Manager, Materials

IPS-AkroFire is seeking an experienced Materials Manager to lead our Materials Department and team. In this key leadership role, you’ll oversee all aspects of materials management—including purchasing, inventory control, logistics, and production scheduling—within a fast-paced manufacturing environment. You’ll ensure that materials, components, and finished products are procured, stored, and delivered efficiently to meet production goals, customer schedules, and quality standards. Leveraging your strong supply chain expertise, you’ll drive continuous improvement and operational excellence across the organization.About IPS: Integrated Polymer Solutions (IPS) is a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced materials and engineered components, specializing in high-value end markets such as aerospace, defense, medical, semiconductors, robotics, energy, and industrial applications. IPS is comprised of 10 highly respected brands, each recognized for their expertise and innovation: AkroFire, ABBA Roller, Icon Aerospace Technology, IRP Medical, MAST Technologies, Northern Engineering Sheffield (NES), Rubbercraft, Swift Textile Metalizing (STM), RMB Products, and SPIRA Manufacturing.Our extensive product portfolio includes elastomeric seals, gaskets, tooling, hoses, ablatives, survivability tiles, coatings and tapes, EMI and thermal shielding, electrically conductive metalized fabrics, and encapsulated O-rings—all designed to meet the most demanding performance requirements in mission-critical applications.Job Accountabilities:Maintains surveillance over all materials, functions, and work in process, according to established policies and procedures.Ensures a steady flow of work is maintained through the manufacturing areas with proper routing, scheduling, dispatching and expediting of materials, including follow-up of work in process.Identifies issues and inefficiencies in business processes and make improvements to ensure requirements are met efficientlyNegotiating for the procurement of product to include price, shipping terms, delivery date, tracking of inbound shipments, and vendor development.Purchasing of all products, including tooling, maintenance, supplies and machine parts.Plans and coordinates activities related to the timely, cost-effective procurement, inventory control, planning, and quality control of production materials.Sets production schedules to maximize production efficiencies and satisfy customer demands. Revises schedule according to work order specifications, established priorities, capacity and availability of workers, parts, material, machines and equipment. Maintain proper shipping, receiving & inventory control records and procedures. Ensures the availability of materials in the supply chain, and the maintenance of inventory at minimum acceptable levels. Reviews and plans requirements for acceptable inventory.Oversee inventory accuracy through regular audits, cycle counts, and data-driven planning tools.Establishes and tracks key material control reports and measurements; provides continued improvement of the material control function and reporting process.Perform analysis of customer demand, sales and forecasts and historical material usage to develop and execute proper inventory levelsCoordinates with cross-functional business teams to develop the best economic strategy for production and materials planning to support customer demand and ensure on-time delivery.Maintains accurate inventory accounts by managing, in conjunction with other cross-functional business teams, an inventory control system, capable of identifying discrepancies in inventory counts and taking correction action to guard against inconsistencies in the future. Work closely with production, engineering, and quality teams to ensure alignment between schedules, resources, and demand.Utilize ERP/MRP systems to optimize material planning and forecasting accuracy.Drive process improvement initiatives using lean and Six Sigma methodologies to improve cost, efficiency, and throughput.Responsible for hiring and terminating subordinate employees (or effectively recommending such decisions). Handling employee complaints and grievances; staff mentoring, coaching, counseling, disciplining employees; assigning work among employees; and providing for the safety and security of the employees. Manage staff selection, interviewing, selecting, training, performance, and staff development to ensure team competencies and capabilities to reach the business goals and expectationsEstablishes priorities and workflow within the department; identifies problems, analyzes and resolves with appropriate resources and action. Job Specifications:Education: Requires a bachelor’s degree in related field or a high school diploma/GED, plus (10) years relevant experience and appropriate certifications may be substituted for meeting the educational requirements only.Years’ Experience: Seven (7) years’ experience in materials, manufacturing, procurement, or logistics requiredStrong knowledge of ERP/MRP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Epicor).Proven track record in supplier management, cost reduction, and process improvement.Excellent communication, negotiation, and leadership skills.Familiarity with lean manufacturing, AS9100 (or ISO9001), and ITAR compliance.Three (3) years of managerial experience requiredRequires previous scheduling experience in a high volume, high mix job shop environment.APICS certification highly preferredSkills:Excellent interpersonal, written, oral communication, presentation and facilitator skills with the ability to negotiate, influence and interact effectively with stakeholders at all levels of the organization exercising sensitivity to the audience.Possesses a positive professional image and a high level of ethical behavior in exercising consistent judgment, discretion and confidentiality in all interactions and matters of significance.Possesses excellent judgement, critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making skills with the ability to identify and resolve complex issues in a timely manner. Possesses excellent leadership, team building and managerial skills with the ability to direct, energized, motivate, train, coach, assess, evaluate and develop teams. Possesses strong strategic/analytical, goal setting, budgetary management and financial measurement skills.Capable of driving change transformation and strategy execution to achieve specific business results.Possess superior organizational and time management skills with strong attention to detail.Ability to work independently and negotiate and set priorities required.Ability to work efficiently under conditions of multiple and/or competing projects/deadlines prioritizing/reprioritizing as needed to meet departmental and/or business commitments and objectives.Possesses high degree of personal accountability Experience in a lean manufacturing environment highly valued. Must be experienced in windows-based applications such as Excel, Word and Power Point. Significant ERP/MES knowledge/aptitude required.Benefits:At Integrated Polymer Solutions, we recognize how important your career and benefits are to you and your family. We offer a full suite of benefits, including medical, dental, vision, short and long-term disability coverage, accident insurance, critical illness insurance, basic and supplemental life insurance, employee assistance plan, retirement savings and matching, and other developmental opportunities. We are committed to supporting the way you live and work.IPS is an Equal Opportunity Employer Veterans/Disabled - Affirmative Action Employer.This position requires using information subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). All applicants must be U.S. persons within the meaning of ITAR. ITAR defines a U.S. person as a U.S. Citizen, U.S. Permanent Resident (i.e. 'Green Card Holder'), Political Asylee, or Refugee. (Actual placement within the salary range is dependent on multiple factors, including but not limited to skills, education, experience and location)