Materials Excellence Specialist

Graco • Rogers, MN

2d • $87,000 - $152,200 • Hybrid

About The Position

Graco manufactures and markets premium equipment to move, measure, control, dispense and spray a wide variety of fluid and powder materials. What does that mean? Well, we pump peanut butter into your jar, and the oil in your car. We glue the soles of your shoes, the glass in your windows and the screen on your phone. We spray the finish on your vehicle, coatings on your pills, the paint on your house and texture on your walls. Graco is part of your daily life. The Senior Materials Excellence Specialist plays a key role in elevating Materials Excellence by analyzing planning performance, refining processes, and enabling effective use of planning systems and automation. The individual in this position supports end users through training, documentation and issue resolution while ensuring strong data integrity and standardization. It also partners with cross‑functional teams to identify and implement improvement opportunities to advance our Graco-wide global planning process. What You Will Do at Graco: Process Governance & Continuous Improvement Support the Materials Excellence Manager in governing our supply planning processes. Monitor performance, document issues, and maintain business‑focused process materials (SOPs, playbooks, workflows, etc.) Identify inefficiencies and issues, and recommend process improvements using analytics, metrics and system reporting. Assist in the implementation of system upgrades related to supply chain planning (configuration, testing, documentation, and rollout) Validate planning system data integrity and coordinate corrective actions when discrepancies are identified. End-User Support & Onboarding Serve as a point of contact for supply planning process questions and provide answers or direction to resolve. Assist supply chain users in understanding and following the standard planning execution process. Partner with technical resources to escalate issues when needed and track through to resolution. Assist with onboarding new planners, including system setup, process orientation and training. Develop and maintain user training materials and quick‑reference guides to improve planner proficiency. Gather user feedback and translate it into actionable updates to training content or process documentation. Materials Excellence Help supply chain users optimize planning processes by using existing automation and best-practice system functionality. Monitor and adjust supply chain‑related setups to support low inventory levels while maintaining high service levels. Collaborate with supply chain users to establish and maintain a unified global planning process. Analyze planning parameters and recommend updates that improve accuracy, stability, and responsiveness. Support continuous improvement initiatives by identifying opportunities to simplify workflows and reduce manual effort. Business Partnering & Stakeholder Collaboration Engage with planners, manufacturing managers, and engineers to gather feedback and identify improvement opportunities. Represent business needs in discussions with IT, ensuring accurate and efficient functional requirements are documented.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, business or related field
• 5+ years of experience in supply planning, materials management, or related discipline
• APICS/CPIM certification
• Demonstrated ability to lead and embed change across the organization and align stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain trusted relationships, exercising strong cross‑functional influence and partnership across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Proven resilience and leadership maturity, effectively navigating ambiguity and adversity with composure, sound judgment, and emotional intelligence.
• Effective communication, training and process documentation skills
• Proven analytical ability to identify process issues, interpret data, and propose business centric solutions.
• Ability to work with both technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
• Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.
• This role is not eligible for immigration sponsorship now or in the future (e.g., H-1B, TN, F-1 OPT).

Nice To Haves

• Global industrial manufacturing experience and knowledge
• MBA or Master's degree
• #LI-Hybrid

Responsibilities

• Process Governance & Continuous Improvement Support the Materials Excellence Manager in governing our supply planning processes.
• Monitor performance, document issues, and maintain business‑focused process materials (SOPs, playbooks, workflows, etc.)
• Identify inefficiencies and issues, and recommend process improvements using analytics, metrics and system reporting.
• Assist in the implementation of system upgrades related to supply chain planning (configuration, testing, documentation, and rollout)
• Validate planning system data integrity and coordinate corrective actions when discrepancies are identified.
• End-User Support & Onboarding Serve as a point of contact for supply planning process questions and provide answers or direction to resolve.
• Assist supply chain users in understanding and following the standard planning execution process.
• Partner with technical resources to escalate issues when needed and track through to resolution.
• Assist with onboarding new planners, including system setup, process orientation and training.
• Develop and maintain user training materials and quick‑reference guides to improve planner proficiency.
• Gather user feedback and translate it into actionable updates to training content or process documentation.
• Materials Excellence Help supply chain users optimize planning processes by using existing automation and best-practice system functionality.
• Monitor and adjust supply chain‑related setups to support low inventory levels while maintaining high service levels.
• Collaborate with supply chain users to establish and maintain a unified global planning process.
• Analyze planning parameters and recommend updates that improve accuracy, stability, and responsiveness.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives by identifying opportunities to simplify workflows and reduce manual effort.
• Business Partnering & Stakeholder Collaboration Engage with planners, manufacturing managers, and engineers to gather feedback and identify improvement opportunities.
• Represent business needs in discussions with IT, ensuring accurate and efficient functional requirements are documented.

Benefits

• Graco offers attractive compensation, benefits and career development opportunities.
• Graco’s comprehensive benefits include medical, dental, stock purchase plan, 401(k), tuition reimbursement and more.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level