Job Description

Description

 Manage a team of planners to support a Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning (SIOP) process to ensure alignment between sales needs and product availability including a monthly executive team report for final decision-making and alignment. 

Requirements

Responsible for managing a broad, highly mixed, and technical category of parts, materials, and supplies while maintaining inventory at an appropriate level to achieve both on-time service and inventory targets.

· Maintain accurate inventory levels for all assigned parts and categories while driving towards optimal levels to meet the needs of the business.

· Create forward-looking purchase and inventory projections to support cash flow forecasts and working capital requirements.

· Communicate issues with material availability to the Sales, Customer Service, and Marketing teams along with issues achieving customer requested ship dates.

· Ensure efficient planning of new product promotions, new product introductions, and product discontinuations.

· Develop and maintains required planning, purchasing records, and performance reports including Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) and progress.

· Maintain current, accurate, open-order status of all purchases to ensure continuity of supply and communicates any supply problems which may pose a risk or impact on business operations.

· Monitor the health of inventory levels including creating forward looking visibility to potential material shortages to communicate proactively to Sales and Customer Service.

· Direct purchase order creation on a timely and economical basis with the best combination of price, quality, and delivery.

· Monitor status of open purchase orders to ensure on-time delivery of all materials, including timely resolution, communication, and mitigation of future potential issues.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

· Prior people management experience including priority setting, decisiveness, performance reviews, coaching, and development.  

· Ability to “Think like the customer and deliver” is required.

· Develop collaborative relationships with Sales, Customer Service, Product Management, Marketing, & Warehouse Management to improve service levels while lowering days-on-hand and meeting customer satisfaction. Being a great Team player is a must have.

· Ability to delve into ERP system functionality, test solutions in Sandbox, read support documentation to fully grasp the most optimal way to fine-tune the system to work for us in the most effective and efficient way possible.

· Ability to independently troubleshoot issues/concerns, generate solutions and recommend a course of action that solves the underlying issue/concern.

· Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.

· Ability to effectively and efficiently communicate and present to senior management through reports and presentations, simple and clear verbal, and written communication.

· Wholesale Distribution, Manufacturing and/or Commercial Products work experience highly preferred.

· Ability to multi-task and demonstrate a strong sense of urgency for critical items.

· Ability to plan effectively to meet required inventory targets.

· Ability to train others in the use of Inventory Optimization processes and tools.

· Ability to read, analyze and interpret documents such as general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations.

· Must be proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), especially Microsoft Excel.

· Must have a high level of independent judgment and analytical and leadership skills.

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree from four-year college or university      required.
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience supply chain functions      such as planning, scheduling, purchasing, demand planning, and data analysis.
• Experience with Oracle NetSuite is highly preferred.
• Must have demonstrated experience with MRP/ERP systems.
• Six Sigma or similar continuous improvement training highly preferred.
• APICS / ISM certification preferred (CPM, CPIM, CPP, CPSM). 

Requirements

Functional Requirements:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle or feel objects, tools or controls; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear.
• The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and color vision.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet.