Workforce Planning Specialist

Confidential Careers; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 85,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Careers is seeking a Workforce Planning Specialist to develop enterprise-wide workforce plans aligned with business strategy, production schedules, and operational requirements. You will analyze staffing needs across production and support functions, maintain headcount plans, and collaborate with HR, Finance, and business leaders to guide workforce investments and resource allocation.

The role requires strong analytical abilities, Excel and BI experience, and the capacity to

Qualifications

• Strong analytical skills in workforce planning and forecasting.
• Ability to translate business needs into staffing plans.
• Experience with HR analytics and data interpretation.
• Excellent communication with HR, Finance, and leaders.
• Advanced Excel and BI tool experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop annual and multi-year workforce plans aligned with business objectives.
• Maintain headcount plans and workforce records.
• Create demand and supply forecasts using trends and internal mobility.
• Collaborate with Finance to align plans with budgets.
• Prepare dashboards and management reports.
• Monitor plan execution and variances.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Cross-functional collaboration

Strong Excel skills

Data interpretation

Education

Bachelors degree in HR/Business Admin/Finance/Industrial Eng

Tools

Excel

Power BI

HRIS

Data modeling

Job description

The Workforce Planning Specialist is responsible for developing and maintaining enterprise-wide workforce plans aligned with company's business strategy, production schedules, and operational requirements. This role analyzes current and future staffing needs across production and support functions, manages headcount planning and forecasting, evaluates workforce capacity and efficiency, and partners with HR, Finance, and business leaders to support informed workforce investment and resource allocation decisions.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Ensure compliance with all company quality and safety procedures, rules, and regulations.
• Develop annual and multi-year workforce plans aligned with business objectives, production schedules, project pipelines, and organizational growth.
• Analyze staffing requirements across production trades, engineering, and corporate support functions, considering workload, skills, staffing ratios, and operational capacity.
• Maintain accurate headcount plans and workforce records, including approved positions, actual staffing, vacancies, planned hires, and anticipated separations.
• Develop and update workforce demand and supply forecasts using hiring trends, attrition, retirements, internal mobility, and changing operational requirements.
• Evaluate staffing gaps, surplus capacity, critical skill shortages, and workforce risks; recommend practical mitigation strategies.
• Partner with Finance to align headcount plans with labor budgets and prepare workforce cost forecasts and scenario analyses.
• Assess workforce productivity, utilization, overtime, and staffing efficiency using available operational data, in collaboration with relevant business owners.
• Conduct workforce scenario modeling to evaluate changes in production volume, project schedules, shift arrangements, outsourcing, and hiring assumptions.
• Coordinate with department leaders and HR Business Partners to review staffing requests, validate business justifications, and monitor approved workforce plans.
• Collaborate with Talent Acquisition and Training teams to translate projected staffing needs into recruitment, apprenticeship, upskilling, and workforce development priorities.
• Develop standardized workforce planning tools, reporting templates, definitions, and processes to improve data consistency and planning discipline.
• Prepare headcount dashboards, workforce analytics, management reports, and executive presentations highlighting trends, risks, and recommended actions.
• Monitor workforce plan execution and identify variances between forecasted and actual staffing, labor costs, and workforce demand.
• Support periodic workforce planning reviews and continuous improvement initiatives across HR, Finance, and operational departments.
• Perform other related duties as required and assigned.

COMPETENCIES

• Strong analytical skills in workforce planning, headcount forecasting, and workforce data interpretation.
• Ability to translate business and production requirements into actionable staffing plans.
• Proficiency in Excel, data modeling, reporting, and workforce analytics; experience with HRIS or BI tools preferred.
• Strong organizational, problem-solving, and project coordination skills.
• Effective communication and cross-functional collaboration with HR, Finance, and operational leaders.
• High attention to detail, sound judgment, and ability to handle confidential workforce information.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILTY

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Environmental exposures are similar to those found in most heavy industrial settings and may include noise, heat, cold, vibration, dust, fumes, smoke, and may involve exposure to inclement weather conditions.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. A range of motion sufficient to perform general lifting, carrying, bending, extended standing, etc. is required.

POSITION TYPE/EXPECTED HOURS OF WORK

This is an onsite, full-time position. Standard days and hours of work vary by department, days and hours determined by department schedules.

PREFERRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, Industrial Engineering, or a related field preferred.
• 3+ years of experience in workforce planning, headcount management, HR analytics, financial planning, or related analytical functions.
• Experience developing staffing forecasts, headcount reports, and workforce scenarios.
• Experience supporting manufacturing, shipbuilding, engineering, or other labor-intensive operations preferred.
• Experience partnering with Finance and operational leaders on workforce budgets and staffing decisions preferred.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills; experience with HRIS, Power BI, or comparable analytical tools preferred.

OTHER DUTIES

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time or without notice.