What are the responsibilities and job description for the MATERIALS & SUPPLIER QUALITY MANAGER position at Behlen Mfg Co.?
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Materials & Supplier Quality Manager is responsible for maintaining effective inventory control, supporting material availability, managing supplier performance, developing new supplier sources, and overseeing incoming material quality.
This position serves as a key liaison between Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Purchasing, suppliers, and Operations to ensure materials and components meet Hilton Behlen Energy Systems’ technical, quality, cost, and delivery requirements.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Maintain accurate inventory levels and material controls.
- Conduct or ensure completion of inventory counts for finished goods, work in progress (WIP), and raw materials and components.
- Maintain data integrity in ERP system (IFS).
- Monitor supplier quality, delivery performance, cost, and responsiveness.
- Identify, evaluate, and develop new suppliers and alternate sources.
- Coordinate supplier requirements with Mechanical and Electrical Engineering.
- Support Purchasing with technical clarification, sourcing, and supplier follow-up.
- Keep abreast of all outstanding requisitions, RFQs, and open orders, checking for timeline and delivery integrity.
- Work closely with Engineering BOM lead to ensure accurate and timely purchasing and intake at receiving into the system.
- Conduct and document incoming inspection of purchased components and materials.
- Manage supplier nonconformances and support corrective actions.
- Identify material shortages, supplier risks, and quality concerns before they impact production.
- Support continuous improvement of inventory, sourcing, and supplier quality processes.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality Management, Business, or a related field preferred.
- Minimum 2 years of experience with progressive increase in responsibilities in materials management, supplier quality, purchasing, and/or supply chain.
- Strong understanding of supplier quality management, incoming inspection, material control, and supplier performance.
- Experience developing and maintaining supplier qualification, approval, and performance-monitoring processes.
- Working knowledge of quality management systems.
- Experience with root cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions and continuous improvement methodologies.
- Ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications, bills of materials (BOMs), inspection requirements, and technical documentation.
- Knowledge of ERP/MRP systems and experience managing material requirements, inventory, purchasing, and supplier data.
- Strong understanding of inventory control, material planning, lead times, shortages, and production scheduling requirements.
- Ability to conduct or coordinate supplier audits, quality reviews, and corrective-action activities.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to evaluate supplier performance, quality trends, delivery performance, cost, and material availability.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, for reporting, analysis, and KPI tracking.