Material Planner

The Material Planner will manage material requirements planning, maintain appropriate inventory levels, coordinate packaging and finished goods requirements, monitor supplier performance, and support production and dispatch schedules. This individual will anticipate supply and inventory risks before they disrupt operations, maintain accurate planning data, and build strong partnerships across production, procurement, logistics, sales, and suppliers.

Material Planner
Full Time, On-Site, Houston, TX
Compensation: $80,000

Position Overview
Our client is a growing distributor of building materials with an expanding network of operations and distribution partners across the United States. The organization is focused on operational excellence, supply chain efficiency, and delivering high-quality products and service to its customers.
The Material Planner is responsible for coordinating the planning, availability, inventory, packaging, and flow of materials required to support production and distribution operations. This role serves as a critical link between production output, finished goods inventory, supplier availability, warehouse capacity, and customer demand.
The Material Planner will manage material requirements planning, maintain appropriate inventory levels, coordinate packaging and finished goods requirements, monitor supplier performance, and support production and dispatch schedules. The successful candidate will bring strong analytical capabilities, a sense of urgency, and the ability to balance changing customer demand with production capacity and supply constraints.
This is an ideal opportunity for a planning professional who thrives in a fast-moving industrial or manufacturing environment and enjoys solving complex supply chain challenges through data, collaboration, and proactive planning.

Key Responsibilities

• Packaging Inventory Management: Forecast, order, and maintain optimal stock levels for paper/polypropylene bags, stretch wrap, slipsheets, and pallets.
• Production & Packing Scheduling: Coordinate with the packing plant supervisor to align weekly bagging schedules with sales orders/forecast and coordinate with site operations to plan silo filling
• Warehouse Capacity Optimization: Monitor finished goods storage limits to prevent warehouse congestion and manage product shelf-life/rotation (FIFO).
• Dispatch & Distribution Planning: Partner with logistics teams to schedule truck loading, optimize bay utilization, and minimize customer wait times.
• Waste & Loss Control: Track and analyze packaging material breakage, spillage, and variance to minimize operational waste.
• Cross-Functional Communication: Collaborate closely with Sales, Quality Control, and Plant Operations to address sudden demand spikes or quality holds on specific batches.
• Material Planning Strategy: Develop and maintain material planning strategies to ensure uninterrupted production flow.
• MRP Scheduling: Create, manage, and adjust material requirement planning (MRP) schedules based on sales forecasts, customer orders, and production plans.
• Inventory Management: Monitor inventory levels and implement plans to prevent stockouts, overstock, and production delays.
• Demand and Forecasting Analysis: Analyze demand trends and suppliers lead time to ensure accurate planning and forecasting.
• Purchase Order Management: Place purchase orders, monitor order status, track shipments, and expedite deliveries as needed.
• Supplier Relationship Management: Work closely with suppliers to resolve delivery issues, discrepancies, shortages, or quality concerns.
• Cross- Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Procurement, Production, Engineering, and Finance, to ensure alignment on material needs.
• ERP and Data Management: Maintain accurate data in ERP/MRP systems, ensuring bill of materials (BOM) accuracy and updating planning parameters.
• Reporting and Performance Metrics: Prepare reports and metrics on inventory, material availability, and supplier performance.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify and support opportunities for cost reduction, process improvement, and supply chain optimization.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Operations, Logistics, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• 2 to 5 years of experience in material planning, production planning, inventory management, supply chain operations, or a related discipline.
• Experience within a fast-moving manufacturing, industrial goods, building materials, or consumer packaged goods environment.
• Hands-on experience working with ERP and MRP systems, such as SAP MM/PP or a comparable platform.
• Intermediate to advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret demand, inventory, production, and supplier data.
• Demonstrated ability to identify and resolve material shortages, inventory issues, and distribution bottlenecks.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced operational environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across production, procurement, logistics, sales, and other functions.

Preferred Qualifications

• APICS or ASCM certification, including CPIM (Certified in Planning and Inventory Management) or CSCP (Certified Supply Chain Professional).
• Experience with SAP MM/PP.
• Experience supporting packaging, finished goods, warehouse, or distribution operations.
• Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement methodologies, including Six Sigma, Kaizen, or Kanban.
• Experience working in a high-volume manufacturing or distribution environment.

What Success Looks Like
The successful Material Planner will maintain reliable material availability while balancing inventory investment, production requirements, warehouse capacity, and changing customer demand. This individual will anticipate supply and inventory risks before they disrupt operations, maintain accurate planning data, and build strong partnerships across production, procurement, logistics, sales, and suppliers.
Success in this position requires someone who is analytical but highly operational, comfortable working with detailed planning data while also responding quickly to real-world production and distribution challenges.

Benefits
The organization offers a competitive benefits package that may include:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance options for employees and eligible family members.
• Company-paid life insurance.
• Company-paid short-term and long-term disability insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan with company matching contributions.
• Paid vacation and sick leave.
• Paid holidays.