What does a Planning Manager do?

Planning managers perform various duties and responsibilities for an organization. These include planning and monitoring a project or department's budget, production schedule, and inventory, creating reports of new plans, programs, and regulations, and ensuring development proposals comply with requirements and regulations. Additionally, planning managers are expected to serve as an intermediary between developers, government entities, businesses, and communities. They also oversee site plans, rezoning, and special-use permits, set schedules for the project, and supervise other personnel such as developers and consultants.
Planning manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real planning manager resumes:
- Lead a team that contribute to Mexico achieving the #1 market position through the implementation of CPFR and sales support.
- Manage commodities teams in support of program execution.
- Lead initial rollout of JDA / manugistics concepts and forecasting operations.
- Manage and analyze monthly OTB opportunities base on receipt projections using JDA.
- Used people skills managing upward to build corporate consensus on ISO processes and controls.
- Develop an ABC class system, which lead to a $1,000,000 inventory reduction.
- Coordinate product development and plan cannibalization scenarios to optimize sales and IBT for portfolio.
- Develop and implement an MRP system for planning requirements resulting in enhance coordination of warehouse inventory and optimization of logistics operations.
- Train employees on current CMMS system
- Design internal SharePoint site and grant user access.
- Used Teradata SQL to access data in corporate data warehouse.
- Plan, purchase, schedule all orders and enter into MPS.
- Utilize rough cut capacity planning base on MPS to optimize departmental headcount.
- Provide training, coaching, and oversight for business relate topics and product development process.
- Manage inventory, manage WIP and finish goods inventories, and ensure the accuracy of information systems.
Planning manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Planning Managers are proficient in Project Management, Customer Service, and Strong Analytical. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Organizational skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Planning Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Project Management, 11%
Collaborated with customers, design, project management, documentation, product marketing during content negotiations.
- Customer Service, 8%
Facilitate communications with sales teams to understand customer requirements and make most cost effective decisions, while maintaining excellent customer service.
- Strong Analytical, 7%
Demonstrate strong analytical and written skills with the ability to communicate with internal and external customers.
- KPIs, 7%
Monitored performance at third-party manufacturing sites measuring on-time and accurate order fulfillment and ensuring that all critical KPIs are met.
- Demand Planning, 7%
Monitored inventory levels via demand planning forecasting to ensure optimum inventory levels for maximum cost control.
- Capacity Planning, 4%
Developed calculations and spreadsheets to do capacity planning and scheduling replacing the manual calculations done previously.
Common skills that a planning manager uses to do their job include "project management," "customer service," and "strong analytical." You can find details on the most important planning manager responsibilities below.
Creativity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a planning manager to have is creativity. Their role and responsibilities require that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." Planning managers often use creativity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "transitioned the company from a manual inventory and accounting system to an erp system. "
Organizational skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling planning manager duties is organizational skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." According to a planning manager resume, here's how planning managers can utilize organizational skills in their job responsibilities: "managed organizational relocations, staffing, resource, capacity planning. "
Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of planning managers is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday planning manager duties, as "managers must deal with a range of people in different roles, both inside and outside the organization." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "trained new employees in business practices, new business development, and interpersonal communication. "
Analytical skills. planning manager responsibilities often require "analytical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." This resume example shows what planning managers do with analytical skills on a typical day: "maintain accurate inventory planning and coverage data in the erp system for product or industry group assigned. "
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a planning manager to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what planning managers relies on this skill, since "managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process." How this skill relates to planning manager duties can be seen in an example from a planning manager resume snippet: "chaired a production planning committee that worked to increase output and enhance communication between all departments. "
The three companies that hire the most planning managers are:
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Planning manager vs. Manager, field marketing
A field marketing manager oversees a company's field marketing operations, aiming to improve brand awareness and reach sales goals. Their responsibilities primarily revolve around devising marketing strategies, participating in organizing campaigns and trade shows, setting objectives for the team, and monitoring the progress of marketing programs, ensuring they are functioning effectively and efficiently. There are also instances when the manager must address issues and concerns, performing corrective measures when necessary. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the team to reach company goals while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between planning managers and manager, field marketing. For instance, planning manager responsibilities require skills such as "customer service," "strong analytical," "kpis," and "demand planning." Whereas a manager, field marketing is skilled in "digital marketing," "integrated marketing," "salesforce," and "marketing campaigns." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Managers, field marketing tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $100,565. In contrast, planning managers make the biggest average salary, $107,807, in the technology industry.The education levels that managers, field marketing earn slightly differ from planning managers. In particular, managers, field marketing are 8.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a planning manager. Additionally, they're 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Planning manager vs. Supply chain director
A supply chain director is primarily in charge of the overall supply chain operations in a company. Their responsibilities revolve around devising strategies to improve processes, creating business plans and sales forecasts, delegating tasks, coordinating and selecting suppliers and vendors, creating new supply chain policies when necessary, and spearheading the inventory and delivery processes. There are also instances when a supply chain director must report to higher-ranking officials, produce progress reports, and craft presentations. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead the workforce while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that planning manager responsibilities requires skills like "project management," "customer service," "capacity planning," and "excellent interpersonal." But a supply chain director might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "supply chain," "chain operations," "chain management," and "business processes."
Supply chain directors earn a higher average salary than planning managers. But supply chain directors earn the highest pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $134,920. Additionally, planning managers earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $107,807 annually.In general, supply chain directors achieve similar levels of education than planning managers. They're 2.1% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Planning manager vs. Material manager
A material manager is responsible for monitoring inventories and stock supplies, ensuring the adequacy of materials needed for manufacturing or other operations, depending on the organization's industry. Material managers meet with suppliers and third-party vendors, negotiating contracts that would fit the budget goals of the company without compromising quality. They manage the distribution of resources throughout the organizations' department and provide purchase reports for the management. A material manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills to address the needs of an organization for smooth operations.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from planning manager resumes include skills like "project management," "strong analytical," "kpis," and "demand planning," whereas a material manager is more likely to list skills in "supply chain," "materials management," "shipping receiving," and "purchase orders. "
Material managers earn the best pay in the technology industry, where they command an average salary of $97,765. Planning managers earn the highest pay from the technology industry, with an average salary of $107,807.Most material managers achieve a lower degree level compared to planning managers. For example, they're 7.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Planning manager vs. Planning specialist
A planning specialist is responsible for monitoring the project management procedures of an organization's operations, ensuring that the team meets budget goals and deadline deliverables. Planning specialists coordinate with suppliers and other third-party vendors for materials needed in the operations, as well as inspecting the efficiency and performance of equipment to prevent delays. They also manage the team's adherence to production schedule, task delegations, and output deliveries. A planning specialist must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in writing progress reports and performing other related administrative duties.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between planning managers and planning specialists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a planning manager might have more use for skills like "kpis," "demand planning," "capacity planning," and "product development." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of planning specialists require skills like "data analysis," "dod," "management system," and "shared services. "
The automotive industry tends to pay the highest salaries for planning specialists, with average annual pay of $75,251. Comparatively, the highest planning manager annual salary comes from the technology industry.planning specialists reach similar levels of education compared to planning managers, in general. The difference is that they're 4.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of planning manager
Updated January 8, 2025