Supply Chain Director

Duties and Responsibilities

• Propose and execute strategic and tactical programs and plans designed to enhance gross profit, maintain high product quality, and deliver product in full and on time to customers.
• Lead the integrated Supply Chain organization and develop the managers, supervisors, and functional owners responsible for planning, purchasing, inventory control, warehousing, fulfillment, and logistics.
• Establish and lead the Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process, including demand review, supply and capacity review, inventory and service risk assessment, scenario evaluation, and executive decision support.
• Own the end-to-end planning framework from demand signals through the Master Production Schedule (MPS), material requirements, capacity planning, production scheduling, and customer delivery commitments.
• Ensure the production plan balances customer priorities, capacity, labor, materials, equipment constraints, inventory objectives, and approved business priorities.
• Develop and manage the Supply Chain operating budget, including staffing, inventory-related costs, freight, warehousing, outside services, and approved cost-improvement initiatives.
• Provide governance for schedule changes, frozen-fence exceptions, shortages, expedites, and other trade-offs that affect customer commitments, operating stability, cost, or inventory.
• Lead procurement and material planning practices that support material availability, prudent inventory levels, supplier performance, cost control, and continuity of supply.
• Establish supplier performance management in partnership with Quality Assurance, including delivery, responsiveness, risk, and corrective-action follow-up.
• Develop sourcing strategies for critical materials and services, including supplier selection, pricing and contract negotiations, dual-sourcing opportunities, lead-time reduction, and supply-risk mitigation.
• Provide leadership for inventory control, warehouse operations, finished-goods fulfillment, shipping, freight, and logistics, with clear accountability for transaction discipline, inventory accuracy, and on-time, in-full shipment execution.
• Establish clear decision rights and operating handoffs with Customer Experience & Growth, Manufacturing Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality Assurance, Finance, and Information Systems.
• Partner with Manufacturing Operations to maintain the distinction between plan ownership and execution ownership.
• Lead enterprise adoption of new ERP system, identify and retire approved manual workarounds as system capability becomes available.
• Define, monitor, and review Supply Chain performance measures, including forecast accuracy, production schedule attainment, material shortages, supplier on-time delivery, inventory turns, inventory accuracy, DIFOT, and ERP process adoption.
• Use data, root-cause analysis, and corrective action to address recurring service, schedule, supplier, inventory, and material-flow issues.
• Prepare clear executive-level assessments of supply, demand, capacity, inventory, and delivery risks, including recommended trade-offs and decisions required.
• Develop standard work, policies, review cadences, escalation paths, and succession capability across the Supply Chain organization.
• Build a collaborative, accountable Supply Chain culture that integrates existing functional expertise rather than operating as separate planning, purchasing, warehouse, or logistics silos.
• Maintain compliance with applicable regulatory, quality, safety, customer, and company requirements.

Key Decision Rights

• Govern the approved production plan and production-scheduling priorities within established business rules and approved customer commitments.
• Approve or escalate planning exceptions based on defined thresholds and documented impact to service, cost, capacity, inventory, or quality.
• Set Supply Chain operating priorities, management cadences, performance standards, and resource recommendations.
• Recommend inventory, sourcing, supplier-risk, freight, and capacity trade-offs to the appropriate executive or cross-functional decision body.
• Escalate decisions outside the role's authority, including changes to customer commitments, material financial exposure, significant supplier or continuity risk, and matters reserved for Quality or executive approval.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in supply chain management, operations, industrial engineering, business, or a related field; equivalent progressive experience may be considered.
• Minimum of 7 years of progressive experience across supply chain, production planning, procurement, materials management, manufacturing operations, inventory, or logistics in a manufacturing environment.
• Minimum of 3 years of formal people leadership or significant cross-functional leadership experience, including responsibility for managers, supervisors, functional owners, or enterprise processes.
• Demonstrated ability to connect demand, capacity, materials, scheduling, inventory, supplier performance, and customer service into an integrated operating plan.
• Working knowledge of ERP / MRP concepts, Master Production Scheduling, Bills of Materials, routings, lead times, inventory controls, and manufacturing constraints.
• Demonstrated ability to lead organizational and process change while maintaining day-to-day operating continuity.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to interpret operational and financial trade-offs and convert data into decisions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present risks, options, and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Demonstrated judgment, accountability, collaboration, and ability to resolve cross-functional priorities under pressure.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading or implementing S&OP, demand planning, supply planning, or integrated business planning processes.
• Experience implementing or significantly improving ERP / MRP planning, purchasing, inventory, warehouse, or scheduling processes.
• Experience in a regulated manufacturing environment such as medical device, pharmaceutical, or a comparable industry.
• Professional certification such as ASCM CPIM or CSCP, or equivalent demonstrated knowledge.
• Experience with supplier performance management, strategic sourcing, business continuity, and inventory optimization.
• Lean, Six Sigma, or structured continuous-improvement experience.
• Advanced proficiency with Excel, business intelligence tools, or supply-chain analytics.

Leadership Expectations

• Lead through clear ownership, operating discipline, and fact-based decision-making rather than informal escalation or individual heroics.
• Develop existing functional leaders and create an effective leadership team across planning, purchasing, inventory, warehouse, and logistics.
• Balance strategic capability building with reliable daily execution.
• Create transparency around constraints and trade-offs early enough for the organization to act.
• Protect cross-functional accountability: Supply Chain coordinates the system but does not absorb responsibilities that properly remain with Manufacturing Operations, Quality, Finance, Customer Experience, or other functions.

Physical / Mental Demands

• The job is performed in office, manufacturing-floor, and warehouse settings. Required protective clothing or personal protective equipment may apply in designated areas.
• Work requires sitting, standing, and walking for extended periods and regular movement between office and operating areas.
• Must be able to concentrate, exercise sound judgment, analyze complex and competing priorities, and communicate effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Work may require occasional evening or weekend availability to support significant operating issues, inventory activities, or business requirements.