Production Specialist

Role Overview the Production Specialist is responsible for managing the active decisions and communications that keep orders moving from placement through to fulfillment. This role serves as the primary point of contact for customers and vendors, owning the resolution of risks and exceptions that arise throughout the production cycle. Where the Production Support role maintains the data foundation, the Production Specialist interprets that information and acts on it making judgment calls, managing relationships, and ensuring the right people are informed at the right time.

Scope of Ownership This role owns the decision-making layer of the production process. The Production Specialist is accountable for customer and vendor communications, order-level risk management, and exception handling. They work in close partnership with Production Support, directing data and reporting tasks as needed, and collaborate with the Post-Production Coordinator to stay informed of in-transit risks that may affect customer commitments.

Responsibilities

Customer-Facing Communication

• Serve as the primary point of contact for customers on order status, availability, and delivery timelines
• Proactively communicate delays, risks, or changes to customers before they escalate, providing realistic and well-reasoned revised timelines
• Document all customer-facing communications related to order changes or exceptions for accountability and reference
• Partner with sales, planning and customer service to ensure alignment on customer commitments

Vendor & Supplier Coordination

• Follow up on outstanding confirmations, approvals, or deliverables from vendor partners to keep orders on track
• Escalate vendor performance issues or capacity concerns to leadership with supporting context and a recommended course of action

Risk & Exception Management

• Identify order-level risks early and assess their potential impact on customer commitments and inventory availability
• Make informed decisions on how to handle exceptions, delays, or discrepancies, escalating to leadership when the situation warrants it
• Maintain a clear record of exceptions and resolutions to support pattern recognition and process improvement over time
• Collaborate with the Post-Production Coordinator to factor in-transit risks into customer and order-level decisions

Team Collaboration

• Direct Production Support on data entry, reporting, and document management tasks, providing clear priorities and follow-up
• Ensure Production Support has the context needed to maintain accurate records that reflect current order and risk status
• Contribute to team process improvements by surfacing recurring issues and recommending solutions