Vice President of Supply Chain - High Growth - High Mix Company

Vice President of Supply Chain - High Growth - High Mix Company

Retained Search

Why you should be interested in this role:

This is a build role. You will own the entire supply base for a growing, high-mix manufacturer, every commodity and every site, from sourcing and supplier negotiation to MRP planning, inventory, and warehouse execution. The buyers here work hard and know the parts. What the business needs now is a leader who can turn a capable purchasing group into a strategic supply chain organization that lowers cost, secures supply, and frees up working capital.

The company has grown into a level of complexity its current buying model was not built for. Part shortages are the single largest cause of missed customer deliveries. The team is good at chasing the part in front of them, but no one is stepping back, connecting the dots, and building a process so the same fire doesn't keep coming back. The systems are already here, ERP and MRP, along with real investment in AI tools to predict shortages before they reach the floor. The gap is not the tools. It is someone who will leverage them and get ahead of the wave.

The approach is practical and relationship-driven. This is a mid-size, privately held business, not a Fortune 500 procurement shop, so you win through finesse rather than the weight of a large PO. The right leader earns the trust of an established buying team, builds real partnerships with the suppliers who keep the plants running, takes the ball, and makes the business better methodically, one step at a time. Status quo is not the goal.

The goal is to build a supply chain that becomes a competitive advantage, and the scope grows as the company does.

Company: Privately held manufacturer, approximately $150M in revenue

Industry: Heavy Fabrication, High Mix / Low Volume, Engineered-to-Order Manufacturing

Location: Lexington, Kentucky (Northside Suburbs) | On-site | Relocation paid as a one-time lump sum, negotiable

Reporting To: President

Direct Reports: Buyers and purchasing staff across all locations, plus supply chain roles added under this leader

Scope: Sourcing, vendor management, cost and contract negotiation, MRP driven planning, inventory, and warehouse execution across all divisions

Compensation: Competitive Base and Bonus, plus Relocation

Travel: Approximately 20%, domestic with occasional international

Company Profile:

Our retained client is a well-established U.S. manufacturer running a high-mix, low-volume, engineered-to-order operation across multiple facilities. The work is fabrication-heavy, and every order carries variation, so execution depends on tight coordination between the floor, engineering, scheduling, and the supply base. The business is growing, and it has reached the stage where the next level of performance requires a stronger, more strategic supply chain function, a deeper bench, and a more disciplined approach to sourcing, inventory, and supplier management.

Position Description and Responsibilities:

The Vice President of Supply Chain owns the end-to-end supply base for all divisions and owns inventory from day one. This is a hands-on leadership role that combines strategy with execution. The right leader stabilizes an imperfect environment, builds the structure and processes that make performance repeatable, and develops the team that runs it.

Build and Develop the Team:

Assess the current buying team and build development plans that move strong transactional buyers into strategic sourcing and commodity management roles. Design the org structure, roles, and career paths to support growth. Set clear standards, KPIs, and a regular operating cadence.

Vendor Management and Relationships:

Build strong, long-term supplier partnerships based on trust, transparency, and performance. Implement a supplier scorecard covering quality, on-time delivery, lead time, cost, and responsiveness, with regular business reviews for top suppliers. Lead vendor consolidation to increase leverage and simplify management, recognizing that a small share of the vendor base carries the large majority of spend.

Cost and Contract Negotiation:

Own negotiation of pricing, payment terms, lead times, rebates, and long term agreements. Build supply agreements that protect price, quality, warranty, and continuity. Deliver a measurable annual cost reduction program and report savings against target.

Commodity Strategy:

Build sourcing strategies for the major commodities, including hydraulics such as cylinders, pumps, and valves, steel, electronics and controls, and other purchased fabricated components. Monitor market conditions, tariffs, and trade actions, and manage price and supply risk. Develop global sourcing where total landed cost, quality, and risk support it, while keeping domestic and dual source options for critical items.

MRP, Planning, and Systems:

Use the MRP system to its full capability, with accurate lead times, order policies, safety stock, and planning parameters. Move the team from shortage triage and expediting to planned, system driven purchasing, and leverage the company’s AI shortage prediction tools to get ahead of problems. Partner with Operations, Engineering, Finance, and IT on data accuracy, BOM integrity, and reporting.

Inventory and Warehouse Execution:

Own inventory across the business, including the service and aftermarket parts inventory. Reduce inventory without hurting production or customer delivery through better planning parameters and programs such as vendor-managed inventory, consignment, and kanban where they fit. Drive accuracy through cycle counting and disciplined warehouse layout and process. Give small, low-cost, nonstock, and line-side parts the same attention as high-dollar commodities, because those parts most often stop a build.

Cross Functional Coordination and SIOP:

Tighten coordination with Operations on schedules, shortages, and launches, with Finance on cost, working capital, and cash, and with Engineering on new parts, alternate sources, and value engineering. Understand how supplier lead times and the sales and operations planning process drive the system, and be a strong SIOP partner so part availability stops dictating the schedule.

Technical Critical to Quality and Skill Requirements (CTQ+S):

• 10+ years in supply chain or procurement in manufacturing, with at least 5 years leading a team
• Proven record of building or transforming a supply chain team, including developing buyers into strategic sourcing roles
• Hands-on experience getting full value from an MRP and ERP system, with a track record of moving a team from expediting to planned purchasing
• Documented cost reductions and successful contract negotiations with major suppliers
• Track record leading inventory reduction programs with measurable results
• Direct experience sourcing fabricated and engineered components such as hydraulics, steel, and electronics
• Strong understanding of how supplier lead times, MRP, and SIOP connect in a high mix, low volume environment
• Experience with vendor-managed inventory, consignment, or kanban is a plus
• Global sourcing and landed cost experience is a plus
• Background in high mix custom fabrication strongly preferred
• APICS and ASCM (CPIM, CSCP) or ISM (CPSM) certification is a plus

Leadership and Behavioral Critical to Quality and Skill Requirements (CTQ+S):

• Methodical, structured, and accountable, with the instinct to take control of an imperfect situation
• Takes the ball, communicates a clear plan, and drives change rather than preserving the status quo
• Earns trust and builds relationships with finesse, internally with sales, operations, and buyers, and externally with suppliers
• Builds capability in the team rather than carrying the work personally
• Impatient for results, but challenges and develops people rather than burning them out
• Owns physical execution, warehouse and inventory, not just strategy and systems
• Steady under pressure, tightens process rather than control when conditions get difficult
• Communicates clearly and credibly with buyers, plant leaders, suppliers, and executives

What We Are NOT Looking For:

• A Fortune 500 global procurement executive removed from the day to day work
• A purely transactional buyer or expeditor without a record of building strategy and process
• A leader who manages suppliers by force and leverage rather than relationships and finesse
• A caretaker who keeps the status quo
• A leader who manages from a dashboard or an office rather than owning warehouse and inventory execution

The Avery Point Group is a leading national executive search firm specializing in supply chain, operations management, continuous improvement, and private equity executive-level talent. We partner with private equity firms, portfolio companies, and corporate clients to identify and place transformation leaders who drive measurable, durable results.