Production Planner III - Spacecraft Integration

About Firefly Aerospace

As an end-to-end responsive space company, Firefly Aerospace is on a mission to enable our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. Our small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles allow us to service the entire lifecycle of government and commercial missions from low Earth orbit to the Moon and beyond. We utilize carbon composite structures, patented propulsion technologies, and common components across our vehicles to iterate quickly, improve reliability, and deliver payloads at a lower cost. This position is located at our manufacturing and test facility in Briggs, TX north of Austin, TX.

Summary

The Spacecraft Integration Planner plays a pivotal role in ensuring the smooth transition of spacecraft hardware and subsystems through manufacturing, test, and final assembly at Firefly's Blue Ghost and Elytra production facilities. This role focuses on planning, coordinating, and maintaining visibility of all material, schedule, and resource needs to enable efficient spacecraft integration and on-time delivery for mission milestones.

The Spacecraft Integration Planner partners closely with Production, Test, Supply Chain, and Program teams to establish and maintain line-side inventory, develop and manage demand plans, and coordinate build schedules that align with engineering readiness and program objectives. This position requires a deep understanding of production dependencies, test flow, and integration sequencing to keep spacecraft builds progressing without interruption.

By managing and analyzing real-time production and supply data, the Integration Planner identifies risks, drives resolution to material or capacity constraints, and provides proactive communication to keep stakeholders aligned. This role is instrumental in bridging the gap between planning, operations, and program execution, ensuring every part, assembly, and subsystem arrives at the integration floor exactly when needed.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and communicate production and integration schedules for spacecraft assembly lines at Blue Ghost and Elytra facilities.
• Collaborate with Production, Test, and Program teams to align demand and build plans with program timelines and launch objectives.
• Stand up and maintain line-side inventory systems, ensuring critical materials and assemblies are readily available for integration.
• Partner with buyers and planners to track procurement status, drive recovery plans, and manage supplier dependencies.
• Coordinate with Program Management and Engineering to translate mission requirements into executable production plans.
• Track WIP (Work-in-Progress) across manufacturing and test centers to ensure smooth transitions into spacecraft integration.
• Identify and escalate schedule or material bottlenecks, driving cross-functional problem-solving and recovery actions.
• Support the implementation of lean manufacturing principles to improve material flow and reduce waste.
• Analyze planning and production metrics such as on-time starts, integration throughput, and readiness rates to inform leadership.
• Drive continuous improvement in data visibility, forecasting accuracy, and collaboration between operations, programs, and engineering.

Qualifications

Required

• Proficiency with MRP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Odoo) and tools such as Jira, Confluence, and Smartsheet.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, or a related technical field.
• 8+ years of experience in planning, scheduling, or production control within high-mix or aerospace environments.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate production, test, and integration activities across multiple functional groups.
• Proven understanding of spacecraft manufacturing and integration processes.
• Strong data analysis skills. The ability to interpret and leverage data for decision-making.
• Excellent time management and prioritization in fast-paced, high-stakes environments.
• Effective communicator and collaborator across departments, from technicians to leadership.
• Ability to work onsite daily in a dynamic production environment supporting flight hardware.

Desired

• Experience with SQL, Python, or similar database technologies for advanced data analysis.
• Familiarity with ITAR compliance and Aerospace industry standards (e.g., AS9100).
• Prior experience in R&D environments supporting prototyping, engineering development, or testing.
• APICS/ASCM certification is a plus.

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.