Supply Chain Director

RedBalloon; Peoria (IL); On-site; USD 130,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Rheo Engineering seeks a Director of Supply Chain to own planning, sourcing, warehouse, and logistics across Equipment and SUT divisions. You will lead buyer/planner and warehouse teams, shape supplier partnerships, risk governance, and market intelligence to protect growth.

This build role requires an entrepreneurial mindset to establish planning structure, maintain material flow, and deliver measurable savings while scaling operations across divisions.

Qualifications

• Supply chain leadership in manufacturing environments.
• Ability to manage both project-based and repetitive demand profiles.

Responsibilities

• Own supplier selection, qualification, and performance across two divisions.
• Translate project schedules into material requirements and lead-time buffers.
• Own inventory strategy across two demand profiles and minimize aging stock.
• Oversee warehouse operations, inventory accuracy, and outbound shipments in ERP system.
• Develop and manage a formal freight program to control costs as revenue grows.
• Mitigate supply risk with dual-sourcing and nearshoring where appropriate.
• Build strategic supplier relationships and governance processes.
• Coordinate with Manufacturing on material release timing and capacity planning.
• Partner with Quality on supplier documentation and compliance.
• Provide inputs to PMO and Engineering during design for sourcing.
• Lead recruitment and onboarding of buyer/planner and warehouse staff.
• Report cost performance and savings to COO and Finance.

Skills

Supply chain leadership

Procurement leadership

Warehouse operations

Inventory management

Supplier relationship management

ERP (Epicor Kinetic)

Data-driven decision making

Negotiation

Education

Bachelor's degree in supply chain or related

Tools

Epicor Kinetic

Microsoft 365

Job description

Company: Rheo Engineering

Job Summary

Rheo is looking for a Director of Supply Chain to own planning, sourcing, warehouse, and logistics across both of our divisions — Equipment (engineer-to-order capital systems with some standard products) and SUT (repetitive production of single-use technologies). Two very different demand profiles, one supply chain. Reporting to the COO, you'll lead the buyer/planner and warehouse/shipping teams and own the strategic side too: supplier partnerships, risk governance, and market intelligence that protect the company as it grows.

This is a build role. We're growing fast, and we need someone with an entrepreneurial mindset who can put real planning structure and discipline in place while keeping material moving. You'll have the runway to do it — and we'll expect you to earn it back with follow-through.

Responsibilities

• Own supplier selection, qualification, and performance across both divisions, holding suppliers to cost, quality, and lead-time commitments
• Translate Equipment project schedules and SUT production plans into material requirements, purchase timing, and lead-time buffers
• Own inventory strategy across two demand profiles, minimizing aging and obsolete stock while protecting on-time-in-full delivery
• Own warehouse operations, inventory accuracy, and outbound shipment execution — disciplined cycle counting, location/lot control, and ERP transaction integrity in Epicor Kinetic
• Own and continuously improve a managed freight program — carrier contracts, consolidation, mode selection — to cut expedited shipping and keep freight spend in line with revenue growth
• Own a formal supply risk register, mitigating single-source and long-lead-time exposure through contingency, dual-sourcing, nearshoring, and alternate qualified sources
• Build and grow strategic, multi-year supplier relationships, and maintain the market intelligence that surfaces risk and opportunity early
• Partner with the Directors of Manufacturing on material release timing, work-order readiness, and recovery when materials are at risk
• Partner with the Director of Quality on incoming inspection, supplier documentation (CoC, CoA, BoL), DMR compliance, and supplier-caused nonconformances
• Feed lead-time, constraint, and sourcing inputs to PMO and Engineering during design, and into project and enterprise capacity planning
• Partner with Manufacturing and Facilities on warehouse layout, racking, and material handling — planning space and capital ahead of demand
• Lead, develop, and hold accountable the buyer/planner and warehouse/shipping teams, and partner with HR on hiring and onboarding as the team scales
• Report cost performance, savings pipeline, and price/inflation exposure to the COO and Finance on a recurring cadence

What Success Looks Like

• Materials never cause a project or production-run slip — fabrication, assembly, and SUT production stay on schedule
• The warehouse runs with high inventory accuracy and on-time outbound shipment, and scales ahead of demand
• Freight and direct-material costs are actively managed, with a sustained savings track record
• Supply risk is identified and managed proactively — not discovered through a shortage or a missed schedule
• Supply Chain is a predictable, data-driven partner to Manufacturing, Engineering, PMO, and Quality, with a buyer/planner team that grows with the business

Qualifications

Adherence to and alignment with our core values is first:

• Initiative — instinct for taking action to improve, solve, and deliver
• Collaboration — proactive communication with your stakeholders
• Competence — ability to do your job well
• Reliability — persistent follow-through on commitments
• Bold Humility — courage to speak, act, and listen without arrogance

Experience

• Supply chain or procurement leadership in a manufacturing environment, ideally spanning both project-based (engineer-to-order) and repetitive production demand
• Owning warehouse operations and driving inventory accuracy
• Managing single-source and long-lead-time material risk in a quality- or regulation-sensitive setting
• Building strategic supplier relationships and a formal supply risk governance practice

Education & Technical Skills

• Bachelor's degree required; supply chain management, business, engineering, or an operations discipline strongly preferred
• Proficiency with an ERP system (Epicor Kinetic preferred) and Microsoft 365
• Strong analytical and negotiation skills — you turn spend and supplier data into action

How You Work

• Entrepreneurial — you're energized by owning the buildout of a scaling department
• Hands‑on and proactive — you build credibility with suppliers, buyers/planners, and internal stakeholders alike

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in pharmaceutical, life‑sciences, or other regulated capital equipment and/or single‑use/disposables manufacturing
• Familiarity with engineer-to-order project procurement and long‑lead capital equipment sourcing
• APICS/ASCM (CPIM, CSCP) or comparable supply chain certification
• Experience building or scaling a freight/logistics program and a formal supplier scorecard