Production Controller

Ursa Major was founded to revolutionize how America and its allies access and apply high-performance propulsion, from hypersonics to solid rocket motors, satellite maneuvering and launch. We design and deliver propulsion and defense systems that solve the most urgent and critical national security demands.

As Ursa Major scales its propulsion and defense systems portfolio, the load through the work centers accelerates quickly and can become a bottle neck if it is not managed and planned appropriately. To keep hardware moving in cadence with our sales and forecast demand we must be able to plan today’s workload but also understand the needs and constraints for upcoming work. The Production Controller will level the work load with a set plan and schedule in place to ensure hardware flows in accordance of production needs and resource constraints.

Reporting to the Manager, Material Control, this individual owns the scheduling and forecasted planning for a given work center(s).

Role Overview

We are looking for a Production Controller to be the executional extension of our Planning team in a designated work center. This individual contributor role owns near-term scheduling, sequencing, and execution tracking and provides accurate inputs into our 0–12 month roughcut capacity planning (RCCP) and SIOP processes.

You will sit at the center of the given Work Center, Planning, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain/Material Control, and Program teams to ensure the right work runs on the right equipment at the right time, with clear visibility into constraints, risks, and supply chain health.

Key Responsibilities

Planning & Execution (Near-Term Ownership)

Ownership: Work Center scheduling, sequencing, and execution tracking.

• Collaborate with Manufacturing Engineers (MEs) to ensure routed times and steps are accurate and reflect real execution; flag and help correct discrepancies.
• Lead the work center portion of daily & weekly meetings: present schedule, hot jobs, constraints, and risks; capture required decisions and tradeoffs.
• Communicate with stakeholders when schedules shift, including impacts to critical milestones or deliveries.
• Identify and communicate capacity restraints and bottlenecks (machines, labor, tooling, material) and help Planning and Operations evaluate priority solutions (resequencing, overtime, temporary outsourcing, etc.).
• Field change requests (priority swaps, urgent jobs, routing or design changes), assess schedule impact, propose options, and implement agreed changes both electronically in ERP and physically in queues and workboards.
• Track Manufacturing Orders (MOs) transactionally and physically to ensure Odoo status and actual WIP match; reconcile discrepancies across systems, boards, and the floor.
• Work with Material Control to resolve raw material and component issues (shortages, late receipts, substitutions, kitting gaps).
• Ensure physical and digital MO queues match; keep the Wait/Work board, Odoo, and floor reality aligned.
• Proactively chase down raw material or parts (including travelers/routers) needed to keep priority jobs moving.
• Track parts through rework (RW) and ensure rework is visible, scheduled, and properly loaded (not hidden WIP).

Capacity & Planning Interface (RCCP Support)

• Support Planning in maintaining a rolling 0–12month profile of internal demand through work centers, used for planning production capacity, supply requirements, constraints, and rate ramps.
• Help maintain both:
  • A 0–3 month rolling view aligned with near-term execution.
  • A 6–12 month rolling view informed by realistic cycle times, rework/scrap trends, and observed bottlenecks.
• Update and utilize key capacity tools for:
  • Near-term daily capacity and load.
  • Midterm capacity views.
• Help distill the Master Production Schedule (MPS) into a weekly and daily Production Plan for work centers within the executional horizon.
• Ensure daily MOs are staged and completed on time, including verifying that materials, routers, tooling, and documentation are ready before release.
• Contribute to reporting on demand health, forecast accuracy, and key risks for machining to provide context for leadership decisions on staffing, equipment, and schedule commitments.

SIOP & Planning Participation – Metrics, KPIs, and Reporting

• Participate in SIOP and Planning team routines (e.g., recurring reviews, prep sessions) as the work center execution representative.
• Help define, build, and maintain metrics/KPIs and reporting related to machining and normal supply chain health. including:
  • MO status tracking (open, released, in process, on hold, complete).
  • Forecast accuracy vs. actuals for work center load.
  • Schedule adherence and on time start/completion for MOs.
  • Throughput, rework, scrap, and other machining performance indicators.
• Provide clear, data backed updates on machining status and risks into the SIOP process to support decisions on prioritization, capacity, and material planning.
• Work with Planning and Supply Chain to continuously improve how machining data is captured, structured, and reported so that it better supports SIOP and leadership decision making.

Minimum Qualifications

• Experience in production control, planning, scheduling, or dispatching in a manufacturing environment.
• Familiarity with supply chain and materials management best practices (material availability, kitting, lead times, inventory basics).
• Experience with ERP/MRP systems (Odoo is a plus) and comfort managing Manufacturing Orders and status tracking.
• Proficiency with spreadsheets (Excel or Google Sheets) for capacity, scheduling, and simple reporting.
• Comfort working with basic metrics/KPIs and reports (e.g., MO status dashboards, simple forecast vs. actual views) and partnering with Planning/SIOP teams to interpret and act on the data.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail; able to keep boards, systems, and physical reality aligned.
• Clear, direct communication skills and the ability to coordinate with multiple teams in a fast paced, hardware centric environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certifications or training in production planning, supply chain, or operations (e.g., APICS/ASCM CPIM, CSCP, or similar).
• 2+ years of experience in machining production control, shop scheduling, or related roles.
• Experience contributing to capacity planning (RCCP, finite scheduling, or similar frameworks).
• Aerospace or defense manufacturing experience is helpful but not required; candidates from other manufacturing industries are encouraged to apply.

Colorado law requires us to tell you the base compensation range of this role, which is $62,000 - $77,000, determined by your education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities. What we *can’t *quantify for you are the exciting challenges, supportive team, and amazing culture we enjoy.

Classification: Full-time Exempt