MPS) and material requirements planning (MRP) utilizing SAP APO, mitigating roadblocks during site planning meetings.
• Engage actively in the Integrated Business Planning (IBP) process, analyzing demand inputs to create and manage production plans, capacity requirements, and clear‑to‑build plans, while providing real‑time status updates.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to optimize raw material flow, working closely with procurement to expedite and reschedule shipments, thus avoiding production disruptions and maintaining optimal inventory levels.
• Create and manage a comprehensive rough‑cut capacity model, balancing plant utilization, cost efficiency, and inventory levels, with an emphasis on optimizing production sequences and achieving consensus between production, planning, and engineering teams.
• Monitor and manage supply planning processes related to contract manufacturers, including demand‑supply coordination, CMS forecast management, and expediting requirements, ensuring alignment between the system and actual production needs.

Qualifications

• BA/BS in Supply Chain related field required. MBA will be a plus.
• Minimum 10 years related experience in production planning and inventory management in a manufacturing environment.
• 5+ years of people‑leadership experience managing a team of direct reports.
• Advanced proficiency with SAP APO and Microsoft applications required.
• APICS CPIM certification or equivalent highly desired.
• Excellent organizational, interpersonal, verbal, written and presentation skills.
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and drive corrective actions.
• Strong leadership skills, self‑directed and the ability to make independent decisions.
• Experience with New Product Introduction (NPI) processes.
• Familiarity with cGMP, ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 is desired.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to our core values at Waters Corporation. Waters complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws. Qualified applicants are considered without regard to sex, race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, marital status (including civil unions), military service, veteran status, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions), genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, legally recognized disability, domestic violence victim status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Waters is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. All hiring decisions are based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.