The Senior Materials Manager is responsible for overseeing the movement of raw and finished materials, storage, production scheduling, and inventory control activities. This role manages the materials function to meet inventory, safety, quality, delivery, cost, and environmental goals while ensuring production schedules are achieved. Additional responsibilities include staff management, continuous improvement implementation, and compliance with Lean manufacturing and 5S principles.
Position ResponsibilitiesMay include:
- Manage plant materials functions daily to achieve inventory, cost, safety, and production goals.
- Lead, coach, train, develop, and evaluate the Materials Management Team in all aspects of demand flow, including leadership, material planning, receiving, warehousing, scheduling, and employee development.
- Collaborate with production and cross-functional teams to determine supply needs.
- Maintain accurate inventories (location, quantity, and count) and ensure up-to-date records.
- Oversee product transitions, pilots, and engineering changes.
- Conduct and ensure accuracy of cycle counts and physical inventory counts.
- Monitor material flow from receipt through production and warehousing stages, identifying and resolving issues.
- Proactively address inventory, delivery, cost, and quality issues with solutions.
- Plan and develop budgets, including staffing, inventory plans, and operational costs.
- Build rapport and trust with area leaders, employees, and internal customers.
- Evaluate and implement materials handling equipment and procedures.
- Develop and implement policies, procedures, metrics, goals, and objectives aligned with company policies.
- Ensure ISO compliance and document audits and corrective actions.
- Lead and participate in projects to improve systems, processes, and productivity.
- Provide mentoring to materials managers and support staff.
- Align work with the Director's expectations, goals, and vision.
- Develop processes for implementing strategic plans and departmental priorities in dynamic environments.
- Manage multiple departments or areas.
- Lead and participate in additional projects to support ongoing business needs.
Knowledge & Skills- Advanced knowledge of supply chain, materials management, plant manufacturing processes, MRP systems, quality management, and production planning/scheduling.
- Strong leadership, employee development, and performance management skills.
- Proven ability to lead materials organizations to improve processes, systems, and performance.
- Proficiency in MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook), including creating spreadsheets, graphs, pivot tables, and presentations.
- Strong attention to detail and analytical skills to interpret data and provide sound recommendations.
- Effective organizational and time management skills.
- Advanced problem-solving, influencing, and objection-handling skills.
- Team player with a collaborative mindset to solve problems and drive improvements.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills, including business acumen and presentation skills.
- Advanced understanding of MAPICS or MRP systems.
- Ability to promote a safe and environmentally healthy workplace.
- Adaptability to flexible schedules in a fast-paced environment.
Experience- 12+ years of experience managing materials functions for a large, high-volume manufacturing plant.
- 10+ years in a leadership role managing direct reports.
- Extensive experience with continuous improvement methodologies (Kaizen, Lean, Six Sigma, Root Cause Analysis).
- Experience working with MAPICS or similar MRP systems.
Education- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration (BA), Mechanical Engineering (ME), or Industrial Engineering (IE) required.
- CPM or MAPICS certification preferred.
People ManagementReports ToPhysical Requirements / Working Environment- Must be able to perform essential responsibilities with or without reasonable accommodations.
- High-volume manufacturing environment with forklift traffic.
- May require hearing protection due to noise levels.
