Director Of Production Planning & Scheduling

Director of Production Planning

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company that enables our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the only commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the only company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Our launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide government and commercial customers with full mission services from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

Summary

The Director of Production Planning will lead Firefly's production planning organization through its next phase of maturity, driving scalability, structure, and cross-functional alignment across all production and integration areas.

This role will oversee a multidisciplinary planning team consisting of Demand Planners, Production Planners, and Schedulers embedded across Firefly's five primary production areas (Machine Shop, Valve Shop, Tubes, Composites, and Avionics), three integration areas (Engine Integration, Launch Vehicle Integration, and Spacecraft), and Supply Chain.

The Director will ensure that all planners operate cohesively across commodities, delivering synchronized schedules and part readiness to support build flow, rate ramp, and mission delivery. This individual will work closely with Factory Leadership, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain, and Program Operations Management to convert demand signals into executable, capacity-balanced, level-loaded production plans aligned to material availability that enable rate and provide accurate forecasting.

The position reports directly to the Vice President of Operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the planning organization, including demand planning, project scheduling, and production control.
• Build structure and accountability across planners embedded within all areas.
• Drive alignment between material readiness, manufacturing order release, and production execution to ensure parts arrive at the right place, in the right quantity, at the right time.
• Partner with Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and Operations leaders to model capacity, identify bottlenecks, and identify deficiencies to the forecasted plan.
• Oversee development and refinement of the Master Production Schedule (MPS) and its alignment to the various programs' integrated master schedules.
• Lead the transition of Firefly's planning systems and workflows from development-oriented, prototype-style production to a structured, repeatable manufacturing model.
• Create and track planning KPIs (kit availability, on-time starts, on-time delivery, factory rate, aged WIP, Line of Balance, etc. Lead RCCA activities on KPIs that do not meet established criteria.
• Establish clear communication standards and visual management systems across production areas to improve transparency and synchronization.
• Collaborate with Program Operations Management to align production readiness with program milestones and launch cadence targets.
• Drive operational excellence through Lean and data-informed decision-making.
• Build and mentor a high-performing planning team capable of supporting Firefly's rate ramp and vehicle production goals.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in production planning and scheduling, within aerospace, automotive, or other high-mix, low-volume environments.
• Proven leadership experience managing teams across multiple production areas or facilities.
• Deep familiarity with MRP/MPS/MES systems (e.g., SAP, Odoo, Oracle) and planning frameworks.
• Strong understanding of mixed-model or batch job shop environments transitioning toward rate production.
• Demonstrated ability to model and analyze capacity, resource loading, and throughput constraints.
• Track record of implementing process improvements and scaling planning organizations.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills across operations, engineering, and program leadership.
• Ability to drive accountability and alignment in a dynamic, development-to-production transition environment.

Desired:

• Master's degree in Engineering, Operations, or Business.
• Experience scaling production planning in a high-growth aerospace or manufacturing company.
• Familiarity with ERP/MRP data structures and SQL-based reporting or analytics.
• Certification in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or APICS/ASCM CPIM.
• Experience interfacing with both engineering development and production operations teams.
• Understanding of ITAR and AS9100 standards.

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, pet insurance, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.