What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Director of Supply Chain position at Hirsh Industries, LLC?
Senior Director of Supply Chain
Hirsh Industries | On-site at our West Des Moines, Iowa headquarters (hybrid — minimum 3 days/week on-site) | Full-time
Own purchasing, planning, forecasting, and freight for a century-old American manufacturer — and bring them together under one leader for the first time.
About us
Hirsh Industries has been making steel office furniture and storage products in America since 1924. We sell under our SPACE SOLUTIONS®, HIRSH®, and IRON HORSE® brands and under our customers' private-label brands, through office superstores, wholesalers, national retailers, industrial and MRO distributors, e-commerce marketplaces, schools, and dealers.
We design and build our own products in our own factories — we don't outsource manufacturing. We run two plants, in Dover, Delaware and Mexicali, Mexico, and supplement them with product sourced from Asia. Most of our volume is replenishment business for large national accounts, which means supply chain performance shows up directly in our results.
The role
Purchasing, production planning, forecasting, and freight have been managed separately here. The problems that cost us most happen where they meet — a sourcing decision that quietly removes capacity, a forecast miss with nowhere to go, a supply shortfall that reaches sales too late to do anything about. Connecting those functions is the job.
You would have a small team: a Director of Purchasing, with buyers at both plants, and a planning manager. Freight you would carry yourself. This is a hands-on role — we expect you to build the models, run the analysis, and negotiate the contracts personally rather than direct others to.
Two projects would define your first year: rebuilding our finished-goods safety stock model, which today runs largely on months of supply; and turning our existing monthly cross-functional meeting into a real sales, inventory, and operations planning process.
The role reports to our Senior Vice President of Product amp; Operations and works closely with sales, both plant leadership teams, product management, engineering, and finance.
What you'll do
- Own the demand plan and master production scheduling across both plants.
- Lead purchasing — steel is our dominant input — through a Director of Purchasing and buyers at each site.
- Rebuild finished-goods inventory policy from first principles: demand variability, minimum economic run lengths, material lead times, and supplier capacity.
- Own freight strategy and carrier relationships, run the quarterly bids, and hold carriers accountable for pickup and transit performance.
- Connect material availability to the production plan, so we only commit to what supply can actually support — and so problems surface early enough to manage.
- Chair the monthly planning cycle and make service, inventory, and cost trade-offs explicit with dollar impact, so leadership can decide them deliberately.
- Own the supply chain systems — Relex for planning, our TMS, and the SAP configuration behind purchasing and inventory.
- Build and develop the team, with real depth and succession in each function.
What we're looking for
- 10 years in supply chain at a manufacturer, with hands-on ownership of at least two of purchasing, demand and production planning, or logistics.
- Experience across more than one plant.
- Someone who does the work. You build the model, run the bid, and write the analysis yourself. If your recent experience has been directing others to do that, this isn't the right fit.
- Strong analytical skills and real working depth in an ERP — we run SAP.
- Comfort owning results that depend on people who don't report to you. We'll give you the forum, the metrics, and the executive backing; the persuading is yours.
- Bachelor's degree in supply chain, engineering, business, or a related field.
Nice to have
No candidate is expected to bring all of these. Each one would help the successful candidate get up to speed faster.
- Steel or metals buying, including index-based pricing and Section 232 tariff exposure.
- Sheet metal fabrication or similar discrete, high-volume manufacturing — stamping, forming, welding, powder coat.
- U.S./Mexico cross-border experience, including USMCA and customs.
- A dedicated demand planning platform — Relex or Optimity specifically, or Blue Yonder, o9, Kinaxis, SAP IBP.
- LTL pricing mechanics: FAK agreements, class exceptions, accessorials.
- Managing customer-routed (collect) freight, where you don't select or pay the carrier.
- Retail vendor compliance — routing guides, OTIF scorecards, chargebacks.
- Conversational Spanish.
- WMS evaluation or implementation.
- ASCM/APICS certification (CPIM, CSCP) or equivalent.
- Comfort using AI tools to speed up analysis, research, and problem-solving.
How we work
We're a lean team that moves fast because we make our own products in our own factories. We hire people who can run independently — who take ownership, act like the business is theirs, and don't wait to be told what's next. We share information openly, give direct feedback, and care more about getting it right than getting credit.
This is an in-person role based at our West Des Moines headquarters, not a remote position. We offer a hybrid schedule with at least three days a week in the office, which keeps you close to planning, purchasing, sales, and the partners you'll depend on. Expect regular travel to both plants and periodic supplier and customer visits.
Compensation amp; benefits
- Competitive salary based on experience and qualifications
- Bonus and profit-sharing plan
- Medical, dental, and vision; 401(k); PTO
How to apply
Send a resume and a short note about a supply chain initiative you led and the result it produced. https://www.hirshindustries.com/
Equal opportunity
Hirsh Industries is an equal-opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of every background and evaluate candidates on their skills and ability to do the job. Research shows some people hesitate to apply unless they meet every listed qualification — if this role interests you and you meet most of what's under "What we're looking for," we'd like to hear from you.
If you need a reasonable accommodation at any point in the process, contact us and we'll be glad to help.