The Director of Material Planning and Scheduling is responsible for managing activities of those engaged in the movement of raw or finished materials, storage, production scheduling and inventory control activities. This position will set the strategy and manage the daily execution to manage materials function to achieve inventory, safety, quality, delivery, cost environmental goals and daily production schedules are met. This role has duties common to all Directors, such as interviewing and hiring staff members or overseeing the training of staff members. Responsible for making recommendations and supporting continuous improvement, 5S and Lean manufacturing concepts, while actively encouraging associate involvement.

Position Responsibilities may include:

• Manage plant materials function on a day to day basis to achieve inventory, cost, safety and production goals.
• Lead, Coach, Train, Develop, and evaluate Materials Management Team in all aspects of Demand Flow; including areas of responsibility such as Leadership, Material Planning, Receiving, Material Warehousing and Retrieval, Factory Scheduling, and Employee Development.
• Collaborate with production departments and additional teams to determine supply needs
• Maintain accurate inventories (location, quantity, and count) and use records to be aware of inventories at all times.
• Manage product transitions, pilots and engineering changes.
• Ensure cycle counts and physical inventory counts are conducted and recorded accurately.
• Monitor the flow of materials and products from their initial receipt, through production and warehousing stages and identify actual or potential areas of difficulty, and recommend action to remedy these problems
• Proactively investigates, learns, prepares and implements solutions to inventory, delivery, cost and quality issues.
• Plan and develop Budgets including, Staffing, Inventory Plans and Operational Costs.
• Pro-actively develop working relationships, rapport and trust with area leaders, employees and internal customers.
• Recommend materials handling equipment and procedures to be utilized
• Plan, develop and implement policies, procedures, required metrics, goals and objectives in line with and in support of company policies and objectives. Ensure successful ISO Compliance.
• Audit Materials Systems, procedures and process daily. Document and maintain evidence of all audits and subsequent corrective actions.
• Lead and participate on various project teams to create, develop and implement systems, processes and productivity improvements that contribute to overall on-time, high quality, cost efficient production while ensuring safe work practices are being followed.
• Perform additional projects/duties to support ongoing business needs.

Nature & Scope:

• Develops and implements strategic plans and objectives for the department/sub-function in an effective and innovative fashion
• Understands the business and can put together comprehensive department solutions 
• Works with other leaders to establish strategic plans and works towards achieving them
• Provides leadership and direction to managers in their respective division/department
• Sees to department staffing needs (e.g. interviewing, hiring, new hire and ongoing training, annual evaluations, etc.)
• Participates in budget development and monitoring of expenses
• Level of signing authority established by company policy/guidelines

Knowledge & Skills:

• Strong Leadership, employee development, performance management skills and ability to provide clear and concise objectives to the team and delegation skills
• Strong understanding of materials management and MRP systems and able to learn MAPICS planning system
• Ability to effectively lead the materials organization to improve processes, systems, and overall performance
• Proficient working knowledge with MS Excel, Word, Outlook and PowerPoint
• Attention to detail, analytical ability including ability to interpret information and make sound recommendations
• Effective organizational and time management skills including ability to prioritize and project management skills
• Strong collaboration & influencing skills and proven ability to overcome objections
• Good interpersonal skills to interact daily with internal/external personnel including Senior leaders & Executive staff
• Ability to work as a team player to solve problems, contribute ideas and make continuous improvements and lead change with various partners cross-functionally
• Strong verbal and written communication skills including business acumen, including meeting facilitation and presentations
• Ability to promote an environmentally healthy and safe work environment
• Able to work flexible and demanding schedules in a fast paced environment
• Ability to apply good judgement, strong work ethics and integrity on the job.

Competency:

Experience:

• 15+ years experience managing materials function in a large, high mixed volume manufacturing plant required
• 10+ years within a leadership role
• Continuous Improvement experience (Kaizen/Lean, Six Sigma, Root Cause Analysis)
• Experience working with MAPICS is preferred

Education/Certification:

• Bachelor’s degree required (BSBA, BSME, BSIE)
• CPM or MAPICS certification is preferred

People Management: Yes

Physical Requirements / Work Environment:

• Must be able to perform essential responsibilities with or without reasonable accommodations

Reports To:

• VP, Materials

The Company provides equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of a person’s race, color, religion (including religious dress or grooming practices), creed, national origin (including language use restrictions), citizenship, uniform service member or veteran status, ancestry, disability, physical or mental disability (including HIV/AIDS), medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information, request for protected leave, marital status, sex, pregnancy, age (over 40), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, political affiliation, or any other characteristic protected by law. The Company will comply with all federal and state regulations and statutes pertaining to individuals with disabilities.