Director Planning Operations

Job Summary

The Director, Material and Production Planning and Warehouse Operations leads end-to-end planning and materials execution to support on-time delivery, inventory optimization, and efficient factory flow. This role owns the integrated planning system and operating cadence for SIOP/MPS/MRP, production scheduling, WIP control, and warehouse operations, including interplant material planning and transactions. The Director ensures material availability, transaction integrity, and inventory accuracy while driving cross-functional execution across Programs, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, and Finance.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead material and production planning by owning the MPS, executing MRP, and running short-interval planning to balance demand, supply, and capacity while protecting build schedules and customer commitments.

• Ensure material availability for production (kits, spares, floor WIP) through strong constraints management (material, capacity, labor), mitigation planning, and standardized planning policies/work instructions to reduce expedites and improve schedule adherence.

• Direct warehouse and inventory operations (receiving, storage, kitting, issuing, shipping, cycle counting) with strong controls for inventory accuracy, location management, shelf-life/lot control, and traceability; improve layout, flow, and internal logistics to reduce touch labor, WIP aging, and line-side shortages.

• Manage production planning and transactions by enforcing transaction discipline (transfers, receipts, issues, returns, WIP moves, adjustments), maintaining system-of-record accuracy, and partnering across sites to standardize processes, improve lead times, and reduce transfer-related schedule risk.

• Own WIP governance and factory flow including routing adherence, staging discipline, bottleneck visibility, and transaction accuracy to improve throughput, cost accuracy, and overall production stability; drive reductions in excess WIP and improvements in yield/first-pass quality.

• Drive performance management and continuous improvement by defining KPIs/dashboards (OTD support, schedule adherence, shortages, inventory accuracy, cycle count performance, WIP aging, productivity), applying Lean methods, and leading root-cause corrective actions for recurring disruptions.

• Provide people leadership and cross-functional collaboration by coaching planning/warehouse teams, setting clear expectations and accountability, partnering with key functions (Procurement, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Finance, Program), and supporting program reviews with clear material status, risk outlook, and recovery plans.

• Own and lead SIOP to align demand, supply, capacity, and financial commitments; drive the monthly/weekly cadence, scenario planning, and decision-making to support program priorities and achievable production plans.

Qualifications

Years Experience

• 10+ years experience 

Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, Engineering, or related field (Master’s preferred) with a minimum of 10+ years experience in high technology, aerospace or defense or equivalent experience

• Strong working knowledge of MRP/ERP systems, inventory control, WIP management, and production scheduling

• Demonstrated leadership of multi-function teams and cross-site coordination

• Proven ability to improve performance through standard work, metrics, and continuous improvement

Key Competencies 

• Integrated planning and execution discipline

• Experience with Kinaxis or Power BI data platforms

• DoD, ITAR, EAR, FAR, DFAR Regulations

• Warehouse operations and material flow optimization

• Data-driven decision making and KPI management

• APICS certification

• Cross-functional leadership and stakeholder management

• Continuous improvement mindset (Lean/CI)