Specialty Advisor AAP Materials

Join the world's largest HVAC company, named by Forbes as one of America's Best-In-State Employers 2025!

This role is a high-impact executive role responsible for leading the end-to-end supply chain organization. This leader will design and execute global strategies across materials management, demand and supply planning, inventory optimization, and logistics. A primary mandate of this role is to champion and mature the Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning (SIOP / S&OP) process, driving cross-functional alignment between Sales, Operations, Finance, and Product Management to support business growth and customer fulfillment goals.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic SIOP Leadership

• Own and mature the enterprise SIOP framework to effectively balance market demand with manufacturing and supplier capacity.
• Lead monthly SIOP executive review cadences, driving alignment on a single consensus demand, supply, and inventory plan utilized for financial forecasting.
• Perform scenario planning and rough-cut capacity analysis to support demand shifts, new product introductions (NPI), and product lifecycle transitions.

Materials Management & Production Planning

• Oversee global material planning and execution processes to ensure uninterrupted supply and optimized material flow across all manufacturing facilities.
• Govern Material Requirements Planning (MRP) system discipline, data integrity, and parameters (e.g., lead times, MOQs, and lot sizes).
• Strengthen production control and scheduling mechanisms to optimize shop-floor resource utilization.

Supply Chain Strategy & Inventory Optimization

• Drive working capital performance by establishing strict Days of On-Hand (DOH) targets and reducing Excess & Obsolete (E&O) inventory.
• Identify, mitigate, and resolve long-range supply chain risks, including labor, equipment, tariff exposure, and material constraints.
• Design dashboards and KPI scorecards to track forecast accuracy, supplier execution, on-time delivery (OTD), and total supply chain costs.

Inventory Control & Optimization

• Drive working capital performance by establishing strict Days of On-Hand (DOH) targets, striking a precise balance between peak-season readiness and off-season reduction.
• Implement robust inventory tracking mechanisms, including multi-site cycle counting and warehouse management systems (WMS) to maximize accuracy.
• Minimize Excess & Obsolete (E&O) inventory through rigorous management of phase-out components, engineering change notices (ECNs), and legacy replacement parts.

Team Leadership & Supplier Partnerships

• Provide executive-level guidance and mentorship to a global team of supply planners, materials managers, and analyst professionals.
• Cultivate strategic relationships with tier-1 vendors, holding partners accountable to contractual commitments and delivery metrics.
• Foster continuous process improvements utilizing Lean Six-Sigma methodologies to eliminate operational waste and enhance scalability.

Role Requirements & Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Engineering, or a related field is required; an MBA or advanced degree is strongly preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in global supply chain planning, materials management, and SIOP within a manufacturing environment.
• Proven track record of successfully implementing or scaling enterprise-wide SIOP / S&OP processes across matrixed organizations.

Technical Skills & Certifications

• Deep proficiency in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle) and advanced planning tools (e.g., SAP/IBP, Anaplan).
• Expert-level knowledge of MRP architecture, demand analytics, and lean supply chain principles.
• Professional certifications such as APICS CSCP, CPIM, or a Six Sigma Green/Black Belt are highly desirable.

Leadership Competencies

• Exceptional cross-functional influence with the ability to build consensus between high-level sales, finance, and manufacturing stakeholders.
• Strong financial acumen with a clear history of tying physical material movements to P&L outcomes and working capital metrics.
• Willingness to travel up to 20%–30% to corporate sites and supplier locations as needed.

HVAC Logistics & Distribution Network

• Optimize outbound distribution strategies for finished goods, managing complex logistics networks servicing commercial distributors, residential contractors, and job sites.
• Manage inbound freight operations, mitigating risks associated with long-lead international components and bulky, heavy-gauge raw materials.
• Cultivate strategic relationships with third-party logistics (3PL) providers and freight forwarders to optimize total landed cost and transportation efficiency.

HVAC Industry Competency

• Deep understanding of HVAC supply chain dynamics, including regional seasonality, weather-correlation modeling, and distributor channel behaviors.
• Familiarity with HVAC regulatory frameworks, including EPA refrigerant regulations, DOE energy efficiency mandates, and UL safety standards.
• Technical comprehension of HVAC bill of materials (BOMs), commodity pricing indexation (copper/steel), and international sourcing constraints.

Systems & Analytics Expertise

• Advanced proficiency in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle) and dedicated SIOP/Advanced Planning tools (e.g., SAP/IBP, Kinaxis).
• Expertise in material optimization frameworks, including Safety Stock calculations, Economic Order Quantity (EOQ), and ABC/XYZ analysis.
• Strong command of logistics metrics, such as On-Time In-Full (OTIF), freight-as-a-percent-of-sales, and warehouse utilization rates.