Materials Lead

Kaney; Rockford (IL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Kaney is seeking a Materials Lead to oversee day-to-day planning, procurement, inventory control, and material flow for precision aerospace manufacturing. You will ensure material availability while optimizing inventory, improving supplier performance, and supporting on-time delivery.

This role collaborates with Operations, Production, Engineering, Quality, Program Management, and Finance in Kaney's SIOP process and drives continuous improvement across the supply chain.

Job description

Job Summary

The Materials Lead is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day planning, procurement, inventory control, and material flow required to support our precision aerospace manufacturing operations. This role will ensure material availability while optimizing inventory, improving supplier performance, and supporting on-time delivery to our customers. The Materials Lead will work cross-functionally with Operations, Production, Engineering, Quality, Program Management, and Finance to execute Kaney's Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning (SIOP) process while driving continuous improvement throughout the supply chain.

Major Responsibilities:

Materials Planning

• Develop and execute production material plans aligned with customer demand and master production schedules.
• Manage MRP recommendations and ensure timely release of purchase orders and manufacturing orders.
• Analyze excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory and develop reduction plans.
• Establish inventory policies including safety stock and reorder points.

Purchasing and Supplier Management

• Manage procurement of raw material, machined components, outside processing, hardware, and indirect materials.
• Negotiate pricing, lead times, and supplier agreements.
• Develop strategic supplier relationships focused on quality, cost, delivery, and responsiveness.

Production Support

• Coordinate daily material availability with production scheduling.
• Lead shortage meetings and establish recovery plans.
• Support engineering changes and material transitions.
• Ensure material transactions are completed accurately within the ERP system.

Continuous Improvement

• Lead Productivity Projects focused on supplier performance improvement and Purchase Price Variance (PPV) savings.
• Improve inventory turns and cash utilization.
• Reduce supplier lead times.
• Improve supplier on-time delivery.
• Standardize planning processes across Kaney locations.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• On-Time Delivery (OTD)
• Purchase Price Variance (PPV)