Direct RM Buyer-Planner

About the role

BGF Industries is a leading U.S. manufacturer of innovative technical fiber materials used worldwide in aerospace, marine, automotive, filtration, insulation, electrical, and protective markets. The mission of this role is to plan, procure, and manage the flow of direct raw materials into BGF’s manufacturing operations, aligning supply with demand signals and optimizing supplier performance, logistics cost, inventory, and cash flow.

Responsibilities

• Ensure procurement and timely delivery of all direct raw materials needed for production and subcontracted processes.
• Develop and implement optimized supply plans based on demand forecasts, customer orders, MPS, and S&OP outputs.
• Place and follow up on purchase orders and replenishment requests, from issuance to delivery.
• Record and manage purchase order confirmations in the ERP system.
• Define, review, and maintain raw material inventory policies for optimal balance of service and cost.
• Monitor inventory levels to ensure availability without overstocking.
• Manage consignment stock relationships and consumption declarations.
• Proactively identify risks of stockouts, overstocks, obsolete inventory, and create mitigation plans.
• Implement alerting, reporting, and analytics tools to support decision-making.
• Monitor and measure supplier delivery performance, analyze variances, and drive supplier improvement action plans.
• Collaborate closely with suppliers to expedite, anticipate delays, adjust schedules, or negotiate alternate supply sources when needed.
• Manage contract execution, compliance, and dispute resolution in liaison with Quality, Purchasing, and Controlling.
• Support sourcing and supplier development initiatives to improve reliability, cost, quality, and continuity.
• Communicate supply constraints, schedule changes, or material issues upstream to production, planning, scheduling, and customer service teams.
• Assess the impact of material delays on production/sales plans, propose alternate scenarios, and implement contingency actions.
• Participate and contribute to S&OP, demand review, and supply review processes.
• Generate and maintain key performance reports and dashboards.
• Conduct root-cause analysis on performance variances and drive corrective/preventive actions.
• Lead or support continuous improvement initiatives in procurement, material planning, inventory optimization, supplier collaboration.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Industrial Engineering, Business, or a related field (preferred).
• 5 to 10 years of experience in procurement, material planning, supply chain roles (direct materials preferred).
• Strong background in manufacturing or industrial environments (e.g. composites, textiles, advanced materials).
• Proficiency with ERP systems (Infor M3, SAP, or equivalent).
• Experience with planning and procurement tools (e.g. EDI, forecast engines, BI reporting tools).
• Familiarity with Lean, Kanban, pull flow, and inventory optimization techniques.
• Certifications such as APICS CPIM, CPSM, or equivalent are a plus.

Skills

• Planning & Process Orientation: Structured, methodical, accurate in planning, ability to juggle multiple timelines and priorities.
• Analytical & Problem Solving: Comfortable working with data, trends, statistical tools, scenario modeling.
• Supplier Relationship & Negotiation: Ability to influence, negotiate, manage supplier relationships and performance metrics.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Strong communicator who can bridge procurement, operations, quality, logistics, and sales.
• Adaptability & Initiative: Responds to change, drives improvement, takes ownership of challenges.
• Continuous Improvement Mindset: Seeks process enhancements, automation, lean practices (VMI, Kanban, pull flow).
• Leadership & Development: If supervising, ability to coach, mentor, and manage others.
• Customer/Service Focus: Understand internal and external customer needs, maintain service commitments.

Benefits

BGF is a leader in technical fiber and fabric materials, with over 35 patents and a broad global footprint. The company is ISO 9001 certified, emphasizing quality, process discipline, and continuous improvement. The role offers strategic impact—bridging procurement, manufacturing, and operations—and visibility into supply chain challenges in a technically sophisticated manufacturing environment.

Pay and Schedule

Not specified, but the role offers opportunities to lead supplier performance improvement efforts, explore new materials/suppliers, and influence cost, quality, and cash flow outcomes. BGF values its employees, encourages learning, and fosters an inclusive, innovation-oriented culture.