Materials and Planning Manager

Job Summary

The Materials & Planning Manager is responsible for leading the organization's material planning, inventory management, production planning, scheduling, inbound logistics, and supply continuity activities across all manufacturing locations. This role ensures raw materials and purchased components are available to support production requirements while balancing inventory investment, customer delivery expectations, and operational efficiency.

The Materials & Planning Manager leads a team of planners responsible for translating customer demand into material procurement and production plans. The position serves as a critical link between Sales, Customer Service, Purchasing, Operations, Quality, and Suppliers to ensure material availability, production readiness, inventory optimization, and uninterrupted customer supply.

This role acts as the primary escalation point for material shortages, supplier delivery failures, inventory risks, and customer delivery concerns related to material availability.

Key Responsibilities

Departmental Leadership & Coordination

- Lead, coach and develop a team of Material & Production Planners responsible for material procurement, inventory management, and production job scheduling
- Direct and coordinate the activities of Buying, Scheduling, Inbound Logistics and Importation to positively affect operational efficiency and continuity
- Establish performance objectives, metrics, and accountability for planning activities
- Develop and maintain departmental policies, procedures, and standard work
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance material flow, inventory performance, delivery performance, and operational efficiency.
- Foster collaboration between Planning, Purchasing, Manufacturing, Quality, Customer Service, Logistics, and Sales.

Materials Management & Inventory Control

- Translate customer demand, forecast information, and production requirements into material plans that support customer delivery commitments
- Ensure timely execution of material replenishment activities based on customer demand and production forecasts
- Lead supply and inventory planning activities to ensure alignment between customer demand, supplier capacity, and manufacturing requirements
- Identify consolidation opportunities for mill master coils to minimize costs
- Determine optimal coil processing configuration to maximize yield and minimize scrap
- Serve as the primary escalation point for material shortages and supplier delivery issues
- Partner with Purchasing to resolve supply disruptions and improve supplier performance
- Develop and execute recovery plans for material shortages, supplier delivery failures, and other supply chain disruptions that threaten customer delivery performance
- Monitor supply and demand trends and proactively mitigate material shortages or excess inventory
- Lead initiatives to reduce aged, excess, slow-moving, and obsolete inventory
- Establish and maintain planning parameters such as safety stock levels, min/max levels, reorder points, standard job sizes, pull system replenishment settings, planning horizons, and material lead times

Production Planning & Scheduling

- Oversee the creation and release of production jobs with adequate lead time to meet customer demand to achieve on-time delivery requirements.
- Develop production plans that align with customer demand and material availability while partnering with Manufacturing to address labor, equipment capacity, and operational constraints
- Monitor schedule attainment and participate in determining root cause when production targets are missed
- Support new program launches and engineering changes with production and materials planning teams

ERP and Master Data Management

- Ensure planning-related master data remains accurate and current within the ERP system
- Maintain material lead times, planning parameters, replenishment methods, supplier assignments, and inventory policies
- Drive process discipline and data integrity across planning functions
- Monitor inventory accuracy and partner with Operations to improve inventory control processes

Customer Support & Escalation Management

- Support customer escalations related to material availability and supply continuity
- Communicate shortages, supply risks, recovery plans, and delivery impacts to internal stakeholders
- Partner with Customer Service, Sales, Purchasing, and Manufacturing to prioritize supply during constrained conditions
- Ensure material-related customer concerns are addressed with urgency and transparency

Logistics, Importation & Supply Chain Optimization

- Develop and execute inbound logistics strategies that improve material flow, transportation efficiency, and delivery reliability
- Coordinate domestic and international material movements
- Partner with suppliers, transportation providers, freight forwarders, and customs brokers to optimize inbound supply chains.
- Maintain a working knowledge of importation regulations, customs requirements, duties, tariffs, and Temporary Importation under Bond (TIB) activities
- Identify opportunities to consolidate mill orders, optimize coil utilization, improve material yield, and reduce total landed cost

Quality, Compliance & Continuous Improvement

- Participate in the corrective action process; ensure timely resolution of supplier and internal materials-related quality issues
- Lead continuous improvement initiatives related to planning processes, inventory control, material flow, and operational performance.
- Promote a data-driven approach to decision making and process improvement
- Represent the Materials & Planning function during customer, certification, and internal audits; ensure planning, inventory, supplier, and material management processes comply with quality system requirements and support timely closure of audit findings
- Ensure Materials & Planning Department operations comply with applicable regulations and company policies

Competencies:

ERP & Systems: Proficiency with MRP/ERP systems required; Plex experience strongly preferred. Comfortable pulling reports and using data to drive decisions.

Planning Acumen: Strong understanding of MPS, MRP, capacity planning, and inventory management principles in a high-mix manufacturing environment.

Leadership: Demonstrated ability to lead supervisors and individual contributors; develops people, sets clear expectations, and holds the team accountable.

Supplier Management: Experience managing supplier relationships, coordinating corrective actions, and driving supplier performance improvement.

Analytical Thinking: Data-driven approach to inventory optimization, cost reduction, and schedule attainment. Comfortable with Excel and ERP reporting.

Communication: Clear and credible communicator with Manufacturing, Sales, and Executive leadership. Effective in both escalation and routine status settings. Responds promptly to customer needs and solicits feedback to improve service.

Problem Solving: Gathers and analyzes information skillfully; approaches complex and emotionally charged situations with reason and professionalism.

Manufacturing Knowledge: Understanding of precision metal stamping, tooling, and production processes — or demonstrated ability to learn quickly in a technical environment.

Urgency & Execution: Bias for action; participates actively in corrective action and continuous improvement. Follows through on commitments and holds others to the same standard.

Qualifications:

- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations Management, Business, or related field; or 5–8 years of related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience
- 2+ years in a supervisory or team lead capacity, including experience managing supervisors preferred
- Experience with Plex ERP or comparable MRP/ERP system strongly preferred
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel; experience with reporting and data analysis tools
- Ability to read, analyze, and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals
- Ability to write routine reports and business correspondence; effectively present information and respond to questions from customers or employees in high-stakes situations
- Familiarity with IATF 16949 or similar quality management systems a plus