MRO Inventory & Reliability Lead – Greenhouse Network

Cox Farms; Kendall Township (IL); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Cox Farms is seeking an experienced MRO Specialist to support maintenance, inventory, and resource planning across our greenhouse and production facilities. The role emphasizes hands-on, on-site work with 40%+ travel to sites in the network.

You will manage spare parts, MRO materials, and inventory levels, while coordinating with Maintenance, Procurement, Operations, FSQ, and EHS teams to improve reliability and reduce downtime.

Qualifications

• Technical degree or trade certification or equivalent experience; Bachelor's preferred.
• 8–10+ years in industrial maintenance, MRO, inventory, manufacturing, or related field.
• Experience delivering across multiple facilities and coordinating teams remotely.
• Experience using MRP/ERP/CMMS systems.
• Strong understanding of MRO materials, spare parts, and maintenance processes.
• Strong organizational and inventory-management skills.
• Ability to analyze MRP requirements and prioritize material needs.
• Ability to read manuals, drawings, schematics, and parts information.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office or similar software.
• Strong communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently while coordinating with multiple departments.
• Experience with purchasing, vendor management, or maintenance procurement.

Responsibilities

• Lead setup of critical and consumable spare parts inventory processes across the network.
• Partner with site managers and technicians to improve equipment reliability.
• Coordinate MRO materials, tools, lubricants, and maintenance supplies.
• Maintain accurate MRO inventory levels and part numbers.
• Set and maintain minimum/maximum inventory levels and critical-spare requirements.
• Create part numbers, descriptions, specs, and equipment associations.
• Generate material requests, purchase requisitions, and maintenance orders.
• Collaborate with procurement to ensure parts availability.
• Support preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance activities.
• Assist with identifying parts and resources for planned and unplanned repairs.
• Maintain maintenance records, work orders, and equipment histories in CMMS/MRP.
• Monitor material usage and identify cost-saving opportunities.
• Coordinate with vendors on parts availability and lead times.
• Support root-cause analysis and continuous-improvement initiatives.

Skills

Inventory management

Analytical skills

Communication

Problem solving

Independence

Cross-team coordination

Education

Technical degree

Bachelors preferred

Tools

CMMS

NetSuite

SAP

Oracle

Microsoft Dynamics

Job description

Cox Farms is seeking an experienced MRO Specialist to support maintenance, inventory, and resource planning across our greenhouse and production facilities. The role emphasizes hands-on, on-site work with 40%+ travel to sites in the network.

You will manage spare parts, MRO materials, and inventory levels, while coordinating with Maintenance, Procurement, Operations, FSQ, and EHS teams to improve reliability and reduce downtime.