Supply Chain Manager

Description

Position Overview

The Supply Chain Manager leads purchasing, material planning, inventory, and supplier management activities to ensure materials and components are available to support production schedules, customer commitments, and company growth. This role partners closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Production, Project Management, and Finance to maintain material flow, manage supply risk, improve supplier performance, and control cost within an engineered-to-order electrical distribution products manufacturing environment.

The Supply Chain Manager is expected to build scalable supply chain processes, develop strong supplier relationships, provide clear visibility to material risks, and lead the team with a strong focus on ownership, responsiveness, and continuous improvement.

Typical Scope

• Ownership of purchasing, procurement, material planning, inventory, and supplier performance
• High-mix, engineered-to-order electrical distribution products and project-based material requirements
• Management of critical and long-lead components, supplier capacity, cost, quality, and delivery risk
• Cross-functional coordination with Engineering and Operations to support production schedules and customer commitments
• Development of scalable supply chain processes, standard work, metrics, and team capability

Key Responsibilities

1. Purchasing & Procurement

• Lead purchasing and procurement activities for raw materials, electrical components, fabricated parts, and other production requirements.
• Negotiate supplier pricing, lead times, payment terms, minimum order quantities, and commercial agreements.
• Establish sourcing strategies for critical, high-cost, and long-lead components.
• Identify and qualify alternate sources to reduce supply risk and improve competitiveness.
• Ensure purchasing decisions balance quality, availability, lead time, cost, and customer requirements.

2. Material Planning & Production Support

• Ensure material availability aligns with production schedules, project priorities, and customer delivery commitments.
• Monitor shortages, open purchase orders, lead times, and changing requirements; drive timely resolution of constraints.
• Partner with Production, Project Management, and Engineering to prioritize material needs and communicate supply risks.
• Support planning for new product introductions, engineering changes, and project-specific material requirements.

3. Supplier Management & Performance

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with key suppliers and strategic partners.
• Establish and monitor supplier performance measures including on-time delivery, quality, cost, lead time, and responsiveness.
• Lead supplier performance reviews and corrective actions when expectations are not met.
• Partner with Quality and Engineering to resolve supplier quality, technical, and component-related issues.
• Assess supplier capacity, financial or operational risk, and continuity concerns and develop mitigation plans.

4. Inventory & Materials Management

• Establish appropriate inventory levels that support production while controlling working capital and excess inventory.
• Improve inventory accuracy, material visibility, replenishment practices, and ERP/MRP data integrity.
• Review excess, obsolete, slow-moving, and at-risk inventory and coordinate disposition or corrective actions.
• Support effective receiving, storage, material handling, and inventory control processes as applicable.

5. Cost, Process & Continuous Improvement

• Lead cost-reduction and value-engineering sourcing initiatives without compromising quality or delivery.
• Develop standard work, procedures, purchasing controls, and supply chain processes that support company growth.
• Establish and report supply chain KPIs including supplier on-time delivery, purchase price variance, inventory levels, shortages, lead times, and supplier quality.
• Use data and root-cause problem solving to improve supply chain performance and eliminate recurring issues.
• Support make-versus-buy decisions and other strategic sourcing evaluations.

6. Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Lead, coach, and develop purchasing and supply chain team members.
• Work closely with Engineering on component selection, substitutions, Bills of Material (BOMs), design changes, and sourcing alternatives.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, Finance, Sales, and Project Management to support business and customer objectives.
• Communicate material status, supply risks, cost impacts, and required actions clearly to leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Operations, Engineering, or a related field preferred.
• 5+ years of progressive supply chain, purchasing, procurement, materials, or sourcing experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Previous leadership or supervisory experience preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of purchasing, material planning, inventory management, ERP/MRP systems, and manufacturing operations.
• Demonstrated supplier negotiation, sourcing, and vendor-management experience.
• Ability to analyze Bills of Material (BOMs), lead times, inventory, demand, and production requirements.
• Strong analytical, communication, organizational, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage changing priorities and resolve material issues with a strong sense of urgency.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in an engineered-to-order, configure-to-order, or high-mix manufacturing environment.
• Experience sourcing electrical distribution components, switchgear or switchboard components, fabricated parts, or industrial electrical equipment.
• Experience supporting new product introductions, engineering changes, and supplier qualification activities.
• Experience developing supply chain KPIs, supplier scorecards, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Physical Requirements

• Frequently walk throughout manufacturing, warehouse, and material storage environments.
• Ability to work in an active manufacturing environment and wear required personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Occasionally lift up to 25 pounds.
• Occasional travel to suppliers or other company locations as required.

Role Distinction

The Supply Chain Manager owns the systems, supplier relationships, and day-to-day execution required to maintain material availability and supply continuity. Success in this role is demonstrated through reliable material flow, strong supplier performance, controlled inventory and cost, timely resolution of shortages, effective cross-functional partnership, and development of scalable supply chain processes and team capability.