Service Planning and Scheduling Specialist

Nikon SLM Solutions; Long Beach (CA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage including medical, and

401(k) plan and 4% match

Holiday Pay and Paid Time Off

Paid parental leave

Gym reimbursement

Company-paid disability coverage

Company-paid life insurance

Job summary

Nikon SLM Solutions is seeking a Service Planning and Scheduling Specialist to own and optimize the North American master service schedule. You will coordinate field service resources, prioritize requests, and balance customer commitments with engineer capacity across multiple locations.

The ideal candidate will be highly organized, analytical, and proactive, capable of making scheduling decisions in a fast-paced, high-tech environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a related field.
• 3+ years in service planning, scheduling, dispatching, workforce planning, field service operations, logistics, or related function.
• Experience coordinating technicians, engineers, or other field-based resources across multiple locations.
• Strong planning, organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and scheduling decisions in a rapidly changing environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with strong attention to detail.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, especially Excel, Outlook, and Teams.
• Ability to work across multiple locations and time zones.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the authoritative North American master service schedule, including daily dispatching and weekly planning.
• Coordinate Service Engineer assignments for repairs, preventive maintenance, installations, upgrades, and training.
• Prioritize service requests based on impact, SLA commitments, and resource availability.
• Match assignments with engineers based on qualifications, location, and availability.
• Communicate schedule changes and critical updates to stakeholders.
• Monitor workload, utilization, and regional coverage for efficient resource allocation.
• Identify scheduling conflicts and capacity constraints before they impact customers.
• Develop reports to support resource allocation, workforce planning, and schedule adherence.

Skills

Project planning

Analytical thinking

Communication

Time management

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Operations, Supply Chain, Logistics, Engineering, or related field

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Teams

SAP

Job description

Nikon SLM Solutions is a leading provider of metal based additive manufacturing technology, commonly referred to as 3D printers, utilizing selective laser melting and powder bed fusion technology. Our 3D printers are designed to produce parts directly from a variety of metal powders. The customers for our metal based additive manufacturing systems come from various industries such as aerospace, energy, healthcare, and automotive. Headquartered in Lübeck Germany, Nikon SLM Solutions has approximately 600 employees worldwide.

POSITION DESCRIPTION:

The Service Planning and Scheduling Specialist is responsible for owning, maintaining, and optimizing the master service schedule for Nikon SLM Solutions' North American Service organization.

This position serves as the central point of coordination for Service Engineer assignments, ensuring customer service needs are prioritized and matched with qualified technical resources. The Specialist will proactively anticipate scheduling conflicts, resource constraints, and coverage gaps while balancing customer commitments, engineering availability, geographic coverage, and operational efficiency.

In addition to daily scheduling, this role provides Service leadership with accurate, timely visibility into service demand, resource utilization, capacity, staffing needs, and potential scheduling risks to support effective operational planning and decision-making.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, analytical, proactive, and comfortable taking ownership of scheduling decisions in a fast-paced technical service environment.

CANDIDATE RESPONSIBILITIES:

Service Planning and Scheduling

• Own and maintain the authoritative North American master service schedule, including daily dispatching, weekly planning, and forward-looking resource allocation.
• Coordinate Service Engineer assignments for repairs, preventive maintenance, installations, upgrades, training, and other planned or unplanned field activities.
• Prioritize service requests based on customer impact, equipment downtime, SLA commitments, technical complexity, and resource availability.
• Match assignments with engineers based on technical qualifications, machine knowledge, certifications, geographic location, and availability.
• Manage scheduling changes around PTO, travel, training, and competing priorities, ensuring timely communication of all updates to affected stakeholders.

Resource Optimization and Capacity Planning

• Monitor engineer workload, utilization, travel requirements, and regional coverage to support efficient resource allocation.
• Proactively identify scheduling conflicts, capacity constraints, resource shortages, and coverage gaps before they impact customer commitments.
• Recommend solutions and elevate resource limitations or competing priorities to Service leadership.
• Support workforce planning and resource forecasting by analyzing upcoming installations, service demand, preventive maintenance requirements, and anticipated staffing needs.
• Optimize engineer assignments and travel schedules to minimize unnecessary costs while maintaining customer coverage and response-time expectations.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Collaborate with Technical Support, Parts, Logistics, Installation, Applications, and other internal teams to align technical resources and material availability with scheduled service activities.
• Communicate service assignments, schedule changes, customer requirements, and priority adjustments to Service Engineers, managers, customers, and relevant stakeholders.
• Maintain visibility into upcoming customer commitments, outstanding service requirements, and critical escalations to support timely resolution.

Reporting, Performance, and Continuous Improvement

• Maintain accurate scheduling, resource availability, assignments, and service activity information within applicable company systems.
• Provide Service leadership with accurate, timely reporting on service demand, engineer utilization, available capacity, staffing needs, and scheduling risks.
• Analyze scheduling trends and operational KPIs to identify inefficiencies, recurring resource constraints, and opportunities for improvement.
• Develop and maintain reports supporting resource allocation, workforce planning, schedule adherence, and regional coverage.
• Identify and implement improvements to scheduling processes, resource utilization, data accuracy, and communication across the Service organization.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

CANDIDATE QUALIFICATIONS:

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Operations, Supply Chain, Logistics, Engineering, or a related field preferred; equivalent education and relevant experience may be considered.
• 3+ years of experience in service planning, scheduling, dispatching, workforce planning, field service operations, logistics, or a related function.
• Experience coordinating technicians, engineers, or other field-based resources across multiple locations.
• Strong planning, organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, anticipate resource constraints, and make sound scheduling decisions in a rapidly changing environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with strong attention to detail.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, Outlook, and Teams.
• Ability to work effectively across multiple locations and time zones.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience scheduling Field Service Engineers or technicians across regional or national territories.
• Experience with workforce capacity planning, resource forecasting, and utilization reporting.
• Background in additive manufacturing, industrial equipment, semiconductor, automation, medical equipment, or another high-tech manufacturing environment.
• Familiarity with ERP, CRM, workforce management, or field service management systems; SAP experience preferred.
• Understanding of SLAs, preventive maintenance programs, customer service operations, and field service KPIs.
• Experience working within a global organization.

OUR COMPREHENSIVE BENEFITS PACKAGE INCLUDES:

• Health coverage including medical, dental, and vision
• 401(k) plan and 4% match
• Holiday Pay and Paid Time Off
• Paid parental leave
• Gym reimbursement
• Company-paid disability coverage
• Company-paid life insurance

Nikon SLM Solutions is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, veteran status, disability status, or genetic information; U.S. citizenship or Green Card is required.