Materials Manager

Materials & Purchasing Manager
Keene, NH

Immediate opening for an experienced Materials & Purchasing Manager supporting a highly specialized aerospace manufacturing facility within a global industrial manufacturer. This leadership role oversees production planning, scheduling, logistics, inventory control, and materials flow, ensuring the efficient movement of materials from suppliers through production and ultimately to customers.

This position plays a critical role on the plant leadership team, responsible for developing supply chain strategies that support on-time delivery, optimized inventory levels, and efficient plant throughput. The Materials Manager will also support the Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning (SIOP) process, ensuring market demand is accurately reflected in production schedules and capacity planning.

Select Responsibilities

Provide leadership and direction to Materials Management teams, including Production Planning, Scheduling, Logistics, and Inventory Control.

Develop and manage plant material planning strategies covering procurement, material flow, outsourced processing, inventory management, packaging, and customer shipments.

Serve as a key leader in the Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning (SIOP) process, ensuring demand signals are translated into achievable production schedules and capacity plans.

Monitor and measure schedule attainment and plant capacity, ensuring the operation remains balanced and properly loaded while identifying future resource requirements.

Lead initiatives to improve on-time delivery performance, reduce past-due orders, and strengthen supply chain execution.

Develop and implement inventory strategies that maintain optimal service levels while reducing working capital and excess inventory.

Drive Lean supply chain and materials management initiatives, identifying waste, improving material flow, and supporting continuous improvement efforts.

Develop supplier strategies to ensure consistent quality, reliable delivery performance, and stable material supply.

Establish policies and procedures that effectively translate customer demand into executable master production schedules within operational capacity limits.

Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Quality, Operations, and Finance to align scheduling commitments, improve operational performance, and resolve supply chain issues.

Support the Plant Manager and leadership team in identifying operational improvements that increase throughput and reduce labor and inventory costs.

Serve as an occasional backup to the Plant Manager, contributing to strategic and operational decision-making.

Bachelor s degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, Business, or related field.

Strong leadership experience managing materials, purchasing, planning, or supply chain functions within a manufacturing environment.

Experience with production planning, capacity modeling, and master scheduling in complex manufacturing operations.

Strong knowledge of ERP/MRP systems, including experience with SAP or similar platforms.

Solid understanding of inventory control, logistics coordination, and supplier management.

Experience implementing Lean manufacturing or Lean supply chain principles.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate operational data into actionable decisions.

Excellent communication skills with the ability to collaborate across operations, finance, sales, and supply chain teams.

Proven ability to coach, develop, and lead high-performing teams.

APICS certification and/or MBA preferred.