Senior Manager, Material Planning

Intuitive•San Francisco, CA

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Material Planning establishes policies and directs strategies and execution for planning tools, processes, and personnel responsible for raw-component planning. The role oversees component yield planning, lineside kanban sizing, MRP plan-load accuracy and integrity, ECO process guidance, component planning and excess-and-obsolete (E&O) mitigation for major product transitions, and chronic-shortage analysis. It collaborates with Planning, Procurement, Manufacturing, Service, Warehouse, and Inventory Control teams to streamline material planning and flow and advance operational excellence. The position is responsible for translating finished-good and subassembly demand changes to the component level; managing component-level yield planning and material loads; and developing component buffering, inventory strategies, and E&O analysis. It leads lineside kanban sizing and implementation, shortage recovery and material-flow improvements, factory transfers and raw-material allocation, and planning support for major product transitions. It also oversees alternate-parts planning and NPI material reviews, establishes key performance metrics, and facilitates improvements to planning tools and ERP/MRP functionality. The role includes approximately 20% travel to domestic and international operating sites.

Requirements

Detailed understanding of material planning, demand scheduling, and supply planning.
Strong knowledge of ERP systems and advanced planning systems.
Process-driven mindset, data and analytical capabilities, problem-solving skills, and ability to drive future system and process solutions.
Ability to resolve conflicts, build consensus, and gain stakeholder commitment.
Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional colleagues in matrixed and multinational environments and promote best practices for systems, tools, processes, and planning competencies.
Excellent verbal, written, presentation, and executive communication skills, with the ability to interact professionally with diverse internal customers.
Master’s or bachelor’s degree, or equivalent.
12+ years of experience in Production Planning, Demand/Supply Planning, Purchasing, or Inventory Management.
5+ years of experience directly managing high-performing teams.
Approximately 20% travel to domestic and international operating sites.

Nice To Haves

Multi-plant work experience.
Experience in medium-to-large medical-device manufacturing organizations and multinational, cross-matrixed management settings.
Master’s-level degree in engineering, supply chain/business management, or finance.
Significant experience with core business systems, including SAP, Agile, and advanced planning solutions.

Responsibilities

Establish policies and direct strategies, tools, processes, and personnel for raw-component planning.
Translate finished-good and subassembly demand changes to the component level and maintain component-level MRP integrity.
Manage component buffering, inventory strategies, E&O analysis, root-cause analysis, and component-level yield planning reviews.
Collaborate with Procurement on material loads using historical trends, forward planning, and scrap-reduction opportunities.
Lead lineside kanban sizing and closed-loop implementation with Manufacturing, Warehouse, and Inventory Control.
Identify chronic shortages with Production Planning and Manufacturing, and work with Procurement on critical priorities and recovery plans.
Improve material flow from warehouses to manufacturing lines; manage transfers between factories and allocation of raw materials across production lines, warehouses, and factory locations.
Coordinate major product transitions with Planning and Procurement to minimize raw-material E&O through communication, impact assessment, mitigation actions, and best practices.
Supervise alternate-parts planning to ensure raw-component data integrity.
Drive periodic review and cleanup of NPI planning material at NPI locations.
Establish key performance metrics and facilitate planning-tool and ERP/MRP system-functionality enhancements for scalable raw-material planning and MRP integrity.
Lead operational-excellence projects and initiatives that drive business outcomes.
Manage and develop high-performing teams.