Production Planner (Manufacturing & Operations)

Project overview

Role: Production Planner (Manufacturing & Operations)

Project details

Berkshire

Contract: 18 Months

Working Pattern: Full-time, 5 days per week onsite

IR35 Status: Inside IR35

About the Opportunity

We are currently recruiting for experienced Production Planners to join a highly specialised manufacturing and engineering environment on an initial 18-month contract.

This is an excellent opportunity to work within a complex, high-profile engineering and manufacturing programme, supporting the effective planning, coordination and delivery of production activities.

The successful candidates will play a key role in balancing production demand against operational capacity, ensuring manufacturing schedules are achievable, resources are effectively allocated and delivery commitments are met.

Key Responsibilities

Skills and Experience Required

We are looking for candidates with a strong background in production planning, manufacturing scheduling or production control, ideally gained within a complex engineering or manufacturing environment.

Essential Skills:

Desirable Experience:

About You

You will be a proactive, detail-oriented Production Planner who thrives in a fast-paced, technically demanding manufacturing environment.

You will be confident managing competing priorities, resolving planning challenges and building effective working relationships across multidisciplinary teams.

A continuous improvement mindset, strong attention to detail and a commitment to delivering high-quality outcomes will be essential.

• Develop, maintain and manage detailed production plans, translating Master Production Schedules (MPS) into daily manufacturing activities.
• Coordinate production demand and capacity across operational delivery teams, identifying and resolving scheduling conflicts.
• Create and maintain Rough Cut Capacity Planning (RCCP) models to support effective resource planning.
• Ensure Material Requirements Planning (MRP) systems are accurately maintained and reflect current production requirements.
• Plan manufacturing activities with consideration for cost, quality, resource availability and delivery timescales.
• Identify production bottlenecks, constraints and potential delays, proactively implementing solutions.
• Support manufacturing cost estimation, production scheduling and the development of Basis of Estimate documentation.
• Apply Lean Manufacturing and Production Control techniques, including Kanban, visual management and Push/Pull systems.
• Attend production planning and visual management meetings, monitoring progress and driving completion of agreed actions.
• Monitor, update and report on production performance against key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Work closely with engineering, manufacturing, operations and other stakeholders to ensure production plans are aligned with business priorities.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives to enhance manufacturing efficiency, productivity and operational performance.
• Proven experience in production planning, manufacturing planning or production scheduling.
• Strong understanding of Master Production Scheduling (MPS), Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and capacity planning.
• Experience developing and maintaining detailed production schedules.
• Ability to balance manufacturing demand, resource availability and operational capacity.
• Experience using MRP or ERP systems to manage production requirements.
• Strong analytical, organisational and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to identify production constraints and implement practical solutions.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience working collaboratively with manufacturing, engineering and operational teams.
• Experience within aerospace, defence, nuclear, automotive, advanced engineering or other highly regulated manufacturing environments.
• Knowledge of Rough Cut Capacity Planning (RCCP).
• Experience applying Lean Manufacturing principles and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Familiarity with Kanban, Push/Pull production systems and visual management techniques.
• Experience producing manufacturing cost estimates and monitoring production KPIs.
• Knowledge of manufacturing processes, production workflows and operational delivery planning.
• Start: flexible
• Location: West Berkshire, UK, GB