DescriptionPlanning ManagerWood Dale, Illinois$102,000 - $127,000 annual plus bonusPosition Summary: The Planning Manager leads the inventory planning and order management function within Epicor Kinetic, reporting to the Director of Materials. This role owns MRP/MPS execution and planning parameters at the job and operation level, manages the Planning Specialist team responsible for sales order accuracy, and serves as the escalation point for expedite, deferral, and exception decisions. The Planning Manager partners closely with Purchasing, Inside Sales, Warehouse, Engineering, and Production to keep supply and demand aligned, and translates the Director of Materials' ERP/MRP improvement initiatives into day-to-day planning practice.
Areas of impact:- Team leadership: manage, coach, and develop the Planning Specialist(s); set priorities, review workload, and build a scalable, cross-trained planning team.
- Inventory & MRP planning: own planning parameters (lead times, safety stock, lot sizing, reorder points) within Epicor Kinetic to keep supply plans accurate at the job and operation level.
- Order process ownership: oversee sales order accuracy end to end pricing, lead time, and quantity confirmation and resolve escalations the Planning Specialist cannot close independently.
- Expedite & deferral authority: review and approve expedite, deferral, and order-cancellation requests surfaced by the Planning Specialist; chair daily expedite meetings.
- Cross-functional coordination: partner with Purchasing, Inside Sales, Warehouse, Engineering, and Production on new part creation, MOM requests, and Program/VMI parts; represent planning in demand-supply (S&OP) discussions.
- Data integrity & systems partnership: work with IT and the Director of Materials to identify and correct broken system logic, and support ongoing ERP/MRP process improvements and reporting.
- Reporting & KPIs: build and maintain KPIs for schedule adherence, order accuracy, and fill rate, and report planning performance to the Director of Materials.
Key Competencies:- Proven people-management skills, with experience coaching and developing a planning or order-management team.
- Deep working knowledge of ERP/MRP logic (Epicor Kinetic preferred), including planning parameters, exception messages, and data flow across modules.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; able to identify root cause in broken system or process logic.
- Ability to balance competing priorities across Sales, Purchasing, Engineering, and Production while maintaining a strong sense of urgency.
- Clear communicator able to explain planning logic and trade-offs to both executives and front-line staff.
- Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, floor-oriented manufacturing environment.
Qualifications:- Bachelor's degree in supply chain, business, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience considered.
- 7+ years of experience in production/inventory planning, scheduling, or order management, including prior people-leadership experience.
- Hands-on experience with an ERP/MRP system (Epicor Kinetic strongly preferred) in a manufacturing environment.
- Experience reconciling data across multiple systems (e.g., Epicor and NetSuite).
- Familiarity with manufacturing/distribution supply chain and order-to-cash processes.
- APICS/ASCM certification (CPIM) a plus.
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