Job Overview:
This is a high-impact leadership opportunity at our Mocksville manufacturing plant, where the Materials Planning team plays a critical role in keeping production moving and customers supplied. Mocksville is entering an exciting period of growth, with new products and additional Gardner Denver product lines expected to transition into the facility. The Materials Planning Manager will have a visible and direct impact on production flow, inventory health, product-launch success, customer delivery, and the plant's ability to scale effectively.
As the Materials Planning Manager, you will lead and develop a team of buyer/planners supporting a diverse operation that includes pack assembly, rotary assembly, remanufacturing, and machine shop activity. The plant manages a broad supplier base and a complex mix of short lead-time, book-and-turn orders and long lead-time, engineer-to-order projects. This is not a desk-only leadership position. You will remain close to the operation, helping the team anticipate supply gaps and drive execution across promise-date accuracy, past-due purchase orders, expedites, de-expedites, cancellations, inventory turns, and over-entitlement reduction. You will also maintain a small hands-on purchasing portfolio supporting gears, pinions, and bull gears.
We are looking for a hands-on materials, purchasing, or planning leader who can see around corners, bring discipline to a complex ERP/MRP environment, and turn competing priorities into clear execution. The right leader will combine urgency and accountability with empathy-staying connected to the team, coaching both experienced and developing buyer/planners, identifying risks early, and helping employees navigate the daily pressures of manufacturing materials management. If you thrive in a fast-moving manufacturing environment and want your leadership to make a meaningful operational difference, this role offers the opportunity to strengthen planning discipline, improve inventory performance, support successful product launches, and ensure the right parts arrive at the right time.
ResponsibilitiesMaterials Planning and Supply Continuity:
- Lead site material planning activities to ensure the timely availability of materials required to support production operations.
- Own the stocking and replenishment strategy for all site raw materials.
- Lead the site inventory optimization strategy, balancing material availability, inventory investment, and operational requirements.
- Serve as the escalation point when Material Planners are unable to resolve supply, delivery, inventory, or supplier-related issues effectively.
Team Leadership and Development:
- Lead, coach, and develop the Materials Planning team, establishing clear expectations for performance, accountability, and execution.
- Ensure team members are properly trained and effectively utilizing ERP/MRP tools, planning processes, and Ingersoll Rand standard work.
- Support employee development through regular coaching, structured training, and individual development plans.
Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement:
- Champion Lean principles and continuous improvement across Materials Planning functions.
- Strengthen planning discipline, standard work, problem-solving, and root-cause corrective action practices.
- Drive improvements in material availability, inventory performance, planning accuracy, and overall team productivity.
Cross-Functional Leadership:
- Serve as the Materials Planning liaison across Production, Procurement, Supplier Quality, Quality Assurance, Engineering, Accounts Payable, Finance, and other functional groups.
- Coordinate resolution of issues involving supplier quality, goods received not invoiced, invoice discrepancies, engineering changes, new product development, and other material-related business needs.
- Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to identify supply risks, resolve constraints, and support production, product launches, and customer delivery requirements.
Team's Responsibilities -
- Material Planning and Inventory Management
- Maintain material plans within the planning time fence to ensure continuity of supply.
- Review open material requirements and proactively identify shortages, supply gaps, and inventory risks.
- Maintain optimal inventory levels and appropriate safety stock for assigned parts.
- Maintain accurate ABC classifications and other planning inputs required for the Plan for Every Part process.
- Communicate forecasts, demand requirements, and replenishment plans to suppliers.
- Maintain accurate item-master lead times based on supplier performance, process improvements, current constraints, product-family demand, and business priorities.
- Purchasing and Supplier Management
- Perform timely and cost-conscious procurement of production, inventory, and maintenance, repair, and operations materials.
- Review and analyze requisitions to confirm required quantities, specifications, delivery dates, and other purchasing requirements.
- Monitor supplier performance related to delivery, quality, responsiveness, and pricing.
- Expedite, de-expedite, or adjust purchase orders as needed to align material availability with production demand.
- Promptly communicate supplier delivery, quality, pricing, or capacity concerns and drive timely resolution.
- Escalate recurring or significant supplier-performance issues to Procurement and Materials Planning leadership.
- Shortage Management and Production Support
- Proactively identify and manage material shortages, including documenting root causes and supporting corrective actions.
- Coordinate with Production Planners when materials cannot be delivered as promised and develop alternative supply or scheduling solutions.
- Analyze material and capacity availability to support accurate customer promise dates for sales orders.
- Work with applicable functional groups to resolve complex delivery requirements, competing priorities, and material constraints.
- Quality, Invoice, and Transaction Resolution
- Partner with Quality Assurance and Supplier Quality to resolve supplier-related quality issues.
- Coordinate with suppliers and Accounting to resolve invoicing, receipt, pricing, and payment discrepancies.
- Ensure material-related transactional issues are addressed promptly to prevent supply disruption or inaccurate financial records.
- Productivity and Cost Improvement
- Identify and implement cost-reduction, inventory-improvement, and productivity initiatives aligned with corporate goals.
- Maintain an active pipeline of improvement projects and accurate financial records for productivity reporting and benefit tracking.
Requirements:- Bachelor's degree
- 5+ years of prior people management experience, ideally managing buyer/planner, purchasing, materials, planning, scheduling, or similar supply chain teams.
- 5+ years' experience working in a manufacturing environment, such as industrial, assembly, machining, purchased-parts-heavy, or engineer-to-order manufacturing.
- 4+ years of experience in materials planning, purchasing, buyer/planner functions, master scheduling, and/or supply planning, or related manufacturing supply chain execution.
- 3+ years of demonstrated experience using ERP/MRP systems to support materials planning activities such as managing promise dates, purchase orders, expedites, de-expedites, cancellations, inventory signals, and planning execution.
- 2+ years' experience in Excel skills to include utilizing formulas at an intermediate to advanced level
Core Competencies- Hands-On People Leadership: Ability to coach, support, and hold a buyer/planner team accountable through regular engagement, one-on-ones, clear communication, and a balanced leadership style.
- Materials Planning & Purchasing Execution: Strong understanding of purchasing, planning, promise dates, past-due POs, expedites, de-expedites, cancellations, supplier follow-up, and purchased-parts support in a manufacturing environment.
- ERP/MRP & Replenishment Systems: Ability to use ERP/MRP systems, Excel, and planning data to interpret demand signals, manage supply gaps, support pull or non-MRP replenishment where applicable, and make sound planning decisions.
- Manufacturing Operations & Complex Production Environments: Experience supporting manufacturing operations, ideally including assembly, machining, engineer-to-order, job shop, mixed-model, or long lead-time environments.
- Inventory, Lean & Visual Performance Management: Ability to drive inventory turns, reduce excess or over-entitlement, support lean planning practices, and use visual management tools or performance tracking systems to improve execution and accountability.
Preferences:- MBA and/orBachelor Concentration in Business or Supply Chain Management
- APICS or CPIM certification
- ERP Experience in Oracle R12
- Experience managing a large, diverse, or complex supplier/materials portfolio
- Experience in engineer-to-order, long lead-time, complex BOM, or mixed-model manufacturing environments
- Experience driving inventory turns, inventory reduction, excess inventory reduction, or over-entitlement improvement
Travel and Work Arrangements - This position is based onsite in Mocksville, NC
What We Offer At Ingersoll Rand, we embrace a culture of personal ownership - taking responsibility for our company, our communities, and our environment, as well as our individual health and well-being. Our comprehensive benefits package is designed to empower you with the tools and support necessary to take charge of your health, ensuring that together, we can continue to make life better. Our range of benefits includes health care options like medical and prescription plans, dental and vision coverage, as well as wellness programs. Additionally, we provide life insurance, a robust 401(k) plan, paid time off, and even an employee stock grant, among other offerings. These benefits are our commitment to you, so you can be your best at work and beyond.
