Planning Manager IV

AFL manufactures industry-leading fiber optic cable, connectivity and accessories and provides engineering and installation services for some of the largest telecom customers in the world. Our company was founded in 1984 with a single fiber optic cable and today, we manufacture thousands of products, generate an excess of $4B in revenue, and employ approximately 12,000 associates worldwide. At AFL, we recognize that our employees are our greatest asset. We hire and train each individual, investing in them to ensure success in their careers. With a commitment to professional development and growth, let us connect you to your next career opportunity.

What We Offer

• Flexible time off policy
• 401K Company match (up to 4% - dollar for dollar)
• Professional development, training, and tuition reimbursement programs
• Excellent medical, dental, vision, and life insurance policy options
• Opportunities for career advancement with an industry leading company!

Job Summary

The Planning Systems Manager leads production planning system strategy and execution, IBP integration with production, and fiber utilization across the Cable manufacturing network. Turn demand into plans that account for capacity, materials and inventory. Improve service, planning accuracy, fiber yield and working capital.

Supervise a team of planning system analysts. Set priorities, coach the team, and oversee planning integration.

Production Planning System Reliability and Development

Direct work on production planning system reliability, scheduling accuracy, troubleshooting, and issue resolution

Ensure production planning models and data reflect manufacturing constraints and accurate items, bills of material, routes, orders, work in process, and inventory

Prioritize system enhancements and deployments

Coordinate IT/vendor support, alerts, and backups

Oversee requirements, model/data integrity, SQL/Oracle interfaces, testing, user acceptance and release readiness

Improve planning tools, reporting, controls and workflows using Lean/Six Sigma principles

Ensure training, documentation, and reports support reliable use

Optical Fiber Utilization and Inventory

Develop and maintain fiber consumption strategies that maximize conversion efficiency from raw material to finished goods

Analyze fiber yield performance, identifying loss drivers and implementing corrective action plans to improve conversion rates

Optimize the systematic utilization of short fiber lengths to minimize scrap and increase usable output

Define and track key performance metrics related to fiber utilization, scrap, and yield

Partner with Commercial teams to understand product mix impacts on fiber utilization and recommend alignment opportunities

Partner with Supply Chain to align purchasing and stocking strategies with optimized consumption plans

Collaborate with the Fiber Department to execute the fiber utilization strategy

Team Leadership and Planning Integration

Set objectives, manage workloads, assess performance and coach planning system analysts

Build cross-training, documentation and support coverage

Balance daily support and improvement projects

Manage planning assumptions, data ownership, and escalation paths with Manufacturing, Commercial, Supply Chain, Finance, and IT

Serve as the primary operations interface between IBP Supply Planning, ITP, and Cable production planning

Work with the production planning team to resolve scheduling conflicts within delegated authority

Escalate major service, capacity, inventory, or system risks with recommendations

Keep forecasts, schedules, and fiber plans aligned with business priorities

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Mathematics, Engineering or a related field.

7+ years in supply chain, operations, or analytics, with manufacturing planning and systems improvement experience. Demonstrated team leadership, coaching, cross-functional project management, and S&OP experience. Practical knowledge of demand/supply planning, forecasting, logistics, and advanced planning systems or comparable constraint-based planning.

Working knowledge of ERP systems, manufacturing data, inventory controls, MRP, replenishment, scheduling, traceability, and statistics. Excel skills, including pivot tables, and Power BI reporting/modeling skills.

Preferred experience with IBP/ITP processes

Working conditions

Primarily office-based, with production-floor interaction and cross-facility coordination. Follow site safety rules. Occasional off-hours or weekend support is required for planning and systems continuity. Management sets work arrangements and support coverage.