The posting
The Supply Chain Manager provides strategic and day-to-day leadership for the shipyard’s Purchasing, Planning & Scheduling, and Material Control functions. The position is accountable for aligning procurement, production planning, material availability, inventory control, and logistics with contract requirements, engineering priorities, project budgets, and production schedules. This leader establishes disciplined processes, develops team capability, resolves cross-functional constraints, and delivers clear performance reporting to support safe, efficient, and on-time vessel construction.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Leadership and Department Management
- Lead, coach, and coordinate the Purchasing, Planning & Scheduling, and Material Control departments, setting priorities, accountabilities, and performance expectations.
- Develop department procedures, work standards, staffing plans, training needs, and succession coverage to support current and future project demands.
- Create an integrated supply chain operating rhythm that connects engineering releases, bills of material, work packages, procurement, receiving, warehousing, kitting, and production need dates.
- Escalate material, schedule, cost, quality, and supplier risks promptly, with recovery actions, owners, and required decision dates.
- Promote a culture of safety, accuracy, urgency, ethical conduct, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Purchasing and Supplier Management
- Provide oversight of requisitions, RFQs, bid evaluations, purchase orders, approvals, expediting, and procurement records for materials, equipment, tools, parts, supplies, and subcontracted services.
- Ensure purchasing decisions meet technical specifications, quality requirements, approved budgets, required delivery dates, and applicable contractual obligations.
- Lead supplier sourcing, qualification, negotiation, performance management, and corrective action in coordination with Engineering, Project Management, Production, Quality Control, and Finance.
- Monitor open and overdue purchase-order commitments, identify long-lead and critical-path items, and implement recovery or alternate-source plans.
- Ensure discrepancies involving pricing, invoices, receipts, damaged or unacceptable goods, and supplier performance are resolved and documented.
Planning, Scheduling, and Production Control
- Oversee development, maintenance, and communication of project schedules, work-order structures, work packages, production priorities, engineering need dates, and resource or manning reports.
- Ensure planning and cost-tracking data is accurate, current, auditable, and aligned with project budgets and production status.
- Coordinate schedule interfaces among Engineering, Project Management, Production, Purchasing, Material Control, and Finance to identify and remove bottlenecks.
- Provide regular analysis of schedule performance, labor utilization, productivity, project hours, material readiness, and emerging constraints.
- Ensure production teams receive timely drawings, work packages, material status, and actionable schedule information.
Material Control, Inventory, and Logistics
- Oversee receiving, inspection coordination, warehousing, inventory control, material preservation, issue, kitting, staging, internal movement, shipping, and surplus disposition.
- Ensure each shipment is accurately received against the proper purchase order, identified, recorded, stored, and communicated to the appropriate stakeholders.
- Establish controls for project-assigned material, owner-furnished equipment, high-value items, shelf-life material, shortages, substitutions, returns, and nonconforming material.
- Maintain material traceability and inventory accuracy through routine audits, cycle counts, reconciliation, and corrective action.
- Coordinate material priorities and delivery to the point of use in support of production sequence and schedule commitments.
Cost, Reporting, Systems, and Improvement
- Develop and issue concise weekly and monthly reports covering procurement workload, actual versus budget performance, overdue commitments, material availability, schedule health, inventory accuracy, supplier performance, and corrective actions.
- Partner with Finance to support invoice matching, commitment tracking, accruals, forecasting, and resolution of procurement or receiving discrepancies.
- Establish meaningful key performance indicators and use data to improve lead time, cost, schedule reliability, inventory accuracy, and internal service levels.
- Maintain disciplined use of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Project, and company business systems; support system configuration, data standards, user training, and process audits.
- Identify and implement opportunities for cost reduction, waste elimination, standardization, improved material flow, and stronger supplier performance without compromising safety, quality, or contractual requirements.
Compliance and Other Responsibilities
- Ensure department activities comply with company policies, approval authorities, quality procedures, safety requirements, contract terms, and applicable regulatory or customer requirements.
- Maintain complete, accurate, and retrievable procurement, planning, inventory, and material-control records.
- Participate in project, production, planning, and management reviews, providing accurate status and recommended actions.
- Perform other related duties and assignments as directed.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, business, engineering, operations, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience.
- Seven or more years of progressive experience in purchasing, production planning, material control, supply chain, or operations within shipbuilding, marine construction, heavy manufacturing, defense, or a comparable project-based environment.
- Three or more years of leadership experience managing supervisors, managers, or multidisciplinary teams.
- Demonstrated experience with project schedules, budgets, bills of material, purchase orders, supplier negotiations, inventory controls, material requirements, and performance reporting.
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel and working proficiency with Microsoft Project and enterprise planning, procurement, or inventory systems.
- Strong written and verbal communication, negotiation, analytical, organizational, problem-solving, and follow-through skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Direct shipyard, vessel construction, vessel repair, or marine systems experience.
- Experience supporting multiple concurrent projects with long-lead equipment, engineered materials, and customer or regulatory hold points.
- Professional certification such as CPSM, CSCP, CPIM, or equivalent.
- Working knowledge of quality management systems, controlled material processes, supplier quality, and continuous-improvement methods.
Core Competencies
Enterprise Leadership Connects department priorities to project and company objectives.
Commercial Judgment Balances cost, schedule, quality, risk, and supplier capability.
Planning Discipline Translates requirements into executable dates, priorities, and ownership.
Data Integrity Insists on accurate systems, records, reports, and traceability.
Cross-Functional Collaboration Builds effective working relationships across technical and production teams.
Problem Solving Identifies root causes, implements recovery plans, and verifies closure.
Accountability Sets expectations, measures results, and follows through.
Continuous Improvement Standardizes work and improves flow, reliability, and efficiency.
Physical and Work Environment Requirements
- Ability to work in office, warehouse, fabrication, waterfront, and vessel environments, both indoors and outdoors, as business needs require.
- Ability to stand, sit, walk, climb stairs or ladders, bend, kneel, and access active shipyard work areas.
- Correctable vision sufficient to read documents, drawings, labels, safety symbols, and color-coded information.
- Ability to wear required personal protective equipment, which may include hard hat, safety glasses, steel-toe footwear, hearing protection, gloves, fall protection, and respiratory protection when required by the applicable job hazard analysis.
- Ability to work at a pace consistent with project deadlines and respond to urgent material or schedule issues.
Safety and Conduct Expectations
- Comply with all safety procedures, environmental requirements, company policies, work rules, and job hazard analyses.
- Report accidents, injuries, unsafe conditions, damaged equipment, and broken or misused tools promptly through established channels.
- Maintain professional conduct, reliable attendance, punctuality, confidentiality, and a clean and orderly work environment.
Classification note: This description summarizes the primary duties of the role and is not intended to be an exhaustive list. Duties may change based on business and project requirements. Reasonable accommodations may be provided in accordance with applicable law.
