Planning Team Lead

Unigen; Newark (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

The Planning Team Leader leads and supervises a team of Planners responsible for material requirements planning, production scheduling, and coordination of material flow through the production cycle.

This role combines hands-on planning responsibilities with day-to-day team leadership — assigning or directing workload, mentoring staff, resolving escalations, and driving process improvements — to ensure the team meets on-time delivery (OTD), inventory, and customer commitments.

Qualifications

• BS/BA degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, or Industrial Engineering field.
• 9+ years in material planning and production scheduling in CM/EMS environments.
• Proven ability to lead, mentor, and develop a team.
• Coordinate with different departments to meet customer required dates.
• Understand backend operations from sourcing to work order completion.
• Plan and schedule based on materials availability and guide team.
• Strong communication and organizational skills; report metrics and drive improvements.

Responsibilities

• Lead, supervise, and mentor a team of Planners with workload priorities.
• Oversee MRP across the team, ensuring data integrity.
• Direct loading and creation of demand into ERP and review output.
• Align materials to meet demand across accounts (FCST, SO, Plan Order).
• Oversee MPS from Demand to Ship; maintain work orders to meet OTD.
• Guide What-if analyses for demand loading and scenario planning.
• Coordinate movement of material through production and monitor progress.
• Escalation point for material constraints; partner with PM/SCM/Buyers.
• Resolve material issues for WOs and aging to meet MRPs.
• Analyze demand schedules, material data, and inventory status.
• Monitor inventory turns and drive cost reductions.
• Track planner performance metrics and lead corrective actions.
• Identify and implement process improvements and training.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring

Communication

Organizational skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

BS/BA in Business, SCM, or Industrial Engineering

Tools

ERP Systems

Job description

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Full-Time Management Newark, CA, US

Salary Range: $110,000.00 To $130,000.00 Annually

Job Title: Planning Team Leader

Department:Planning

Reports to:Planning Manager

Job Overview

The Planning Team Leader leads and supervises or directs a team of Planners responsible for material requirements planning, production scheduling, and coordination of material flow through the production cycle. This role combines hands‑on planning responsibilities with day‑to‑day team leadership — assigning or directing workload, mentoring staff, resolving escalations, and driving process improvements — to ensure the team meets on‑time delivery (OTD), inventory, and customer commitments. Reports to Planning Manager. Located at the Unigen Headquarters in Newark, CA.

Job Responsibilities and Duties

• Lead, supervise or direct, and mentor a team of Planners, including assigning daily priorities, balancing workload, and providing on-the-job training and guidance.


• Oversee and manage Project Material Requirements Planning (MRP) across the team, ensuring consistent methodology and data integrity.


• Direct the loading and creation of all demand into ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and review team output for accuracy.


• Align, prioritize, and allocate materials to meet actual demand (customer build plan/forecast (FCST), Sales Order (SO), and Plan Order) across the team's accounts.


• Oversee Project Master Production Scheduling (MPS) from Demand to Ship for the team; ensure work orders are maintained and planned to meet OTD objectives.


• Guide the team in performing material What-if-Analysis (WIA) for demand loading and scenario planning.


• Coordinate the efficient movement of material through the production cycle and monitor progress of work against the production schedule.


• Serve as the escalation point for complex material constraints and manufacturing issues; partner with Program Manager (PM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), and Buyers to resolve them.


• Oversee resolution of material issues for work orders (WO), Rework WO, pilot build, or qualification build; ensure WO and SO aging is maintained to meet MRP notification standards.


• Analyze and communicate demand schedule, material data, and inventory status to Planning Manager and cross-functional stakeholders.


• Monitor team-wide inventory levels to ensure alignment with Unigen's inventory turns goals.


• Drive cost reductions through optimized production flow, resource utilization, and inventory utilization across the team.


• Track and report planner performance metrics (OTD, inventory turns, schedule adherence) and lead corrective actions where needed.


• Identify and implement process improvements and standardized best practices across the planning function.


• Conduct or contribute to performance reviews, onboarding, and skill development planning for planning staff.

Other tasks and responsibilities related to Purchasing and Warehouse/Logistics functions as assigned.

Job Requirements and Qualifications

• BS/BA degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, or Industrial Engineering field.


• Minimum 9 years of work experience in material planning and production scheduling in a fast‑paced environment such as Contract Manufacturing (CM) or Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS), including at least 2 years in a lead, supervisory, or senior planner capacity.


• Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and develop a team, including delegating work and resolving escalated issues.


• Be able to work and coordinate with different departments and functional teams, representing the planning team, to achieve the customer's required date.


• Have in-depth understanding of how backend operations work, from sourcing, purchasing, tracking PO, receiving, IQC, warehousing, kitting, SMT, and system integration to close the cycle of work order completion.


• Be able to plan and schedule based on materials availability, work with MPS to schedule work orders, and guide team members in doing the same.


• Strong communication and organizational skills, with the ability to report performance metrics and drive process improvement initiatives.