MRO Inventory Manager

USA Rare Earth•Stillwater, OK

About The Position

The MRO Inventory Manager is the strategic owner of maintenance inventory, materials planning, CMMS/EAM data management, and maintenance support processes. The role ensures critical spare parts, consumables, tools, and other resources are available to support equipment reliability, planned maintenance, and operational uptime. It combines inventory management, procurement coordination, maintenance planning support, vendor management, cost analysis, and systems administration, partnering with Maintenance, Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Finance to improve maintenance effectiveness while controlling inventory investment and spending. As the site subject matter expert for maintenance materials management, the MRO Inventory Manager contributes to asset reliability and continuous improvement initiatives. The successful candidate will be an influential member of the Maintenance and Reliability team and champion the company’s stated values. This role offers an opportunity to build the spare-parts and materials foundation for rare earth magnet production and a vertically integrated ex-China rare earth supply chain. The work environment includes a typical office environment, manufacturing floor, and construction site. The role involves normal office, manufacturing, and construction noise. Physical demands include extended periods sitting at a computer, walking through storage, receiving, and manufacturing areas, moving parts and materials (using assistance or equipment for heavier items), and wearing required PPE on the manufacturing floor. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, Maintenance Technology, Engineering Technology, or a related field; equivalent experience is considered.
At least 5 years of experience in maintenance inventory, supply chain, planning, manufacturing, maintenance operations, or a related discipline.
Experience with a CMMS/EAM system, such as SAP PM, Maximo, Maintenance Connection, Limble, or Fiix.
Strong inventory management and procurement experience.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including advanced Microsoft Excel capabilities.
Knowledge of MRO inventory management, maintenance planning, spare-parts management, procurement processes, and manufacturing maintenance operations.
Ability to optimize inventory levels while maintaining parts availability and supporting equipment reliability.
Ability to maintain accurate inventory, purchasing, and asset data.
Ability to build working relationships across Maintenance, Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Finance.
Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
Ability to sit for extended periods, walk through storage, receiving, and manufacturing areas, and move parts, kits, and materials as needed; assistance or equipment may be used for heavier items.
Ability to wear required personal protective equipment when working on the manufacturing floor.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting manufacturing, heavy industrial, metals, mining, chemical, or process operations.
APICS/ASCM, CPM, CPIM, CPSM, or reliability-focused certification.
Experience supporting maintenance planning and scheduling.
Lean or continuous-improvement experience.

Responsibilities

Own the site-wide MRO inventory program, including inventory controls, reorder strategies, and cycle-count programs.
Analyze inventory usage trends, recommend stocking levels for critical spares, and reduce discrepancies, stockouts, and obsolete inventory.
Maintain equipment bills of materials and critical-spares lists; partner with Reliability, Engineering, and Maintenance to identify critical spares and optimization opportunities.
Maintain strong 5S and visual-management standards in spare-parts storage areas.
Identify material requirements for planned work and coordinate readiness for preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance.
Develop and maintain kits for scheduled maintenance work; align labor and materials with supervisors and planners before work begins; participate in weekly planning and scheduling meetings.
Support shutdowns, outages, and capital projects through materials planning and coordination.
Administer site CMMS/EAM maintenance-inventory and materials functions; maintain and audit spare-parts master data, including descriptions, vendor information, costs, inventory levels, and equipment associations.
Develop reports and dashboards for maintenance performance and inventory management, and train maintenance personnel on inventory and materials transactions.
Manage procurement of maintenance-related materials and services; develop supplier relationships, evaluate supplier performance, obtain quotations, and identify cost-saving opportunities.
Support contract negotiations and supply agreements; escalate supply risks and develop contingency plans for critical equipment components.
Monitor inventory investment and working-capital utilization, report materials spending monthly, identify inventory and spending optimization opportunities, and support budgeting and forecasting.
Develop business cases for strategic inventory investments and reliability initiatives.
Analyze failure trends and spare-parts consumption, and participate in root-cause analysis.
Support preventive-maintenance optimization and lead continuous-improvement projects involving inventory accuracy, procurement efficiency, and maintenance execution.
Develop materials-management standard work and procedures, and promote compliance with maintenance processes and best practices.
Serve as the primary liaison among Maintenance, Operations, Engineering, Purchasing, and Finance on maintenance materials and inventory.
Recommend repair-versus-replace decisions; support equipment installations, commissioning, and capital projects; assist leadership with long-term materials strategies.
Use data-driven recommendations and analysis to influence site-wide improvements.
Model company values, maintain safe and organized storage and materials handling, report inventory and spending results transparently, and train colleagues in effective system use.