What are the responsibilities and job description for the Aftermarket Operations Director position at Confidential Jobs?
About the Role
The Director, Aftermarket Parts is responsible for leading and scaling aftermarket parts strategy and operations. This role owns the end-to-end aftermarket parts business—including strategy, inventory planning, pricing, supplier management, and customer support—with a focus on reliability, responsiveness, and profitable growth. This is a build-stage role — the parts operation, warehouse, ERP systems, and digital ordering platform are being stood up now, and this leader will be expected to shape the infrastructure and team from the ground up.
This leader will work closely with Engineering, Operations, Sales, Supply Chain, and Service teams to ensure parts availability, shorten lead times, and enhance the customer experience throughout the lifecycle of our products. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who understands manufacturing environments and enjoys being close to both the details and the customer. In data center cooling, equipment downtime costs customers thousands of dollars per minute — parts availability and speed are directly tied to uptime, making this role mission-critical.
What You’ll Do
Strategy & Leadership
- Own and execute the aftermarket parts strategy to support revenue growth, margin performance, and customer satisfaction
- Build, lead, and develop a high-performing aftermarket parts team
- Establish clear goals, metrics, and accountability across the parts organization
Operations & Supply Chain
- Oversee inventory planning, forecasting, and stocking strategies to ensure optimal parts availability while managing working capital
- Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to improve part lead times, fulfillment performance, and overall responsiveness
- Ensure accurate parts data, including BOMs, pricing, and interchangeability
Customer & Commercial Focus
- Partner with Sales and Service teams to support customer needs, field requirements, and long-term service agreements
- Develop pricing strategies that balance competitiveness, margin, and customer value
- Serve as a senior point of contact for complex or escalated aftermarket issues
Cross-Functional Partnership
- Work closely with Engineering to ensure aftermarket considerations are built into new product designs
- Collaborate with Finance on forecasting, budgeting, and financial performance tracking
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives to streamline aftermarket processes and systems
Execution & Continuous Improvement
- Identify and eliminate barriers that slow parts delivery or impact customer experience
- Simplify processes where possible—favoring practical solutions over bureaucracy
- Use data to drive decisions, monitor performance, and identify improvement opportunities
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
- 10 years of experience in aftermarket parts, fulfillment, distribution, or service logistics — ideally in mission-critical or uptime-driven industries (e.g., data centers, oil and gas, heavy industrial equipment, aerospace MRO).
- Prior leadership experience managing teams and cross-functional initiatives
- Strong understanding of inventory management, forecasting, and aftermarket business models
- Experience supporting complex equipment or engineered products
- Proven ability to partner cross-functionally and influence without hierarchy
- Comfortable balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution
- Experience owning or managing a P&L, with financial accountability for inventory carrying costs, turns, obsolescence, fill rates, and aftermarket margins
- Experience with eCommerce platforms, online parts catalogs, or digital self-service ordering systems is a strong plus
- Track record of building or scaling a parts operation — not just managing an established one
What Success Looks Like
- Customers receive the right part at the right time
- Aftermarket revenue and margins grow predictably
- Inventory is well-managed and data is reliable
- Teams are aligned, accountable, and proactive
- Problems are addressed early—and stay solved
- The parts operation, systems, and team are built from the ground up and running at scale