Inbound Materials Operations Manager

Mars; Chesterfield (MO); On-site; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Mars is seeking an Operations Materials Manager to execute inbound supply chain strategies for raw and packaging materials supporting Royal Canin North America manufacturing facilities. You will translate sourcing strategies into operational execution, manage supplier performance, optimize inventory, and resolve issues to ensure timely, compliant material availability.

Partner across Sourcing, SQA, Planning, Manufacturing, Regulatory, and Finance to drive performance, reduce costs, and protect

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent; business, economics, supply chain, engineering, procurement preferred.
• Fluent English required; French is a plus.
• 3-5+ years of experience in Commercial Operations, Supply Chain, Procurement Operations, Planning, Manufacturing, Logistics, or similar environment.
• Experience with raw and/or packaging materials, inbound supply chains, supplier performance, factory service, and inventory management preferred.
• Ability to analyze issues quickly, define root cause, and drive cross-functional resolution in urgent or ambiguous situations.
• Experience working across regional, factory, supplier, and global stakeholders to execute strategies and improve performance.
• Demonstrated capability in crisis management, conflict resolution, project management, and continuous improvement.
• Strong working knowledge of standard business systems, data integrity, and performance reporting.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the regional Commercial Operations expert for assigned materials/categories and co-pilot with Sourcing Managers and SQA on supply risk evaluation, mitigation, and execution.
• Translate regional sourcing and supply strategies into clear operational priorities for assigned factories, materials, suppliers, and stakeholders.
• Develop and implement inbound pipeline strategies with Manufacturing, Planning/Flow, Logistics, SQA, Regulatory, Trade Compliance, Finance, and suppliers.
• Ensure execution of agreed materials strategies, including service, cost, quality, inventory, data integrity, and compliance requirements.
• Support operational buying and day-to-day material availability needs where required for the region.
• Act as a single point of contact for assigned factory/material scope, enabling timely, high-quality delivery of direct materials and packaging to production sites.
• Lead 0-12 week supply issue resolution and crisis management for assigned categories, including escalation, concession/reformulation requests, recovery plans, and stakeholder communication.
• Partner with Flow, Planning, Manufacturing, SQA, and suppliers to solve and prevent material shortages, supplier bottlenecks, ATS/downtime risk, and service disruptions.
• Participate in relevant S&OP and factory governance routines, including Factory Service Reviews, factory TLTs, daily JTM, and daily CMOS as applicable.
• Use data and periodic reviews with manufacturing facilities to improve supplier performance, OTIF, inventory health, and execution discipline.
• Serve as the primary operational contact for suppliers and internal teams on assigned materials, supporting forecasting, logistics, supplier-owned inventory/floor stock programs, and issue resolution.
• Collaborate with suppliers and cross-functional partners to drive continuous improvement, technology adoption, process excellence, and competitive advantage.
• Own supplier logistics interfaces for supplier-owned transport material, including requirements communication, transport specifications, performance management, and corrective actions.
• Partner with Sourcing, SQA, and strategic suppliers to bring innovative ideas, products, and process improvements back to Mars.
• Establish, monitor, and act on KPIs for assigned materials and suppliers, proactively addressing performance gaps and escalating risks as needed.
• Identify and implement VCO and logistics cost-reduction opportunities while protecting service, quality, and compliance requirements.
• Support claim processes and cost-recovery activities related to supplier service or material failures.
• Champion process excellence, data accuracy, EDI/consignment or related rollouts, and future Target Operating Model deployment as assigned.
• Maintain adherence to governance standards, regulatory requirements, quality controls, and Mars/Royal Canin commercial practices and policies.
• Partner with SQA to manage quality-related material issues and crisis response in order to minimize business impact.
• Demonstrate a quality and safety culture in actions, words, and spirit.
• Perform other duties as assigned to support Commercial Operations and broader Royal Canin business priorities.

Skills

English proficiency

Crisis management

Cross-functional leadership

Data analysis

Supplier management

Project management

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Job description

Mars is seeking an Operations Materials Manager to execute inbound supply chain strategies for raw and packaging materials supporting Royal Canin North America manufacturing facilities. You will translate sourcing strategies into operational execution, manage supplier performance, optimize inventory, and resolve issues to ensure timely, compliant material availability.

Partner across Sourcing, SQA, Planning, Manufacturing, Regulatory, and Finance to drive performance, reduce costs, and protect