Senior Planner
Location: White Bear Lake, MN (100% Onsite)
Compensation: $90,000–$110,000 base salary
Employment Type: Permanent
LHH is partnering with a family‑owned manufacturing company in White Bear Lake, MN that is experiencing significant growth and investing heavily in process improvement, systems, and scalability. This is a rare opportunity to step into a high‑impact planning role where you will build structure, influence operations, and directly shape how work flows through the shop.
This Role in a Nutshell
The Senior Planner will own the master production schedule and be the central point of coordination across engineering, purchasing, and the shop floor. This is a hands‑on, decision‑making role in a custom job shop (ETO environment), not a theoretical planning position.
Key responsibilities include:
- Own and maintain the master production schedule across the entire shop
- Sequence custom, engineered‑to‑order jobs through nine production departments
- Align engineering releases, material availability, and floor priorities
- Identify conflicts early and re‑sequence proactively before issues hit the floor
- Balance capacity, backlog, labor, and real‑time constraints
- Partner daily with the shop foreman, engineers, and purchasing team
- Establish and formalize planning structure where none previously existed
- Play a key role in ERP design, configuration, and rollout, with direct hands‑on involvement
What We’re Looking For
Experience & Technical Skills
- Proven experience in ETO / job shop manufacturing (no templates, no repetitive builds)
- Demonstrated success building or stabilizing a planning function from scratch
- Deep understanding of production sequencing and priority management
- Working knowledge of fabrication, machining, welding, and assembly—enough to push back and make informed decisions
- Comfortable owning decisions when priorities collide
Soft Skills & Mindset
- Thrives in environments with imperfect data and constant change
- Thinks in systems and scalability, not one‑off fixes
- Proactively spots risks and bottlenecks before they become production fires
- Strong collaborator who partners closely with engineering, purchasing, and operations
- Confident, practical, and hands‑on—not afraid to get into the details
- Experienced enough to lead—but with the energy and runway to grow with a fast‑scaling organization
Systems
- Strong interest in, or direct experience with, ERP implementations
- Excited to help shape how planning, scheduling, and data flow through a new system
Culture & Environment
- Proud, family‑owned business with a strong sense of ownership and core values
- Recently doubled in size and continuing to grow
- Actively investing in automation, systems, and process improvement
- Focused on making many small changes that compound over time
- A team‑oriented environment where leaders are visible and collaboration is expected
Why This Role Stands Out
- High visibility and high impact
- Real ownership—not just maintaining a schedule, but designing how planning works
- Direct influence on ERP strategy and operational scalability
- Long‑term opportunity with a growing, values‑driven manufacturing company
Benefit offerings include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, additional voluntary benefits, EAP program, commuter benefits and 401K plan. Available paid leave may include Paid Sick Leave, where required by law; any other paid leave required by Federal, State, or local law; and Holiday pay upon meeting eligibility criteria.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled
To read our Candidate Privacy Information Statement, which explains how we will use your information, please navigate to https://www.lhh.com/us/en/candidate-privacy
The Company will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with federal, state, and local laws and/or security clearance requirements, including, as applicable:
• The California Fair Chance Act
• Los Angeles City Fair Chance Ordinance
• Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers
• San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance