Manufacturing Planning Engineer

At Janicki Industries, we turn complex ideas into real-world solutions through advanced engineering and manufacturing. Our teams design and build innovative structures, tooling, and systems that support industries including aerospace, space, defense, marine, and architecture.

Across every role, from engineers and technicians to operations and support teams, our people help solve challenging problems, push the limits of design and manufacturing, and create solutions that make a lasting impact.

This position is located on-site in Hamilton, Washington State.

Department Summary

The Manufacturing Planning Engineer is responsible for how manufacturing work is estimated, planned, and controlled across the organization. This includes building estimating tools and go-bys for Sales, maintaining standards, process controls, and exception reports, and managing production constraints. Working across Sales, Operations, Engineering, Planning, and Supply Chain, this position looks at the whole manufacturing system to make sure it can meet demand and customer commitments.

The Manufacturing Planning Engineer works closely with Operations, Program Management, Manufacturing Engineering, Master Planning, Supply Chain, and other support organizations to understand current and future demand and determine whether the manufacturing system has the capability and capacity to meet it.

The successful candidate will have strong intellectual curiosity and a desire to understand how things work. They will enjoy learning new processes, reading and discussing new ideas, following problems beyond the obvious answer, and pulling on threads until they understand the underlying system. They should be comfortable challenging the way work has historically been performed while working collaboratively with the people who understand the process best.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Planning

• Develops and maintains labor and machine standards (routings, standard times, production rates) based on demonstrated performance rather than assumptions

• Works with Operations to understand actual process capability, production rates, labor requirements, equipment limitations, material requirements, and sources of variability

• Enforce process controls that keep planning data, schedules, and shop floor execution aligned

• Maintain exception reports to ensure quality data in for effective data based production control

• Investigates exceptions and schedule performance beyond surface-level symptoms to identify underlying systemic causes

• Works closely with Operations while maintaining a broader view of production flow, capacity, and constraints across the manufacturing system

• Challenges existing assumptions, planning methods, and production strategies when data or observation suggests a better approach may exist

Production Control

• Analyzes manufacturing demand against demonstrated capacity across cells, equipment, buildings, and manufacturing sites to identify current and emerging constraints before they impact customer commitments

• Ensures constraints are fully utilized and protected by evaluating WIP, inventory, buffers, variance and production sequencing

• Identifies and recommends ways to elevate constraints, including shifting work between equipment, cells, shifts, facilities, or sites, suppliers and using available capacity elsewhere in the organization

• Develops capacity models and scenario analyses showing the expected impact of staffing, overtime, alternate equipment, process improvements, outsourcing, capital investment, and other production decisions

• Uses production data to develop hypotheses about constraints and performance, recommends actions, defines expected outcomes, and evaluates actual results to determine whether the action worked or another approach is required

Estimating

• Develops and maintains estimating calculators that convert part geometry, materials, and processes into labor hours, machine time, lead time, and cost

• Builds and maintains a library of go-bys (comparable past jobs with actual hours, routings, and lessons learned) to support fast, consistent estimates

• Supports Sales and Program Management with estimates, lead-time and capacity assessments

• Works with Master Planner, Program Management and Ops Directors to translate new and future demand into realistic manufacturing capacity requirements with make/buy recommendations before commitments are made

• Compares estimates to actual performance and updates calculators, go-bys, and assumptions to improve future accuracy

All Areas

• Regularly spends time in manufacturing areas observing work, talking with employees, validating assumptions, and building an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of processes and equipment throughout the organization

• Develops clear, data-supported recommendations rather than simply reporting problems, and explains complex manufacturing problems simply to Operations and executive leadership

• Runs reports and develops analytical tools, models, and visualizations to support manufacturing decisions

• Research’s manufacturing, operations, systems thinking, planning, and continuous-improvement concepts and applies relevant ideas to real production problems

• Performs other duties as assigned

• Behavior: The incumbent must work well under pressure, meeting and completing multiple deadlines. The incumbent shall, at all times, demonstrate cooperative behavior with colleagues and supervisors

• Being at work on time and maintaining good attendance is a condition of employment and is an essential function of the job

Basic Qualifications:

• A Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, or a related technical field is preferred

• Relevant manufacturing experience combined with demonstrated analytical capability may be considered in place of specific educational requirements

• Experience working in a manufacturing environment is strongly preferred

• Experience with production planning, capacity planning, manufacturing engineering, industrial engineering, operations analysis, or continuous improvement is preferred

• Must demonstrate strong analytical and problem-solving ability and be capable of working through ambiguous problems where the answer is not immediately apparent

• Must be able to understand relationships between demand, capacity, constraints, WIP, inventory, labor, equipment, and production performance

• Must be capable of developing models and analyzing data using tools such as Excel, Power BI, SAP, or similar systems

• Experience with ERP/MRP systems and manufacturing scheduling tools is preferred; however, this position requires the ability to think beyond the information presented by those systems

• Must possess the ability to work independently, seek out information, develop recommendations, and work collaboratively across Operations, Engineering, Program Management, Planning, and Supply Chain

• Must have effective verbal and written communication skills in the English language

• Due to our ITAR and EAR regulations, applicants must be a US Citizen or of Legal Permanent Resident Status as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b (a) (3)

• This position requires the ability to obtain a U.S. Secret Security Clearance (U.S. Citizenship Required). Janicki will assist with gaining this access once employed. Special Access Program or other Government Access Requirements are mandatory for this position and requires candidate agreed to enter a Continuous Evaluation program

Detailed Wage Information:

• Wage range for this role is between $83,000 - $125,000 plus a discretionary bonus, 401(k) matching, vacation, and health benefits. Employees can also receive additional pay for off-shifts, off-site work, and access pay. The range provided is Janicki’s estimate of the base compensation for this role. Actual amount offered will be based on job-related and non-discriminatory factors such as experience, location, education, training, skills, and abilities

Benefits:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance with employer contribution
• Disability insurance as well as Life/AD&D insurance
• HSA (Health Savings Account) with employer contribution and FSA (Flexible Savings Account)
• 401k with employer matching
• Paid time off and paid holidays (including two floating holidays)
• Education reimbursement program
• Several shift options
• Premium pay for off-shifts
• Premium pay for security clearance if applicable

Not sure that you’ll be the perfect fit for this role? You should still apply! We’ll review your application for other opportunities. We are always on the lookout for talented people!

By applying for this job, you are expressing interest in this position and could be considered for other career opportunities where similar skills and requirements have been identified as a match. Should this match be identified, you may be contacted for this and future openings.

Janicki Industries is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Janicki Industries does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, marital or familial status, physical or mental disability, genetic information, age, retaliation, veteran/military service status, or any other legally protected status. Janicki is proud to be a military friendly employer.

Applicants or employees wishing to view a copy of Janicki Industries’ Affirmative Action Plan for veterans and individuals with disabilities, or applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application/interview process should notify the Human Resources Department at (360) 404-1997.

As a federal government contractor and a recipient of federal funding, Janicki is required to abide by federal drug testing requirements (including preemployment drug testing for cannabis). Additionally, because of Janicki’s work on aerospace products and the high volume of safety sensitive positions, Janicki takes the safety of its employees very seriously and requires that employees pass a preemployment drug test prior to starting employment.