Production Planning Lead

Hanwha Defence Australia

Join a growing defence manufacturer where your planning expertise directly shapes operational success.

Hanwha Defence Australia is seeking an experienced Production Planning Lead to play a critical role in delivering complex manufacturing programs within Australia's growing defence industry. This leadership position is responsible for driving production planning excellence, coordinating cross-functional teams, and ensuring production schedules are delivered safely, efficiently, and on time.

If you're a strategic planner who thrives in fast-paced manufacturing environments and enjoys solving complex operational challenges, we'd love to hear from you.

About the Role

As the Production Planning Lead, you will be responsible for developing, coordinating and optimising daily planning activities that support both short and medium-term production schedules. Acting as the key link between Supply Chain, Warehouse, Production, Engineering, Quality and Paint operations, you will ensure the business maintains a balanced and achievable production plan.

This role is critical in identifying risks, constraints and bottlenecks early, driving proactive solutions, and ensuring production objectives remain on track.

Key Responsibilities

- Lead and mentor a team of Production Planners and Material Planners.

- Coordinate planning priorities across Warehouse, Production, Quality, Manufacturing Engineering and Leadership teams.

- Develop and maintain production schedules aligned to contract milestones, material availability and manufacturing capacity.

- Facilitate daily, weekly and monthly planning forums to review performance, manage risks and resolve production constraints.

- Forecast labour and overtime requirements to support production targets.





- Manage the transition from Manufacturing Bills of Materials (BOMs) through to work order creation and maintenance.

- Ensure labour standards, routing information and cycle times are accurately maintained within ERP systems.

- Manage warehouse picking schedules to support production demand.

- Monitor and address material shortages, resource constraints and scheduling conflicts.

- Support operational reporting, performance analysis and continuous improvement initiatives.

About You

You are a highly organised and commercially minded planning professional with a strong understanding of manufacturing operations and supply chain planning. You have proven experience leading teams and influencing stakeholders to achieve shared production outcomes.

To be successful, you'll bring:

- Demonstrated experience in Production Planning within a manufacturing environment.

- Previous experience leading, coaching and developing planning teams.

- Strong understanding of BOM structures, work orders and manufacturing routings.

- Experience working with ERP and MRP systems.

- Knowledge of production line balancing and constraint management principles.

- Understanding of supply chain planning processes and lead-time management.

- Advanced Microsoft Excel and data analysis capabilities.

- Excellent communication, stakeholder management and problem-solving skills.





- Ability to work effectively across multiple functions and competing priorities.

- A proactive, adaptable and solutions-focused approach.

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

- Experience in multi-line assembly or complex manufacturing operations.

- Experience with BOM creation, maintenance and change control.

Desirable

- Engineering qualification.

- APICS certification.

- Experience with SAP Business One, SAP S/4HANA or similar ERP platforms.

- Experience within defence, heavy manufacturing, vehicle production or complex engineered products.

Why Join Hanwha Defence Australia?

This is an opportunity to join a rapidly growing organisation delivering world-class defence capability for Australia. You'll work alongside industry experts, contribute to nationally significant programs and play a key role in shaping manufacturing success within a highly complex and rewarding environment.

We offer:

- A collaborative and high-performing team culture.

- Opportunities for career development and leadership growth.

- Exposure to advanced manufacturing and defence technologies.

- The chance to contribute to projects of national importance.

- Competitive remuneration and employee benefits.

- 9 work day fortnight

Eligibility Requirements

Due to the nature of our work, applicants must:

- Be an Australian Citizen.

- Be eligible to obtain and maintain an Australian Government NV1 Security Clearance

- Successfully complete a National Police History Check.

Apply Now

If you're ready to take ownership of production planning performance and lead a team that delivers critical manufacturing outcomes, we'd love to hear from you.

Please email Lauren Spinelli if you have any questions about the role - ••••@hanwha-defence.com.au

📌 Production Planning Lead (Avalon Beach)
🏢 Hanwha Defence Australia
📍 Avalon Beach