Jobs › Charter Manufacturing

Senior Production Planner

Charter Manufacturing · Woodstock, IL · $82,000–$102,500 a year · Full time

Posted Sep 16, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a scheduling problem you solved that others thought couldn't be solved.

What they are checking: Depth of experience with complex scheduling and creative problem-solving under real constraints.

How do you work with logistics so that what you produce actually ships on time?

What they are checking: Seeing the schedule through to delivery instead of stopping at production completion.

Tell me about a continuous improvement initiative you led in planning. How did you measure it?

What they are checking: Leadership of improvement work, which the senior title and posting both expect.

What would you do

Sales calls with a rush order for a key customer that will bump three other orders. What do you do?

What they are checking: Making trade-offs visible to commercial and operations so the right people decide, rather than quietly reshuffling.

A furnace goes down for six hours. How do you rebuild the schedule and who do you tell?

What they are checking: Calm recovery planning and clear communication to logistics, sales and the floor after an unplanned outage.

How do you handle a production supervisor who keeps running orders out of sequence?

What they are checking: Addressing schedule discipline respectfully while understanding why the supervisor deviates.

About the work

Walk me through how you build a daily production schedule that balances customer demand, inventory and capacity.

What they are checking: Whether they have a repeatable method for the core of the job rather than reacting to whoever calls loudest.

In a continuous casting operation, changeovers between bar sizes and grades cost time. How do you sequence work to limit them?

What they are checking: Understanding of how sequencing drives efficiency in a continuous cast iron bar process like Woodstock's.

How do you decide how much finished inventory to hold for repeat customers?

What they are checking: Judgment on make-to-stock versus make-to-order and the cost of carrying iron bar inventory.

What ERP or planning systems have you used, and how much do you trust what they recommend?

What they are checking: Systems skill paired with healthy skepticism about bad data and default settings.

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The full job description

As published by Charter Manufacturing.

Charter Manufacturing is a fourth-generation family-owned business where our will to grow drives us to do it better. Join the team and become part of our family! Charter Aarrowcast and Charter Dura-Bar combined in 2021 to form Charter Casting - the world's largest producer of continuous cast-iron bar stock and a leading innovative cast metal solutions provider. • Charter Casting Shawano (formerly known as Aarrowcast) is North America's premier green sand foundry, offering an unmatched range of complex iron casting solutions to leading OEM and Tier 1 suppliers' customers. • Charter Casting Woodstock (formerly known as Dura-Bar) is the preferred choice over steel, castings and aluminum for many applications in various industries, providing solutions that improve performance and result in significant long-term cost savings for customers. The Senior Production Planner will play a key role in optimizing manufacturing operations by developing and executing daily production schedules that balance customer demand, inventory, and operational capacity. This role will partner closely with commercial, logistics, and operations teams to solve complex scheduling challenges, improve production efficiency, and lead initiatives that drive continuous improvement. What we're looking for: • Associate degree or equivalent work experience. • Seven plus years’ related Supply Chain or Operations experience. • Proven strong leadership skillset. • Shows desire for mentoring. • Able to train Production Planner I and II. • Proven analytical and problem-solving skills. • Excellent communication skills to relate to a variety of functional areas within the organization. • Excellent organizational skills balancing daily and weekly tasks with internal customers. • Strong interpersonal skills in collaboration and ability to accomplish goals within a team environment. • Capacity to understand and work with cross functional areas such as: Plant operations, Commercial, Logistics, Scheduling, and Accounting. • Demonstrated skills influencing and driving results without direct authority between internal customers. • Demonstrated experience working in a collaborative team environment. • Self-motivated with the ability to manage and prioritize multiple task/projects. • Proficient in use of MS Office Software . Preferred experience: • Bachelor’s degree in Business or Supply Chain Management. • APICS CPIM or CPSM certifications. • ERP System experience in planning/scheduling modules. • Six Sigma/Lean Training. • Experience in reporting writing. • Demonstrated negotiating skills. What you'll focus on: • Develop, execute, and monitor Production Schedules that align customer service and delivery requirements to while optimizing production efficiencies for assigned project/location. • Using CI mindset, supports team with improving processes and systems. • Produce, monitor, and communicate capacity reports that enable commercial and plant managers to plan and coordinate their areas accordingly. • Execute and monitor Production Schedules that align to optimal inventory levels for billet, coil, and cut-to-length requirements. • Work collectively with commercial and finance to monitor and disposition aged and out of spec inventory. • Proactively identifies and communicates supply related constraints and/or issues including potential plans for resolutions. • Coordinate daily communication with other schedulers and commercial on existing or potential delivery issues. • Cross train in other Production Planning functions as required. • Participate in cross functional teams to improve efficiencies and service to our customers. • Respond to off hour calls from operations leadership for schedule change requests and issue resolution. #LI-AF1 #LI-Onsite #CharterCasting The annual hiring range for this position is: $82,000-$102,500. The actual base pay offered to the successful candidate will depend on various factors, including but not limited to job-related skills, experience, and qualifications. Compensation decisions are tailored to the unique circumstances of each position and candidate. We offer comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits, along with a 401(k) plan that includes employer matching and profit sharing. Additionally, we offer company-paid life insurance, disability coverage, and paid time off (PTO).

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