Director, Inventory Governance

Novolex; Lake Forest (IL); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) match

Medical/Dental/Vision insurance

Paid time off

Parental leave

Wellness program

Job summary

Novolex is seeking a Director, Inventory Governance to establish enterprise-wide strategy for physical and financial inventory across global plants, distribution networks, and 3PLs. You will design policies to safeguard margins and minimize waste while driving standardized SOPs.

You will build ABC analysis and segmentation models, set safety stock levels, and align with S&OP, Finance, and Operations. Lead a team of governance managers and analysts in a hybrid, US-wide role.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in global supply chain management, inventory operations, or manufacturing governance.
• 5+ years managing large, geographically distributed teams (15,000+ employees).
• Experience in high-speed manufacturing or consumer packaged goods (CPG).
• APICS CPIM/CSCP or Six Sigma Green/Black Belt credentials advantageous.
• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, Logistics, Operations, or Finance; MBA preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design and enforce global inventory control policies for high-volume manufacturing and distribution facilities.
• Standardize ABC analysis framework and develop segmentation models to inform margins and planning.
• Integrate analytics across ERP platforms and APS to scale classifications and segmentation.
• Partner with Supply Chain, Operations, and Finance to reconcile inventory valuation discrepancies and support S&OP.

Skills

Global supply chain management

Leadership

Inventory governance

Strategic thinking

Team management

Education

Bachelor's in supply chain

MBA or Master’s preferred

Tools

SAP

Oracle

Blue Yonder

APS

WMS

Job description

Company Overview

Why Choose Us?

Novolex is a leading manufacturer of food, beverage, and specialty packaging that supports multiple industries including foodservice, restaurant delivery and carryout, food processing, grocery and retail, and industrial sectors. Novolex manufacturing and sourcing expertise spans a diverse range of substrates including resin, paper, molded fiber, aluminum and more. We provide customers a broad array of stock and customized solutions with 120 product categories, 250 brands and over 39,000 SKUs.

Our Sustainability Commitment

The Novolex sustainability vision is built upon three pillars: our products, our operations and our people. Each is critically important to our growth and future as a business. These pillars form the foundation of our company-wide commitment to sustainability, helping us achieve our ambitious goals through our wide-ranging initiatives.

Job Description

Role Overview

The Director, Inventory Governance, establishes the enterprise-wide strategy, compliance frameworks, and control policies for all physical and financial inventory. Operating at a scale of 23,000 employees, this leader ensures total inventory accuracy across global manufacturing plants, distribution networks, and third-party logistics (3PL) providers. The successful candidate will safeguard margins by minimizing material waste and driving standardized operating procedures (SOPs).

Key Responsibilities

Governance

• Design and enforce global inventory control policies tailored too high-volume. manufacturing and distribution facility standards.
• Track and proactively mitigate obsolescence through DOH/DOS adherence.
• Establish compliance and controls for material and inventory stocking agreements
• Distribution space and capacity management to ensure efficient operations

Strategic Segmentation & Optimization

• Standardize and maintain the global ABC analysis framework to systematically categorize items based on annual usage value, production criticality, and cost impact in support of business strategies.
• Develop advanced product segmentation models that categorize packaging products by demand volatility, customer profile, and commercial margins.
• Utilize segmentation intelligence to establish optimal safety stock levels, minimum/maximum parameters, and reorder points for distinct product classes to optimize working capital.

Technology & Systems Integration Analytics

• Maximize enterprise data integrity and seamless system integration across ERP platforms.
• Leverage Blue Yonder and Advanced Planning Systems (APS) to automate and scale ABC classifications alongside demand-driven product segmentation models.

Strategic Leadership & Collaboration

• Partner closely with Supply Chain, Operations, and Finance to reconcile inventory valuation discrepancies.
• Provide critical inventory health metrics to the Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) team to steer capacity planning and strategic decisions.
• Directly manage, mentor, and cultivate a team of inventory governance managers and analysts.

Qualifications & Skills

• Required Experience: 10+ years in global supply chain management, inventory operations, or manufacturing governance.
• Leadership Scope: 5+ years managing large, geographically distributed teams in an enterprise corporate environment (15,000+ employees).
• Industry Domain: Proven experience in high-speed manufacturing or consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry
• Technical Proficiencies: Experienced in SAP, Oracle, Blue Yonder or applicable ERP systems. Hands-on architecture experience with Advanced Planning Systems (APS) and diverse WMS platforms.
• Advanced Methodology: Proven track record of successfully implementing or re-engineering ABC inventory controls, SKU segmentation models, and healthy IQR frameworks at an enterprise scale.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, Logistics, Operations, or Finance (MBA or Master’s degree highly preferred).
• Certifications: APICS (CPIM/CSCP) or Six Sigma Green/Black Belt credentials are highly advantageous.

A reasonable estimate of the current range is $150,000-$170,000+ bonus + benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. At Novolex, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.

The benefits for this role include 401(k) plan with company match, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, flexible spending and health savings accounts, paid vacation, and sick days, paid parental leave, paid holidays and wellness program.

#LI-Hybrid

Company Benefits

What You'll Get From Us

Benefits

With safety as our top priority and a commitment to employee well-being an important focus, we offer comprehensive and competitive benefits that include medical, dental and vision insurance as well as a variety of other well-being resources focused on mental, physical and financial health. Specific benefits and well-being programs may vary depending on where you work.

Community Engagement

At Novolex, giving back to the local communities that support us is important. Our Focused Giving Program prioritizes support for organizations whose missions promote sustainability initiatives or address food and hunger needs. We also encourage facility level support of activities in the communities where our employees live and work.

Training and Development

We offer constant opportunities for advancement. From skills development to advanced education programs, training and development programs and courses are available through MyLearning. Programs include company and industry training curricula, support for formal education through the Tuition Reimbursement Program (Non-Union), and a Learning Management System that supports and enhances employee skills at all levels of the organization.

Novolex is committed to providing equal employment opportunity in all employment practices, including but not limited to selection, hiring, promotion, transfer, and compensation to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to age, race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, handicap or disability, genetics, citizenship status, service member or veteran status, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law. Any individual who, because of his or her disability, needs an accommodation in connection with an aspect of the Company's application process should contact [e-mail].

Formerly Pactiv Evergreen