Materials Manager

Description

The Materials Manager is responsible for overseeing all materials management functions-including purchasing support, inventory control, warehouse operations, production staging, and material flow-while building and standardizing the processes necessary to enable accuracy, efficiency, and scalability. This role is accountable for developing the systems, procedures, and controls that ensure material availability, inventory integrity, and alignment with production schedules.

Key Responsibilities

1. Process Design & Continuous Improvement

• Develop, implement, and maintain standardized processes for inventory management, receiving, warehousing, and shop floor material flow.
• Build SOPs, work instructions, and visual management systems to ensure consistency across shifts and teams.
• Lead root-cause investigations for material errors, shortages, and inventory discrepancies; implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Establish KPIs, dashboards, and reporting cadence to measure and improve material control performance.

2. Inventory Management & Accuracy

• Own cycle counting programs and physical inventory events; establish governance to ensure accuracy targets.
• Define inventory control processes for receiving, putaway, picking, and shipping to minimize variances and transaction errors.
• Reduce excess, obsolete, and non-moving inventory through structured review and disposition processes.
• Implement and maintain material traceability standards compliant with quality and regulatory requirements.

3. Material Flow & Planning Support

• Design and optimize material flow from dock to stock, stock to floor, and floor to finished goods.
• Partner with planning, scheduling, and production to ensure material availability and alignment with demand signals (MRP, DDMRP, pull systems, etc.).

4. Warehouse & Receiving Operations Leadership

• Manage daily operations for receiving, warehousing, inventory control, and material handling teams.
• Create labor plans, training programs, standard work, and cross-functional workflows to support efficient operations.
• Ensure warehouse layout, storage systems, and material handling equipment support safety, throughput, and process flow goals.
• Maintain compliance with safety, ISO, or other regulatory requirements.

5. Systems, ERP, and Data Integrity

• Drive process discipline in ERP usage (NetSuite) and identify opportunities for automation or system improvements.
• Build controls around inventory transactions, including issues, receipts, transfers, moves, and adjustments.

6. Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing materials team, fostering accountability and continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with Planning, Procurement, Production, Engineering, and Quality to resolve material issues and strengthen end-to-end processes.
• Act as the subject matter expert for material control in audits, reviews, and cross-functional projects.

Qualifications

• Bachelors Degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 5-10+ years of experience in materials management, inventory control, or supply chain within manufacturing or distribution.
• Strong experience building or improving processes, SOPs, and inventory control systems.
• Knowledge of ERP systems and material flows; experience with MRP, DDMRP, or lean-based pull systems preferred.
• Demonstrated leadership ability with experience developing teams and driving disciplined execution.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and change management skills.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Systems-thinker with the ability to design and implement robust processes.
• Hands-on leader who can operate on the floor and at a strategic level.
• Data-driven, detail-oriented, and committed to accuracy.
• Comfortable in ambiguous, fast-moving environments-able to build structure from scratch.

We offer a competitive base salary in the $100,000 to $120,000 range, based on experience and qualifications, along with annual bonus and profit-sharing opportunities tied to performance.

Beyond pay, our market-leading benefits are designed to support your wellbeing. These include medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, as well as short- and long-term disability coverage. We also provide a health savings account with company match, a retirement plan with employer contributions through Vanguard, and access to the Granite Assistance Fund for support when it's needed most. We value time for rest and personal growth, offering generous paid time off, including volunteer time off and paid holidays.