Production Planner and Scheduler

Aspen Aerogels, Inc.; East Providence (RI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

Tuition Reimbursement

Paid Holidays

Sick Time

PTO

401k Employer Match

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Job summary

Aspen Aerogels, Inc. a Providence-area manufacturing leader, seeks a Production Planner/Scheduler to own the East Providence facility's production schedule and align demand with capacity.

You will convert demand signals into a sequenced, capacity-feasible plan across Casting, Extraction, Ovens, Slitters, and Label/Packaging, guiding floor execution and real-time reprioritization. You will model demand against capacity, provide forward-looking headcount and shift requirements, and partner with

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, or Business, or equivalent education.
• 7+ years manufacturing experience with scheduling/planning.
• 5+ years production scheduling and materials planning.
• Experience building capacity/load models and staffing requirements.
• Lean methods knowledge and SOP development.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain the daily, weekly, and rolling multi-week schedule from demand, forecast, safety stock, and inventory position.
• Schedule to the bottleneck and optimize changeover, family and thickness grouping, oven cycles, and lot continuity.
• Balance the plan against material availability, WIP holds, equipment, maintenance, and staffing by shift.
• Create, release, schedule, and maintain production orders in Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations; manage master data and lead times.
• Provide capacity models, dashboards, and attainment reporting in Excel or Power BI; drive Lean improvements to reduce lead time and WIP.

Skills

Production scheduling

MRP/ERP scheduling

Data analysis

Excel

Education

Bachelor's Degree in relevant field

Tools

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations

Power BI

Job description

What we do-

Aspen is a technology leader in sustainability and electrification solutions. The Company's aerogel technology enables its customers and partners to achieve their own objectives around the global megatrends of resource efficiency, e-mobility, and clean energy. Aspen's PyroThin products enable solutions to thermal runaway challenges within the electric vehicle ("EV") market. The Company's Cryogel and Pyrogel products are valued by the world's largest energy infrastructure companies. Aspen's strategy is to partner with world-class industry leaders to leverage its Aerogel Technology Platform into additional high-value markets. Aspen is headquartered in Northborough, Mass.

What we value-

At Aspen, our values reflect who we are and how we work both with each other and our customers, suppliers, and communities. They shape our interactions, guide our decisions, and inspire us to bring our best. Whether collaborating internally or externally, our values drive us to make a meaningful impact within Aspen and in all our relationships.

Aspen's CORE Values

• We Do the Right Thing
• We are Problem Solvers
• We are Allies
• We Drive Forward

What you will do-

The Production Planner / Scheduler owns the production schedule for the East Providence aerogel facility and is the plant's link between demand and capacity. The role converts demand and inventory signals into a sequenced, capacity-feasible plan of record across Casting, Extraction, Ovens, Slitters, and Label/Packaging, and drives it on the floor through order release, labeling, and real-time re-prioritization. It also carries the forward view - modeling the demand outlook against demonstrated capacity and telling Operations whether we can accommodate it as staffed and equipped, and what must change if we cannot. Measured by schedule attainment, throughput at the constraint, the quality of that capacity guidance, and the accuracy of data in Microsoft Dynamics 365.

How will you do it-

Production Scheduling & Capacity Planning

• Build and maintain the daily, weekly, and rolling multi-week schedule from demand, forecast, safety stock, and inventory position, sequencing every stage to demonstrated capacity.
• Schedule to the constraint: protect the bottleneck and optimize for changeover, family and thickness grouping, oven cure cycles, slitter nesting, and lot continuity.
• Balance the plan against material availability, WIP holds, equipment and tooling, maintenance windows, and staffing by shift.

Order Release, Labeling & Floor Control

• Generate and issue labels tied to the correct order, part, lot, quantity, and revision; control reprints and voids with full traceability.
• Release only work that is materially available and sequenced; keep labels and travelers matched to the schedule and the WIP present and verify label and quantity at close-out.
• Partner with Quality on lot traceability, CoA linkage, customer-specific labeling, and segregation of held or non-conforming material.

Capacity Outlook, Plan of Record & Attainment

• Translate the Supply Chain demand signal into a capacity load by stage - run hours, batches, crews, and shifts required versus available - and model the effect of demand changes, downtime, and yield variation.
• Maintain the model that converts the rolling outlook into required headcount, shift pattern, equipment hours, and utilization, refreshed each planning cycle.
• Answer Plant Operations on every material demand shift: can we accommodate it, by when, and what would have to change - shift, overtime, crew, or equipment - with cost and lead-time implications.
• Own the plan of record and its time fence, publish attainment and past-due aging, and root-cause each miss to material, equipment, labor, quality, or planning.
• Maintain the parameters behind a credible plan - lead times, run rates, yields, batch sizes, safety stock - and the analysis supporting staffing and capital requests.

Communication & Real-Time Re-Prioritization

• Serve as the primary scheduling contact across all shifts and lead daily production, tier, and cross-functional planning discussions.
• Re-prioritize in real time for downtime, shortages, quality holds, or customer escalations, and communicate the revised sequence unambiguously.
• Translate between commercial urgency and floor reality: a defensible commit date for Sales, an executable plan for Operations, and constraints escalated early with options and a recommendation.
• Keep the schedule and capacity outlook visible and current so anyone on the floor can see what is running now and what is next.

D365 Master Data & Process Improvement

• Create, release, schedule, and maintain production orders in Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, keeping status accurate through the lifecycle.
• Own scheduling master data - formulas, routes, resource capacity, calendars, coverage, lead times - on which every capacity model depends; run and interpret MRP with judgement.
• Correct transactional integrity issues and reconcile system to physical inventory with Materials and Finance.
• Build the load boards, capacity models, dashboards, and attainment reporting in Excel or Power BI.
• Document and improve the scheduling process - intake, sequencing, release rules, escalation, SOPs - applying Lean to reduce lead time, WIP, and changeover loss.

General

• Adopt and follow Aspen's core values - We do the right thing, We are problem solvers, We are allies, and We drive forward.
• Performs other related duties as assigned by management.

Performance Measures:

• Schedule attainment, on-time completion to plan, and on-time delivery to customer request date.
• Throughput and utilization at the constraint operation.
• Accuracy and lead time of the capacity and staffing outlook provided to Operations.
• Past-due order count and aging; WIP level and aging; inventory turns.
• D365 data accuracy and labeling traceability - zero mislabeled or untraceable lots.

Why you are right for the job-

Required

• Bachelor's Degree (BA/BS) in Supply Chain, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, or Business, or equivalent education and 7+ years directly relevant manufacturing experience in lieu of a degree.
• 5+ years of production scheduling, planning, or materials planning in manufacturing, including hands-on ERP/MRP scheduling and ownership of manufacturing master data.
• Demonstrated ability to build a capacity or load model and present the resulting staffing, shift, or equipment recommendation to operations leadership.
• Ability to hold a plan under pressure, decide quickly with incomplete information, and communicate clearly to both the floor and management. On-site, with meaningful floor time and reachability for off-shift escalations.
• Computer skills required: advanced Excel (pivot tables, lookups, scenario modeling); Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations; Power BI or equivalent.
• Other skills required: working knowledge of Lean methods; ability to write clear SOPs. Certificates: none required; APICS/ASCM or Lean/Six Sigma preferred.

Preferred

• Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (production control, master planning, product information management).
• Continuous or batch process manufacturing, chemical processing, composites, coating/converting, or roll goods.
• APICS/ASCM (CPIM or CSCP) or Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt or above; SQL or Power Query for reporting.
• Labeling and barcoding systems, lot/serial traceability, and new product introduction or capacity expansion.

What to expect-

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

• Frequently required to stand
• Frequently required to walk
• Occasionally required to sit
• Frequently required to utilize hand and finger dexterity
• Occasionally required to climb, balance, bend, stoop, kneel or crawl
• Occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions (non-weather)
• Occasionally works near moving mechanical parts
• Occasionally works around fumes, airborne particles, or toxic chemicals
• Occasionally exposed to outside weather conditions
• Occasionally exposed to extreme heat or cold (non-weather)
• While performing the duties of this job, the noise level in the work environment is usually loud
• The noise level is usually loud; must occasionally lift and/or move more than 5 pounds

The above is intended to describe the general content of and requirements for the performance of this job. It is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or physical requirements. Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

PERKS OF JOINING OUR TEAM!

Aspen is committed to offering a comprehensive benefits package, a positive and productive work environment, encouraged work/life and family balance, and opportunities for growth and development, in a culture that is focused on inclusion, sustainability, and working together to solve the world's toughest challenges.

Aspen is proud to offer a competitive benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, Tuition Reimbursement, Paid Holidays, Sick Time, and PTO. In addition, we also offer 401k Employer Match, Life and Disability Insurance, and other benefits.

Expected Compensation: Between $90,000 and $105,000 USD/year based on experience.

Aspen Aerogels, Inc. is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please send an e‑mail to [e-mail] or call and leave a voice message at [phone] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information and we will return your message.

For Our Rhode Island Applicants:

Aspen Aerogels, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics. The East Providence, RI facility of Aspen Aerogels is subject to Title 28, Chapter 29-6.2 of Rhode Island General Laws, which governs Worker's Compensation.

Equal Opportunity Employer

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.

For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.