Prototype Development Planner, Company: Array Marketing. Location: Scarborough, ON. For over 40 years, Array Marketing has been a global leader in the retail display and in-store merchandising services industry. Global brands like Estée Lauder, Sephora, L'Oreal, and Samsung, to name a few, rely on our team of more than 2,000 employees around the world to create great retail experiences by bringing their visions to life. 

We are committed to building on more than four decades of strength, deep industry knowledge, and design innovation to accelerate our growth and serve our customers even better than before. As we continue to expand around the world, we are looking for critical thinkers who are data-driven, have a strong work ethic, and care about best practices and customer outcomes to help us carry out our vision. Join us to make a mark on our business and grow your career.

Who we need: Reporting to the Department Manager of Prototype Development, we are adding a Prototype Development Planner to the team. You will own the planning and scheduling of all activities within the Product Development Department, collaborating with management and all of the teams involved in production.

Who you are: You have strong project planning and project management capabilities, as well as exceptional communication skills. You have worked in skilled trades or a similar planning role in a manufacturing environment. You can leverage experience to develop strategic plans and manage projects during product development stages as you ensure projects are delivered on time and in full.

What’s in it for you? Growth. This is an exciting opportunity for someone looking to gain exposure and expand their experience. You will be a critical part of the design and production process as you oversee the planning, scheduling, and prioritizing of all product development on a daily basis. You will have the chance to learn and share knowledge, applying your insights to solve problems.

Exposure. We service the biggest brands globally. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who wants to work closely with commercial brands such as Sephora and Ulta. As we continue to grow the team, you will have the chance to specialize in your focus area further and hone your leadership skills. You will have ownership and autonomy as someone who wants to move into a lead, supervisor, or section manager position over time.

You will develop a schedule. You will work closely with the Manager of Prototype Development to develop automated and manual schedules and obtain approval and sign-off from the appropriate teams. You will plan a schedule in daily or weekly increments for all machine operators, CNC programmers, model makers, and sign-off coordinators. Based on insights into each operation and the need to meet due dates, you will establish a set sequence and appropriate lead time. You will provide a prototyping schedule to the team to initiate planning activities. You will adapt and reprioritize job assignments and the schedule based on shifting priorities.

Achieve labour needs. You will analyze estimated hours and departmental capacity at a dynamic level and perform mathematical calculations to achieve labour needs for the total business requirements based on the department manager’s direction, seeking approval from the department manager to add flex capacity using data models.

Collaborate across teams. You will meet with the tooling team to review priorities, the technicians to ensure production can move forward, the project management office to review jobs and negotiate the scope of work and timing, and engineering to review priority jobs that are shipping and to review any production planning issues. You will follow up on sample approvals and delivery deadlines.

Share knowledge. You will assist in daily and weekly status meetings with commercial teams and production project managers to ensure on-time completion of tools and prototypes. You will initiate action with the shop lead and department manager to mitigate issues related to quality and productivity that could affect the on-time delivery of a prototype.

Continuously improve. You will compare quotes and the actual time to completion. You will review KPI status with the team, track schedule attainment, and report on the root causes of any deviation, including recovery plans.

You have the experience. You have worked in a large-volume manufacturing environment in a Scheduling and Planning or Production Project Management role. You can read and interpret documents such as drawings, design briefs, and spreadsheets. You have direct experience scheduling jobs and resources and calculating the time needed based on an insightful needs analysis of the scope of work and workforce capacity. You are process-oriented, deadline-driven, and highly attentive to detail. 

The technical skills. You are proficient with the Microsoft Office Suite, with an emphasis on complex formulas and lookup functions in Excel. You can collect, enter, analyze, and report on large volumes of data using a common database software program. You are able to learn about new technologies, including business intelligence tools, SolidWorks, and proprietary software.

solution-oriented approach. You have the ability to manage competing deadlines, set and adapt timelines, solve practical problems and deal with complex variables in situations under pressure. You are a team player ready to jump in whenever and wherever needed.

interpersonal skills. You have professional communication skills, including the ability to compose correspondence, interact by telephone or in person, and write reports. You can build relationships, influence a team, work with senior management, and inspire collaboration.

What you can expect from the interview process:

A virtual interview with a Talent Advisor will discuss your interest in the role, the team’s culture and how you will make an impact as our new Prototype Development Planner.

An in-person interview with the Prototype Development Manager and General Manager of manufacturing, where you will have a chance to share your process and insights planning production design projects.

A final in-person interview with the Prototyping Manager, General Manager of Manufacturing, and HR Generalist to discuss a range of practical scenarios and how you would respond to them. It is a chance to ask questions about the team and the Company.

We are committed to providing accessible employment practices that are in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act ('AODA'). If you require accommodation.

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Email: careers@arraymarketing.com