Raw Materials Lead

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

Safety & Environmental

- Lead by example and reinforce all safety rules, regulations, procedures, and required training during the assigned shift.

- Promote 100% safety engagement, complete shift safety routines, and support proactive hazard identification.

- Correct unsafe conditions within the scope of the role and promptly escalate incidents or significant risks to the Raw Material Supervisor or appropriate plant leadership.

- Ensure environmental compliance and proper housekeeping of raw material receiving areas, silos, railcar areas, and storage locations during the shift.

- Understand and accumulate working knowledge of Raw Material Attendant job duties, required tasks, and overall scope of work to ensure business continuity and operational performance.

Raw Material Operations & Shift Leadership

- Work alongside employees while providing hands-on leadership for raw material receiving, unloading, storage, inventory control, and related shift activities.

- Assign daily shift responsibilities, coordinate immediate coverage needs, communicate priorities, and verify completion of assigned work.

- Provide real-time coaching, reinforce standard work, and identify training or performance concerns for escalation to the Plant Controller where necessary

- Serve as the primary raw material contact during the assigned shift and communicate material availability, delivery delays, equipment issues, and production risks to Operations, Planning team (WHQ based), Third-Party Carriers, Contractors and other stakeholders.

- Maintain accurate raw material inventories by ensuring assigned cycle counts and inventory checks are completed accurately and on time.

- Verify that materials delivered during the shift, including railcars, trucks and transloaded material, are received accurately and on time in SAP.

- Investigate shift-level inventory discrepancies, receiving errors, and transaction issues; resolve within established authority or escalate promptly.

- Coordinate railcar placement, unloading, documentation, release, and communication with raw material unloaders and other support functions.

- Maintain the railcar tracking log and promptly communicate conditions that may create detention or demurrage exposure.

- Monitor inbound deliveries and verify that all items delivered during the shift are received into SAP.

- Support timely correction of COGI errors and other transaction issues to help maintain accurate product cost allocation.

- Coordinate with Quality and Production when deliveries are damaged, nonconforming, delayed, SMOI or otherwise present a risk to production.

- Ensure damaged or rejected product is identified, contained, documented, and recorded according to established processes.

- Monitor raw material levels using a just-in-time approach and escalate shortages or abnormal usage that may affect production continuity.

- Support adequate Friday and weekend inventory levels and follow established raw material plans for extended downtime and start-up.

- Lead shift handoff communication, including inventory status, pending deliveries, equipment concerns, open actions, and production risks.

- Monitor shift performance, identify abnormalities, and support corrective and continuous-improvement actions.

- Assist with training and cross-training employees on standard work, SAP transactions, safety expectations, and raw material processes.

- Escalate attendance, discipline, staffing, and significant performance matters to the Plant Controller for resolution; this role does not independently own formal employment decisions.

- Support coverage for raw material operations and perform other duties as assigned by the Plant Controller or plant leadership.

Desired Skills & Abilities

- Hands-on leadership style with the ability to direct work while contributing to daily operations.

- Strong communication, coaching, organization, and problem-solving skills.

- High level of attention to detail and accountability for accurate, timely shift execution.

- Ability to prioritize changing demands and make sound decisions within established procedures.

- Ability to work effectively with employees, third-party vendors, carriers, suppliers, and cross-functional partners.

- Continuous-improvement mindset with a desire to learn, develop others, and reinforce consistent standards.

Qualifications:

- Demonstrated understanding of inventory controls, receiving processes, and basic SOX requirements.

- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and Word.

- Strong verbal and written communication skills.

- Knowledge of warehouse management systems; SAP proficiency is highly desirable.

- Demonstrated ability to lead work, coach peers, reinforce standards, and make sound shift-level decisions.

Required education:

Minimum: High school diploma or equivalent.

- Preferred: Associate degree or relevant coursework in Inventory Management, Logistics, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field.

Required experience:

- Minimum: Manufacturing, warehouse, logistics, supply chain, or inventory management experience.

- Preferred: 3+ years of warehouse rail operations, or general operations experience, including lead, trainer, coordinator, or other hands-on work-direction responsibility.