Materials Manager

Department:                                                                                                                

Reports To:                                          General Manager

Physical Demand Level:                     Medium to Heavy

FLSA Status (US only):                         Exempt

SUMMARY:

The Materials Manager oversees the planning, procurement, storage, control, and distribution of materials necessary for manufacturing or operations. This role ensures that inventory levels support production schedules while optimizing cost, quality, and delivery performance. The Materials Manager collaborates closely with procurement, operations, logistics, engineering, and finance teams to drive supply chain efficiency.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

This role does have supervisory responsibilities.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop and maintain materials planning strategies to meet production and sales demand.
• Monitor inventory levels and establish reorder points to minimize shortages and excess stock.
• Implement and maintain MRP/ERP system parameters (lead times, safety stock, BOM accuracy).
• Supervise Buyer/Planner with ERP/MRP and MRO supplies.
• Engineering change control of inventory.
• Conduct regular cycle counts and annual physical inventory.

• Coordinate with purchasing teams to ensure timely and cost-effective acquisition of materials.
• Monitor supplier performance (quality, delivery, cost) and support corrective actions when needed.
• Collaborate in sourcing initiatives and vendor selection processes.

• Supervise shipping and receiving, storage, material handling, and distribution operations.
• Ensure proper documentation, labeling, and traceability of materials.
• Optimize warehouse layout and material flow for efficiency and safety.

• Ensure materials availability to meet production schedules and customer delivery requirements.
• Work closely with production planning to resolve material shortages and schedule changes.
• Support new product launches by ensuring BOM accuracy and material readiness.

• Monitor material usage, waste, and inventory carrying costs; implement cost-reduction strategies.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives (lean, 5S, Kanban, JIT, etc.).
• Analyze inventory and supply chain data to drive performance improvements.

• Ensure compliance with company policies, industry standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain safe work practices within warehouses and storage areas.

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES:

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Knowledge of supply chain best practices (lean manufacturing, demand planning, forecasting).
• Proficiency in Excel and data analysis tools.
• Leadership and people-management capability (if supervising staff).

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, Logistics, or related field

• Minimum three (3) years in materials management, inventory control, supply chain, or production planning.
• Experience with ERP/MRP systems

Desired

• Manufacturing, distribution, or industrial experience strongly preferred.

BENEFITS:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Short Term Disability
• Long Term Disability
• PTO
• Paid Holidays
• Paid Sick Days
• 401K / 401K Company Match
• Bonus Program
• Life Insurance
• Paid Jury Duty
• Employee Referral Program
• Tuition Reimbursement Program based on job.
• Employee Assistance Program

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 job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand and hear. The employee is frequently required to walk; reach with hands/arms; lift and/or lower; push and/or pull; and use hands to finger, handle, feel and/or finely manipulate objects.  The employee must frequently lift/move and/or push/pull up to 20 lbs. and occasionally lift/move and/or push/pull up to 50 lbs.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.  Use of vision correction is acceptable, if necessary; however, any vision correction apparatus must meet all safety guidelines for the area of activity.