Supply Chain and Project Operations Lead

Waters Corporation•New Castle, DE

4d•Onsite

About The Position

This position will work on procurement, financial reporting, and other tasks within the Project Management Organization (PMO) group, and is responsible for providing analytical insights, coordinating project activities, and ensuring the successful execution of projects. This role requires an experienced individual with strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

Requirements

Supply Chain expertise encompassing interpretation of engineering specifications, sourcing of custom and low-volume prototype components, proactive management of lead times and supply risks, and identification of specialized suppliers to support complex R&D and early-stage product development needs.
Supplier Issue Management: Experienced in addressing technical discrepancies, specification questions, documentation gaps, and import/export requirements in collaboration with both suppliers and internal stakeholders.
Negotiation and Vendor Alignment: Skilled in negotiating delivery schedules, pricing considerations, and service expectations to ensure alignment with the dynamic requirements of R&D environments.
Quality and Compliance Coordination: Competent in working with Quality, Engineering, and Operations teams to resolve material‑related concerns and support corrective action processes when required.
Adaptability in Dynamic Environments: Comfortable working within fast‑paced, evolving R&D settings that require frequent reprioritization, rapid response to engineering changes, and flexibility in managing procurement timelines.
Attention to Detail: Consistently ensures accuracy in part numbers, specifications, commercial terms, and shipment documentation to minimize rework and avoid delays to development activities.
Clear and Effective Communication: Communicates procurement status, risks, and supplier updates in a clear, concise, and timely manner to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
Expertise in utilization of ERP systems (SAP/Ariba).
Past Supply chain management experience is an absolute requirement.
Proficiency in other Microsoft Office tools like Excel Pivot Tables, Word and PowerPoint.
Project Management: Overseeing project timelines, budgets, and deliverables.
A bachelor’s degree in business, Project Management, Engineering, Data Analytics, Supply Chain, or a science field is required.
Certification in Supply Chain Management: Certified Professional in Supply Management (ISM) or equivalent.
“Can do” attitude, to tackle myriad small tasks simultaneously.

Nice To Haves

Working knowledge of Business Analytics tool PowerBI is a plus.
Knowledge of Project Management software like Smartsheet / MS Project is a plus.

Responsibilities

Ownership of coordination of supply chain/procurement activities within R&D (~50%): Responsible for procurement interactions related to material purchases within the Design Phases of R&D Projects including the Design Transfer to Manufacturing
Creation of and updates to R&D Purchase Orders (POs0 in SAP Ariba, facilitate inclusion of new vendors into the system, update payment terms per scope of work
Support the identification of relevant vendors for tooling, plastics, machined parts etc.
Coordinate with manufacturing on buy-in of selected vendors for R&D parts
Supplier relationship: Follow up with vendors: manage Terms and Conditions negotiations with vendors, confirmation of their receipt of PO, ship date finalization, interaction related to exce
Ownership of coordination of supply chain/procurement activities within R&D (~50%): Responsible for procurement interactions related to material purchases within the Design Phases of R&D Projects including the Design Transfer to Manufacturing.
Creation of and updates to R&D Purchase Orders (POs) in SAP Ariba, facilitate inclusion of new vendors into the system, update payment terms per scope of work.
Support the identification of relevant vendors for tooling, plastics, machined parts, etc.
Coordinate with manufacturing on buy-in of selected vendors for R&D parts.
Supplier relationship: Follow up with vendors: manage Terms and Conditions negotiations with vendors, confirmation of their receipt of PO, ship date finalization, interaction related to exceptions (specs, drawings, shipment/export paperwork needed, etc.).
Keeping R&D engineering appraised on progress/issues with the orders.
Provide a running list of parts on order (per project) with relevant details on progress towards shipment.
Development of leading Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to determine the timeliness of supply chain/procurement activities within projects.
Manage procurement risk and End of Life of parts.
Formulate strategies for procurement at different phases of product development.
Engage the R&D team in continuous improvement activities – lead time reduction, streamlining processes.
Support costing development of the products as they transition to manufacture (via SAP).
Liaise between the R&D group and finance, to reconcile costs’ forecasts vs actuals for various expense categories: project, outside services, CapEx, etc (~20%).
Monthly reconciliation of R&D budgets (Forecasts vs actuals with variances <10%).
Point person from R&D to work with Finance on updates to forecasts, reconciliation of project budgets with project managers.
Automation of the data gather comparing Forecasts with Actuals (Excel Pivot Tables), to provide Functional Managers with expenses data updated monthly.
Serve as project coordinator for minor, sustaining, and product obsolescence projects as well as research projects’ transition into development (~10%).
Create project plans, risk assessment, following the New Product Development Process and templates.
Influence others to ensure successful delivery: frequently collaborate with other departments such as manufacturing, R&D, operations, quality and sales and lead with influence to ensure the success of your project.
Vendor interaction for timely delivery of externally sourced material.
Engineering Change Requests (ECR) support (~15%).
Track progress of ECRs generated by R&D Engineering and others, towards completion of design activities in Projects.
Support implementation of ECRs including approvals for them.
Additional tasks (~5%): Data generation and presentation on project risks, project spending, project resourcing, etc.
Generate tools/queries to obtain this information from financial reports.
Prepare and present project reports, dashboards, and metrics to stakeholders.
Maintenance, location, and upkeep of the Business Cases of products under development.
Supporting the management of Tools and templates related to Project Management.
Fixed Asset Inventory within the R&D group.
R&D Labs’ cleanup, management & upkeep.