What are the responsibilities and job description for the SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGER position at Loadmaster Corporation?
Summary
This position is responsible for leading the company’s purchasing and sourcing strategy to ensure the timely acquisition of high-quality materials, components, equipment, and services required to support production. The role provides strategic oversight of supplier relationships, purchasing spend, cost control initiatives, and supply continuity. It also maintains visibility and control of supplier spend and ensures purchasing decisions support both operational needs and financial objectives.
The Director ensures that purchasing activities support production schedules, maintain appropriate inventory levels, control supplier costs, and identify opportunities to improve supplier performance, reduce supply risk, and strengthen the company’s supply chain. This position works closely with executive leadership to ensure purchasing decisions support operational and financial objectives. Additionally, this position provides leadership and direction to the purchasing department, establishing clear expectations, monitoring departmental performance, and ensuring accountability for purchasing operations.
Essential Responsibilities
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Strategic Sourcing & Vendor Management
o Develop and implement sourcing strategies to ensure reliable supply of materials while maintaining competitive pricing and supplier performance.
o Establish, maintain, and strengthen supplier relationships to support production needs and long-term business objectives.
o Negotiate pricing, terms, and supply agreements with vendors to achieve cost savings and improve supplier performance.
o Identify and qualify alternate suppliers to reduce supply risk and maintain supply continuity.
o Monitor supplier performance including delivery reliability, quality, responsiveness, and pricing.
• Purchasing Spend Management & Cost Control
o Monitor and manage company purchasing spend across suppliers and categories.
o Conduct regular analysis of vendor spend trends and purchasing data to identify cost increases, pricing issues, and opportunities for savings.
o Lead cost reduction initiatives through supplier negotiations, sourcing alternatives, and purchasing process improvements.
o Evaluate price vs. volume changes and product mix impacts to ensure purchasing costs align with production requirements.
o Provide leadership with purchasing analytics and reporting to support informed financial decision making.
• Production Support and Material Planning
o Ensure purchasing activities support production schedules and prevent material shortages that disrupt operations.
o Forecast long-term material requirements beyond ERP system planning to ensure supply continuity.
o Coordinate closely with production, engineering, and operations teams to anticipate material needs and manage supply challenges.
o Monitor supplier lead times and delivery schedules to ensure materials arrive when needed.
• Purchasing Analytics and Reporting
o Develop and maintain reporting systems that provide visibility into vendor spend, supplier performance, and purchasing trends.
o Conduct variance analysis on purchasing spend to identify and explain significant changes year over year.
o Establish purchasing metrics and performance indicators to monitor department effectiveness.
o Provide regular reporting on supplier performance, cost trends, and purchasing initiatives.
• Leadership & Department Management
o Provide leadership and direction to the purchasing department.
o Establish clear expectations, responsibilities, and performance standards for purchasing staff.
o Develop team members through coaching, training, and performance feedback.
o Ensure accountability within the purchasing team for accurate ordering, inventory planning, and supplier follow-up.
o Promote continuous improvement within purchasing processes and systems.
• Continuous Improvement
o Identify opportunities to improve purchasing systems, supplier management practices, and internal processes.
o Support company initiatives related to operational efficiency, cost control, and product quality.
o Implement improvements that strengthen the company’s supply chain reliability and purchasing performance.
Preferred Education and/or Experience
• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, or related field preferred.
• 5–10 years of purchasing or supply chain experience, preferably in a manufacturing environment.
• 3–5 years of leadership or management experience within a purchasing or supply chain function.
• Experience managing supplier relationships, negotiations, and purchasing spend.
Qualifications
All employees are expected to have a friendly, positive attitude, a sense of urgency, and the ability to multi-task and solve problems. The following qualifications are required for this position.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to analyze purchasing data and vendor spend trends.
• Strong negotiation and supplier management skills.
• Excellent communication and leadership abilities.
• Ability to work cross-functionally with production, engineering, purchasing, and management teams.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Proficiency with ERP systems, purchasing systems, and Microsoft Excel.
Work Environment
This position works in a manufacturing environment with frequent interaction with the production floor. There may be slight variations in light, sound, and temperature levels. Some areas may be dusty but the environment is generally free of other irritants and unpleasant odors.
Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position.
This position requires an employee to frequently stand, walk, sit, kneel, climb and lift up to 75 pounds.
Other Duties
The above statement reflects the general details necessary to describe the principle functions of the position described and shall not be construed as a detailed description of all work requirements that may be inherent in the position. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.