Strategic Materials & Planning Manager

Location: Marietta, OH
Job Type: Full-Time, Direct Hire
Salary: Starting at $95,000 annually, with higher compensation based on experience
Travel: Up to 20% for supplier visits, sourcing initiatives, and industry events

We are seeking an experienced Strategic Materials & Planning Manager to lead supply chain operations within a manufacturing environment supporting engineered-to-order and configure-to-order products. This position is responsible for material planning, procurement strategy, inventory performance, supplier management, and team leadership while ensuring uninterrupted support of production schedules and customer projects.

This role combines day-to-day operational oversight with long-term supply chain planning and requires close collaboration with project management, sales, engineering, production, quality, and executive leadership teams.

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Buyer Planners.
• Establish performance goals, conduct reviews, and support employee development.
• Balance workloads across team members based on project demands and business priorities.
• Promote effective ERP/MRP utilization and ensure planning activities are executed through established systems.
• Support cross-training, succession planning, and professional development initiatives.

• Align material plans with project schedules, customer commitments, and production requirements.
• Participate in project kickoff activities to identify long-lead components and supply risks.
• Monitor shortages and coordinate corrective actions to minimize project disruptions.
• Partner with project management teams to ensure material availability supports delivery commitments.
• Support quick-ship, configure-to-order, and engineered-to-order programs.

• Provide material availability and lead-time guidance during quoting and order planning activities.
• Participate in Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning (SIOP) discussions.
• Review sales forecasts, backlog trends, and anticipated demand to support inventory decisions.
• Assist with customer stocking agreements, blanket orders, and inventory programs.

• Develop sourcing strategies for critical and long-lead materials.
• Identify supply chain risks and implement mitigation plans, including dual sourcing, safety stock, and supplier partnerships.
• Support commodity strategy initiatives and supplier positioning efforts.
• Evaluate make-versus-buy opportunities and provide recommendations to leadership.
• Monitor market trends, pricing changes, tariffs, and supply constraints impacting operations.

• Manage inventory levels, working capital, inventory turns, and excess or obsolete inventory.
• Establish and maintain inventory policies including safety stock, reorder points, and cycle count programs.
• Lead annual physical inventory activities and inventory reconciliation efforts.
• Drive improvements in inventory accuracy and overall inventory performance.

• Monitor supplier performance related to delivery, quality, responsiveness, and lead times.
• Conduct supplier business reviews and manage performance improvement initiatives.
• Support supplier qualification, development, and corrective action processes.
• Participate in supplier negotiations and long-term agreement management.
• Partner with quality teams on SCAR activities and supplier improvement efforts.

• Maintain accurate item master, BOM, supplier, and planning data.
• Review MRP outputs and address planning exceptions.
• Support ERP system enhancements and reporting improvements.
• Promote data accuracy and system discipline throughout the supply chain organization.

• Develop and present supply chain performance reports and KPI dashboards.
• Analyze inventory, supplier, and material availability metrics.
• Lead continuous improvement projects focused on planning effectiveness, inventory optimization, warehouse efficiency, and supplier performance.
• Support Lean Manufacturing, 5S, and waste-reduction initiatives.

Success in this role will be measured through: