Optics Production Planning Manager

Gooch & Housego Pal Alto; Fremont (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Gooch & Housego is seeking a Manager, Production Planning to lead the production planning function and align schedules with demand, capacity, and materials in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

The role involves developing the Master Production Schedule, leading a planning team, and driving cross-functional collaboration with Operations, Procurement, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Sales to ensure on-time delivery and optimized throughput.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field is required.
• 7+ years of production planning or supply chain experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience leading a production planning team preferred.
• Experience in high-mix, low-volume manufacturing (optics, aerospace, medical devices, defense, or similar) strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of production scheduling, capacity planning, material planning, and manufacturing operations.
• Advanced ERP/MRP and Microsoft Excel proficiency.

Responsibilities

• Lead development, execution, and maintenance of production schedules to support customer delivery commitments and manufacturing priorities.
• Develop and maintain the Master Production Schedule (MPS), ensuring alignment between demand, manufacturing capacity, and material availability.
• Monitor schedule performance and adjust production priorities to address changing customer requirements or operational constraints.
• Provide day-to-day leadership, coaching, and development for the production planning team.
• Establish priorities, monitor workload, and promote planning best practices across the department.
• Foster collaboration and accountability within the planning function.
• Partner closely with Operations, Procurement, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Customer Service, and Logistics to resolve planning challenges and align production priorities.
• Lead regular planning meetings to communicate schedules, risks, and recovery plans.
• Support Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) activities by providing production planning input.
• Monitor key planning metrics including schedule adherence, on-time delivery, throughput, work-in-process, and inventory performance.
• Identify opportunities to improve planning accuracy, scheduling efficiency, and manufacturing performance.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives and drive adoption of standardized planning processes.
• Respond to production disruptions, material shortages, and changing customer priorities by adjusting production plans and coordinating cross-functional solutions.
• Escalate significant planning risks and recommend corrective actions to Operations leadership.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Excellent communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Leadership

Excel proficiency

ERP/MRP understanding

Lean manufacturing

Organizational skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

7+ years of production planning experience

Tools

SAP

Oracle

Microsoft Dynamics

Job description

Gooch & Housego is seeking a Manager, Production Planning to lead the production planning function and align schedules with demand, capacity, and materials in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

The role involves developing the Master Production Schedule, leading a planning team, and driving cross-functional collaboration with Operations, Procurement, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Sales to ensure on-time delivery and optimized throughput.