Junior Project Planner

• We are looking for a motivated Junior Project Engineer to join our Operations team as a Junior Project Planner on a 12-month experiential learning programme. The role offers practical exposure to production planning, project scheduling, capacity management and progress monitoring in a complex manufacturing environment.

Purpose of the role:

• The purpose of the role is to support the planning and coordination of production activities by bridging the gap between planning and execution. The successful candidate will help align customer requirements, delivery commitments, workshop capacity, materials and resources while coordinating with Operations, Engineering, Procurement, Stores, Quality, Maintenance, Projects and Logistics.

The job responsibilities:

• Production planning: Develop and maintain production plans based on customer requirements, delivery dates, available capacity and manufacturing lead times.
• Work scheduling: Schedule jobs across fabrication, machining, assembly, welding, testing and other workshop activities to optimise workflow and meet delivery commitments.
• Capacity planning: Monitor labour, machines, equipment and workshop capacity against workload, and identify overloads or under-utilisation.
• Material and spares availability: Confirm that materials, components, drawings and consumables are available before work is released, and highlight shortages that may affect delivery.
• SYSPRO job management: Release production orders to the workshop only when the required information, materials and resources are sufficiently available, and ensure completed jobs are closed off accurately.
• Production prioritisation: Establish daily and weekly priorities based on customer delivery dates, project requirements, bottlenecks, critical-path activities and business priorities.
• Progress monitoring: Track actual production progress against the schedule and identify delays, work-in-progress accumulation and potential delivery risks.
• Schedule recovery: Support recovery plans when production falls behind schedule, including resequencing work, overtime, additional resources or subcontracting where appropriate.
• WIP management: Monitor work-in-progress and help ensure jobs move efficiently through the manufacturing process without unnecessary waiting or excessive WIP.
• Cross-functional coordination: Work with Production, Engineering, Procurement, Stores, Quality, Maintenance, Projects and Logistics to remove constraints affecting production.
• Capacity and load reporting: Prepare reports on workshop loading, available capacity, utilisation, backlog, upcoming workload and potential constraints.
• Delivery performance: Monitor performance against required handover and customer delivery dates, and proactively escalate risks to management.
• ERP accuracy: Maintain accurate production orders, routings, hours, dates, priorities, work centres and completion information in the ERP system.
• Bottleneck management: Identify production bottlenecks and coordinate corrective actions to prevent constraints from affecting the overall schedule.
• Continuous improvement: Analyse planning and production performance and recommend improvements to lead times, scheduling, capacity utilisation and workflow.

Profile Required:

• Grade 12 (Matric)
• A completed Diploma or Degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline
• A recent graduate seeking 12 months of structured experiential learning in manufacturing project planning
• Strong analytical, planning, organisational and problem-solving ability
• Ability to communicate effectively and coordinate across multiple functions in a deadline-driven environment
• Please attach a CV, certified qualifications and academic transcript or statement of results
• Must be a South African citizen. 

Technical Skills and Knowledge:

• Power BI.
• Advanced Microsoft Project skills.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills.
• Project scheduling, production planning and capacity planning.
• Schedule forecasting and progress measurement.
• S-curve and histogram development.
• ERP/MRP system knowledge; SYSPRO exposure will be advantageous.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings and bills of materials.
• Understanding of manufacturing processes, workflows and project management principles. 

Deadline:7th November,2026