Production Planner/Scheduler

Sacramento, CA
Manufacturing – Manufacturing /
Regular, Full-Time Employee /
On-site
More than one million people in the United States today are fighting blood cancer. While a traditional allogeneic stem cell transplant has been the best hope for many, the transplant itself can prove fatal or lead to serious conditions, such as graft vs. host disease. Orca Bio is a late-stage biotechnology company redefining the transplant process by developing next-generation cell therapies with the goal of providing significantly better survival rates with dramatically fewer risks. With our purified, high-precision investigational cell therapies we hope to not only replace patients' blood and immune systems with healthy ones, but also restore their lives.

The Production Planner/Scheduler is responsible for coordinating and scheduling production activities across two production sites producing clinical and commercial drug products.  This role involves analyzing production specifications, capacity and resources to develop production schedules that meet customer demands and optimize production efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

    • Assign customer orders to production slots on the manufacturing shop floor 
    • Assign and ensure availability of materials, equipment and labor to customer orders 
    • Utilize ERP / MES to generate manufacturing work orders  
    • Coordinate with various teams to ensure timely manufacturing job execution and troubleshoot issues or changes to jobs 
    • Coordinate schedule readiness and planning review meetings in review of manufacturing schedules, facility shutdowns, equipment maintenance needs and other impactful events 
    • Tracks delivery metrics to achieve targets and customer delivery metrics 
    • Performs capacity planning for manufacturing facilities and identifies risks, impacts and needs 
    • Supports, as needed, Logistics management for delivery of starting material from donors and drug product materials to customers  

Desired Qualifications

    • Ability to multitask and handle multiple responsibilities simultaneously; able to prioritize    
    • Demonstrates strong work ethic, curiosity to learn and contribute in a fast-paced collaborative environment  
    • Strong interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively 
    • Strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills to support making decisions affecting due dates, quality and cost  
    • Ability to gown and work in clean room areas from time to time 
    • Ability to work in a collaborative manner, independently and as part of a team 
    • Ability to work in a fast-paced start-up environment while following SOPs 
    • Highly tolerant and respectful of all team members 
    • A sense of humor is always appreciated 
    • Strong problem-solving skills with desire to improve upon established processes 
    • Ability to work for long periods of time at a computer 
    • Occasional need to ascend/descend stairs within the workspace; job requires sitting, standing/walking 

Education and Experience

    • Minimum of high school diploma or GED 
    • A.S. degree and prior work experience in healthcare. Bachelor’s degree preferred 
    • 3+ years of experience in planning and scheduling required, ideally in a manufacturing environment 
    • Prior experience with MES and ERP systems 
$65,000 - $90,000 a year
The anticipated annual salary range for this job is based on prior experience in the role/industry, education, location, internal equity, and other job-related factors as permitted by law. You will also be eligible to receive pre-IPO equity, in addition to medical, dental, and vision benefits, flexible PTO, 401(k) plan, life and accidental death and disability coverage, and parental leave benefits. Other perks include free daily lunches and snacks at our on-site locations.
Who we are 

We are driven by a passion for science and compassion for patients. We act with urgency to ensure our treatments are one day accessible to all who need them. 
 
We live by our core values of passion, courage, and integrity. Excellence in our work means the chance to unlock a better quality of life for our patients, and with that comes tremendous responsibility. 
 
We innovate on a path that hasn’t been paved. We embrace an entrepreneurial spirit and take calculated risks to achieve our mission. We aren’t afraid to ask “why not” and challenge the status quo. 
 
We maintain a start-up culture of camaraderie and leadership by example, regardless of title. 
 
We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and recognize that celebrating our differences creates stronger, lasting solutions that better serve our team, our patients and their healthcare providers. 
 
To learn more: https://orcabio.com/join-our-team/