Production Planner

ABOUT LUMILENS At Lumilens we are building the critical photonics infrastructure that powers tomorrow’s AI supercomputing. From chip-to-chip optical interconnects to scalable photonic engines, Lumilens is unlocking a new era of computing faster, cooler, and massively more efficient. We’re a well-funded startup backed by Mayfield and led by veterans who’ve built and scaled some of the most transformative technologies in the industry. This isn’t incremental innovation, it’s a ground-floor opportunity to rethink the optical layer from the silicon up. You’ll work alongside a team of world-class engineers solving some of the hardest challenges in optics, systems, and scale. Every decision you make will directly influence how we build, source, and deliver the infrastructure of tomorrow. If you're looking for mission, momentum, and the chance to make an outsized impact, jump on the rocket ship. We’re just getting started. POSITION OVERVIEW We are seeking a Production Planner to join our rapidly growing team. This role is critical in planning and scaling optical and silicon production to support our next-generation photonics products. You will be responsible for developing and controlling production schedules, managing material requirements, and ensuring a controlled flow of raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods across optical and silicon manufacturing operations. The ideal candidate will partner closely with manufacturing, engineering, quality, purchasing, and inventory control teams to align supply availability, capacity, and execution against production requirements. This is a highly visible role with direct impact on on-time delivery, inventory health, production continuity, and operational efficiency. What You'll Do - Plan, prepare, issue, and control production schedules and direct material requirements to ensure a controlled flow of raw materials and approved finished goods in support of optical and silicon production requirements - Develop and maintain production plans that balance customer demand, master production schedules, shop load, material availability, and manufacturing capacity across photonics, silicon, and optical assembly operations - Advise management on the status of work in progress, material availability, inventory levels, and potential production or material supply disruptions to support timely and cost-effective execution - Schedule equipment and personnel, confirm material supply and demand, and prepare work orders or purchase requests for components and parts required to support production builds - Coordinate interdepartmental activities with quality assurance, manufacturing, purchasing, engineering, inventory control, logistics, and demand planning to support both sustaining production and new product introduction (NPI), ensuring readiness for optical and silicon product launches - Partner with engineering and operations to transition new optical and silicon products from development into pilot and high-volume production, ensuring material readiness, schedule alignment, and cross-functional execution throughout the NPI lifecycle - Monitor the movement of parts and assemblies through move orders, stock transfers, and shipping requests to ensure timely completion of optical and silicon production schedules - Ensure supply availability for assigned products by analyzing inventory risk, backlog and back-order exposure, and developing recovery plans to protect customer commitments - Deliver and manage assigned projects, partnering with internal stakeholders to drive schedule attainment, inventory accuracy, and continuous improvement in production planning processes Key Qualifications - Bachelor’s degree required - Minimum of 4 years of supply chain, production planning, or materials planning experience, or an advanced degree with a minimum of 2 years of relevant experience - Experience planning production in a manufacturing environment with a strong understanding of material flow, inventory management, and schedule control - Ability to analyze work-in-progress, supply availability, backlog risk, and production constraints to support on-time delivery - Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across manufacturing, engineering, quality, and supply chain teams - Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced production environment Preferred Skills - Experience employing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in supply chain activities, including Material Requirements Planning (MRP) - Prior planning and supply chain management experience in optical, silicon, semiconductor, or advanced manufacturing environments, including support for new product introduction (NPI), pilot builds, and production ramp activities - Excellent mathematics, analytics, and statistical skills demonstrated through education or professional background - Project management experience; Master’s degree; APICS CPIM, Project Management Professional Certification, or Six Sigma/Lean/DMAIC expertise - Experience with Microsoft Office applications and familiarity working in an ISO 13485 and FDA regulated environment - Strong verbal and written communication skills with a proven ability to understand key concepts and communicate effectively with business stakeholders Why Join Us? - Competitive salary commensurate with experience - Comprehensive benefits package including health insurance - Professional development opportunities and certification support - Access to cutting-edge photonics and advanced manufacturing technologies Lumilens is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, gender, identity, orientation, veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.