Senior Production Controller

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Senior Production Controller — Production Scheduling, Materials & Shipping

Job Title

Senior Production Controller

Department

Production

Reports To

Head of Production

Location

Ballinger, TX

Travel

Occasional (≤10%), including customer, subcontractor, and government-site visits

The Production Controller plans, schedules, and tracks production, materials, and shipping activity in support of a Department of Defense (DoD) industrial base manufacturing operation. This person will oversee daily production, activities, and quality assurance activities. Disposition will lead into and manage all performance cost and schedule metrics and work closely with the head of programs on all project scope and delivery.

This role serves as the operational hub that keeps the master production schedule, raw-material flow, work-in-process, and finished-goods movement aligned with contract delivery schedules, program milestones, and the strict federal regulatory controls that govern defense and energetic-materials manufacturing.

Working within ERP/MRP and Palantir Foundry-based planning systems, the Production Controller builds and maintains work orders, schedules, and reporting that give Program Management, Contracts, and Operations leadership real-time visibility into schedule adherence, material availability, and delivery status against government contracts. The position is heavily compliance-aware: all activities are performed in accordance with DFARS, ITAR/EAR, ATF, DOT, OSHA, and applicable customer and government contract requirements.

• Oversea daily production to ensure operations are fully staffed and manpower assigned.

• Develop, maintain, and execute the master production schedule (MPS) to meet contract delivery schedules, CLIN due dates, and program milestones.

• Run and analyze MRP outputs to convert demand, forecasts, and contract backlog into feasible, capacity-constrained production schedules.

• Release, sequence, and track shop orders/travelers through work centers, balancing line loading against capacity, tooling, and magazine/storage constraints.

• Monitor schedule adherence and work-order status; identify, quantify, and communicate the root cause of variances (material, labor, equipment, quality holds, GFP/GFM availability).

• Support what-if scenario planning for new task orders, rush requirements, engineering changes, and line changeovers.

• Expedite critical path items and coordinate recovery plans when schedules slip against contractual delivery dates.

• Track inbound raw materials, chemical precursors, packaging, components, and Government-Furnished Property/Material (GFP/GFM) against production requirements, flagging shortages, lead-time slips, and single-source risk.

• Maintain accurate inventory positions, reorder points, safety-stock levels, and material master data within the ERP/MRP environment.

• Reconcile physical inventory of controlled/regulated and government-furnished materials against system records; support cycle counts, DCMA reviews, and audits.

• Coordinate with Procurement on supplier performance (on-time delivery, quality holds, certificate-of-conformance/analysis receipt) and surface risks affecting the production schedule.

• Monitor outbound finished-goods shipments and inbound deliveries, ensuring movements align with the production schedule, contract delivery schedules, and CDRL due dates.

• Verify that shipments of regulated/hazardous and defense-related materials are documented, classified, marked, and routed in compliance with DOT 49 CFR (HMR), ITAR/EAR export-control requirements, and applicable carrier requirements.

• Coordinate with logistics providers, freight forwarders, and internal shipping/receiving on scheduling windows, transport mode selection, and required permits/approvals.

• Track shipment exceptions, delays, and holds; proactively communicate delivery status to Program Management, Contracts, and the customer/government representative.

• Serve as a production-status point of contact for Program Management, Contracts, and on-site government representatives, including DCMA/DCMA-equivalent personnel.

• Support contract data requirements (e.g., CDRLs) related to production status, schedule performance, and delivery forecasts.

• Track and reconcile Government-Furnished Property/Equipment (GFP/GFE) per contractual and DFARS property-management requirements.

• Participate in program reviews, production readiness reviews, and customer/government audits as the scheduling and production-status subject-matter representative.

• Build, maintain, and enhance dashboards, reports, and data pipelines in Palantir Foundry (and connected ERP/MRP systems) for schedule performance, material availability, and shipment/delivery metrics.

• Develop and maintain data models and transformation logic that integrate production, materials, and logistics data for leadership and program reporting.

• Translate operational and program questions into analytical solutions; deliver clear, decision-ready reporting to Operations and Program leadership.

• Identify process and data-quality improvement opportunities and support continuous-improvement initiatives across production control.

• Ensure production scheduling, materials, and shipping activities adhere to DFARS, ITAR/EAR, ATF (27 CFR Part 555), OSHA (29 CFR 1910.109), DOT, and applicable customer/contract requirements.

• Support traceability and lot-tracking from raw material through finished goods for audit, recall, and contract-compliance readiness.

• Support compliance with CMMC / NIST SP 800-171 requirements for handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) within production and scheduling systems.

• Partner with Contracts, Quality, EH&S, Export Compliance, and Shipping/Receiving to keep cross-functional data, schedules, and deliverables synchronized.

• Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Business Analytics, Information Systems, or a related field — or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

• 2–5 years of experience in production control, production scheduling, materials management, or operations analytics, preferably in a DoD/defense, aerospace, or other regulated manufacturing environment.

• Hands-on experience with ERP and/or MRP systems and the underlying planning logic (BOMs, work orders/travelers, MRP runs, inventory transactions).

• U.S. Person status (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual, as defined by ITAR) required for access to export-controlled technical data and programs.

• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD security clearance and to pass a background check/screening required for access to regulated and controlled materials (e.g., ATF “responsible person”/employee-possessor screening, as applicable).

• Strong data analysis skills, including the ability to work with large datasets, build reports/dashboards, and translate data into actionable, decision-ready insight.

• Proficiency with Excel and at least one analytics/BI or data platform; comfort working in modern data tooling.

• Demonstrated attention to detail and accuracy, particularly with controlled inventories, government-furnished property, and regulated documentation.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work cross-functionally with Program Management, Contracts, Quality, and government personnel.

• Active DoD security clearance.

• Direct experience with Palantir Foundry (pipelines, ontology, dashboards/Workshop, Contour, or similar) or comparable DoD-industrial-base ERP platforms (e.g., Deltek Costpoint, SAP, IFS).

• Experience in a regulated defense-manufacturing setting — explosives, energetic materials, munitions, aerospace/defense, or other hazmat-intensive industrial base environment.

• Working knowledge of DFARS/FAR contract clauses related to production, delivery, and property management; DOT hazardous-materials shipping regulations (49 CFR); ATF explosives regulations (27 CFR Part 555); and/or OSHA explosives standards.

• Familiarity with SQL, Python, or similar tools for data transformation and analysis.

• APICS/ASCM certification (CPIM or CSCP) or equivalent.

• Familiarity with CMMC / NIST SP 800-171 requirements for safeguarding CUI.

• Solid grasp of end-to-end production control and scheduling concepts (demand, MRP, capacity, inventory optimization, contract delivery schedules).

• Analytical and problem-solving mindset with the discipline to validate data and trace schedule variances to root cause.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities and competing program deadlines in a fast-paced, schedule-driven environment without sacrificing accuracy or compliance.

• Comfort operating within a high-control, security- and safety-first regulatory framework typical of the DoD industrial base.

• Collaborative, proactive communicator who can brief shop-floor personnel, program leadership, and government representatives alike.

• Work is performed primarily in an office setting within or adjacent to a manufacturing facility, with periodic time on the production floor and in shipping/receiving and storage areas.

• Must be able to comply with all site safety, security, and PPE requirements applicable to a defense/energetic-materials facility, including controlled- and restricted-area access procedures.

• May require occasional lifting (up to ~25 lbs), walking the facility, and extended periods at a computer.

• Adherence to all facility security protocols, including those governing access to export-controlled areas and information, is mandatory.