Laborer Helper Jobs in Athens, TN (NOW HIRING)

Overview

We’re hiring a Production Planner to join our advanced manufacturing operation in the Chattanooga–Cleveland area.

We manufacture advanced products supporting aerospace, defense, space, additive manufacturing, and other highly controlled applications. This role sits at the center of production and is responsible for turning customer demand, material availability, equipment capacity, labor availability, and operational priorities into schedules the manufacturing team can actually execute.

You’ll own production planning across batch-oriented and job-shop operations, including raw-material preparation, processing, manufacturing, testing, packaging, warehousing, and shipping. You’ll also manage material requirements, inventory planning, ERP/MRP data, and day-to-day coordination with Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Engineering, Maintenance, Procurement, and Commercial teams.

This is not a desk-only planning position. You’ll regularly work directly with supervisors and production teams on the manufacturing floor to understand constraints, adjust priorities, and keep customer commitments on track.

We are actively scaling our U.S. manufacturing capabilities, giving this role the opportunity to help build the planning systems, inventory controls, and operating processes needed for higher-volume production.

What Makes This Opportunity Great

• Benefits That Count: 90% paid medical, 6% 401(k) match, four weeks PTO.
• Bonus & Stocks: Generous annual bonus and stock grants that significant boost total income
• Build the System: Help develop planning processes as U.S. production scales.
• Advanced Manufacturing: Support aerospace, defense, space, and additive manufacturing.
• Own the Flow: Direct schedules, materials, inventory, warehousing, and shipping priorities.
• Cross-Functional Impact: Work directly with Operations, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Commercial.

Compensation

• Base Salary: $80,000–$100,000 annually
• Annual Bonus: Bonus equal to 25% of base salary
• Target Cash Compensation: Approximately $100,000–$125,000 including bonus
• Stock Grants: 25% of base salary annually during your first four years

Responsibilities

• Production Scheduling: Build daily, weekly, and longer-range manufacturing schedules.
• Demand Planning: Translate customer orders and forecasts into executable production plans.
• Capacity Planning: Balance equipment, labor, materials, lead times, and delivery requirements.
• Schedule Recovery: Adjust plans around downtime, shortages, quality holds, and demand changes.
• Materials Planning: Maintain raw-material, consumable, packaging, and supply requirements.
• Purchasing Coordination: Support procurement of production materials and manufacturing supplies.
• Inventory Controls: Set reorder points, safety stock, lot sizes, and inventory targets.
• ERP/MRP Management: Maintain work orders, routings, lead times, BOMs, and planning data.
• Production Coordination: Align priorities with supervisors, Engineering, Quality, and Maintenance.
• Warehouse Planning: Direct priorities across receiving, warehousing, and material movement.
• Shipping Coordination: Ensure finished goods, documentation, and packaging meet delivery requirements.
• Material Traceability: Maintain lot control, identification, segregation, and manufacturing genealogy.
• Performance Reporting: Track schedule attainment, throughput, lead time, WIP, and delivery.
• Constraint Management: Identify bottlenecks, shortages, and capacity risks before production is affected.
• Continuous Improvement: Improve scheduling, material flow, inventory controls, and visual management.

Requirements

Qualifications

Required

• 3–5 years manufacturing planning or scheduling experience
• Experience managing production schedules and material availability
• Working knowledge of MRP and production planning
• Experience with manufacturing ERP/MRP systems
• Understanding of inventory and capacity planning
• Comfortable working regularly on the manufacturing floor

Preferred

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Business Administration, or a related field preferred
• Aerospace, defense, or space manufacturing experience
• Batch or job-shop production planning experience
• AS9100 or ISO 9001 experience
• Global Shop Solutions ERP experience
• Warehouse, shipping, or receiving coordination experience
• Lean manufacturing, 5S, or root-cause experience