Sr. Materials Manager

Electron Energy Corp•Lancaster Township, PA

About The Position

The Senior Materials Manager is the strategic leader of the end-to-end materials organization, accountable for master scheduling, production planning, procurement, inventory management, material control, warehousing, and supply planning. The role integrates customer demand, sales forecasts, manufacturing capacity, supplier performance, inventory strategy, and operational execution into a cohesive plan that supports customer commitments, financial objectives, and business growth. As the business Master Scheduler, the Senior Materials Manager owns and governs the Master Production Schedule (MPS), aligning demand with capacity, materials, labor, equipment, and customer priorities. The role is a key operational leader in the Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning (SIOP) process, translating forecasts into executable production and procurement plans while balancing service, inventory, working capital, and operational performance. The Senior Materials Manager leads multiple functional disciplines, develops organizational capability, and drives ERP/MRP excellence. The role partners with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Finance, Sales, and Continuous Improvement to support profitable growth, operational excellence, and business transformation initiatives.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Business, Engineering, or a related discipline.
Typically 8+ years of progressive leadership experience in materials management, supply chain, planning, procurement, scheduling, inventory management, and manufacturing operations.
Demonstrated experience leading an integrated materials organization in a manufacturing environment.
Demonstrated ownership of Master Production Scheduling and MRP-driven planning processes.
Experience leading cross-functional teams and driving organizational performance improvements.
Strong knowledge of MPS, MRP, ERP systems, inventory management, procurement, supply planning, warehousing, and capacity planning.
Strong analytical, financial, problem-solving, leadership, and communication skills.
Proven ability to influence decision-making across multiple organizational levels.
Experience presenting operational strategies and business recommendations to senior leadership.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain, Operations Management, Engineering, or a related field.
APICS/ASCM certification such as CPIM, CSCP, or CLTD.
Experience with Epicor ERP or similar manufacturing ERP systems.
Experience in low-volume, high-mix manufacturing environments.
Experience supporting significant business growth, operational transformation, or ERP implementation initiatives.
Experience managing complex manufacturing constraints and extended production lead times.
Lean Manufacturing and Continuous Improvement experience.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the materials management strategy to support business growth, customer satisfaction, inventory optimization, and operational excellence.
Lead the end-to-end materials organization, aligning planning, procurement, inventory, warehousing, and production scheduling activities.
Establish annual objectives, key performance indicators, and improvement roadmaps for the materials function.
Improve customer delivery performance, inventory turns, schedule attainment, supplier performance, material availability, and working capital.
Evaluate supply chain risks and develop business-continuity mitigation strategies.
Provide data-driven recommendations on inventory strategy, supplier capacity, outsourcing, make-versus-buy decisions, and operational investments.
Partner with executive leadership on strategic planning, growth initiatives, operational transformations, and capital planning.
Own and govern the integrated Master Production Schedule (MPS) as the business Master Scheduler.
Translate customer orders, forecasts, backlog, intercompany demand, inventory requirements, and business priorities into executable production plans.
Establish and manage scheduling horizons, planning time fences, and governance processes.
Ensure the production schedule reflects manufacturing capacity, labor availability, equipment constraints, material availability, and operational priorities.
Lead schedule review meetings and communicate risks, priorities, constraints, and recovery plans across the organization.
Measure and improve schedule stability, adherence, and execution performance; serve as the final escalation point for priority conflicts and scheduling decisions.
Lead the planning organization in converting approved schedules into executable production requirements.
Align customer demand, material availability, production capacity, and manufacturing constraints; maintain capacity models with Operations and Industrial Engineering.
Identify future capacity constraints and develop mitigation strategies; support scenario planning for demand fluctuations, growth, staffing, and capital investments.
Lead planning processes that optimize throughput, inventory investment, and customer delivery performance.
Direct procurement and purchasing activities, aligning purchasing priorities with production plans, customer commitments, inventory strategies, and supplier capabilities.
Develop supplier performance management focused on quality, delivery, responsiveness, cost, and capacity; establish strategic supplier relationships and support commercial negotiations.
Lead supply continuity, dual-source, and risk-reduction initiatives; partner with Engineering and Quality on supplier qualification, corrective actions, and development.
Lead receiving, warehousing, material control, inventory accuracy, and material movement activities.
Establish inventory policies for raw materials, work-in-process, finished goods, safety stock, and strategic inventory buffers.
Improve inventory accuracy, inventory turns, working capital performance, and warehouse efficiency.
Ensure lot traceability, material status control, shelf-life management, and compliance with quality requirements.
Optimize warehouse layout, storage practices, and material flow; reduce excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory.
Serve as the executive functional owner of materials planning and scheduling processes within the ERP system.
Ensure ERP and MRP processes support the approved MPS and business priorities; maintain planning parameters such as lead times, lot sizes, safety stock, supplier lead times, planning calendars, and capacity assumptions.
Improve ERP utilization, data integrity, and planning effectiveness; reduce reliance on manual processes and disconnected spreadsheets.
Develop dashboards and performance reporting for demand, supply, inventory, supplier performance, schedule attainment, and operational risk.
Lead operationally within the SIOP process, translating approved forecasts into integrated production, procurement, inventory, and capacity plans.
Lead analysis and presentation of inventory, supply, capacity, and fulfillment scenarios to leadership; identify risks involving suppliers, inventory, labor, equipment, and manufacturing resources.
Support strategic decisions through demand and capacity analysis; recommend lead times and fulfillment strategies based on business conditions and operational performance.
Lead, coach, and develop planners, buyers, schedulers, warehouse personnel, material-control specialists, and future materials leaders.
Establish accountability, performance expectations, and development plans; build a high-performance culture focused on teamwork, customer service, accountability, continuous improvement, and results.
Develop succession plans and organizational capability; promote employee engagement, professional development, and cross-functional collaboration.
Lead regular materials reviews with Operations, Engineering, Sales, Quality, Finance, and Continuous Improvement.
Establish fact-based processes for prioritization, resource allocation, and decision-making; provide early visibility of delivery risks and lead cross-functional mitigation efforts.
Support new product introductions, engineering changes, and production transfers.
Improve lead time, inventory performance, supplier performance, and manufacturing responsiveness.
Lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions related to planning, procurement, inventory, and schedule performance.