Director of Supply Chain

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute supply chain strategies that support Vantage's operational priorities, customer commitments, growth objectives, cost targets, and working capital goals.
• Lead all purchasing, sourcing, supplier management, warehouse, inventory control, and shipping logistics activities across Kansas and New Jersey operations.
• Negotiate supplier pricing, payment terms, lead times, supply commitments, commercial terms, contracts, and service agreements to improve cost, cash flow, quality, delivery, and supply continuity.
• Develop domestic and global sourcing strategies for critical commodities, including electronic components, printed circuit board assemblies, fabricated metals, injection molded plastics, printed materials, packaging, and other direct materials.
• Evaluate global supply markets, supplier capacity, geopolitical risk, cost trends, lead-time risk, and alternative supply options to improve supply chain resiliency.
• Establish supplier segmentation, supplier scorecards, performance reviews, escalation processes, and business reviews with key suppliers.
• Drive supplier development, supplier consolidation, dual-sourcing, lead-time reduction, cost reduction, and supply risk mitigation initiatives.
• Ensure material availability to support production continuity, customer commitments, NPI programs, product transfers, and transition-to-production plans.
• Lead shortage management and escalation processes for supplier constraints, delivery risks, end-of-life notices, material disruptions, and customer-impacting issues.
• Partner with Planning, Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Program Management, Finance, and NPI teams to align supplier readiness, inventory strategy, production requirements, and customer demand.
• Evaluate and maintain ERP/MRP planning parameters, supplier information, lead times, order quantities, safety stock, reorder points, purchasing controls, and supply-demand balances.
• Develop inventory strategies that balance material availability, customer service, production continuity, inventory turns, excess and obsolete exposure, and working capital objectives.
• Lead warehouse operations, including receiving, put-away, storage controls, material issuance, inventory transactions, cycle counts, shipping, logistics coordination, and freight management.
• Establish and maintain cycle count discipline, inventory accuracy processes, root-cause corrective actions, and inventory control metrics across warehouse operations.
• Oversee domestic and international shipping logistics, carrier relationships, freight performance, shipment documentation, and on-time shipment execution.
• Maintain compliance with FDA, ISO 13485, Vantage quality system requirements, customer requirements, and applicable regulatory expectations for medical device manufacturing and supplier management.
• Develop, coach, and hold accountable a team of buyers and warehouse / logistics personnel across multiple locations.
• Build standardized processes, roles, metrics, operating rhythms, and accountability systems across the Kansas and New Jersey supply chain teams.
• Support audits, customer reviews, supplier reviews, and executive reporting related to supply chain performance, inventory health, logistics performance, and supplier risk.
• Identify and implement continuous improvement opportunities related to cost, lead time, supplier performance, inventory accuracy, warehouse efficiency, freight cost, and process discipline.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, Engineering, or related field required; equivalent business experience may be considered where appropriate.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in supply chain, procurement, sourcing, materials management, logistics, or operations roles within a manufacturing environment.
• 5+ years of people leadership experience managing procurement, buyer, materials, warehouse, logistics, or multi-site supply chain teams.
• Experience in medical device, electronics manufacturing, contract manufacturing, life sciences, aerospace, or another regulated environment strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience negotiating supplier pricing, payment terms, contracts, lead times, commercial terms, and supplier commitments.
• Experience developing global and domestic sourcing strategies, supplier risk mitigation plans, and supplier performance management processes.
• Strong experience with ERP/MRP systems, purchasing parameters, inventory controls, shortage management, cycle counting, and warehouse processes.
• Experience supporting New Product Introduction, product transfers, production supplier selection, prototype sourcing, or transition-to-production activities preferred.
• Familiarity with ISO 13485, FDA-regulated manufacturing, ISO 9001, or other quality-controlled environments preferred.
• APICS/ASCM CPIM, CSCP, CPSM, Lean, Six Sigma, or related supply chain certification preferred but not required.

Required Skills and Competencies

• Strategic supply chain leadership with the ability to translate business priorities into actionable sourcing, inventory, warehouse, and logistics plans.
• Strong commercial negotiation skills, including pricing, payment terms, lead times, contracts, supplier commitments, and total cost of ownership.
• Strong supplier relationship management, supplier development, escalation, and business review capabilities.
• Ability to evaluate global supply markets, anticipate supplier risk, and develop resilient sourcing strategies.
• Strong working knowledge of procurement, ERP/MRP, inventory planning, material availability, safety stock, lead-time management, and shortage resolution.
• Strong understanding of warehouse operations, cycle counting, inventory accuracy, receiving, shipping logistics, and freight management.
• Ability to balance cost, quality, delivery, inventory, cash flow, customer commitments, and operational risk tradeoffs.
• Strong analytical, financial, problem-solving, judgment, communication, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to lead, coach, develop, and hold accountable employees across multiple sites.
• Ability to work cross-functionally with Manufacturing, Quality, Engineering, Planning, Program Management, Finance, site leadership, and suppliers.
• Comfortable operating in a regulated manufacturing environment with process discipline, documentation requirements, and customer audit expectations.
• High ownership, urgency, follow-through, executive presence, and ability to operate effectively in a growth-oriented business.