Fractional Director of Supply Chain

Overview

The company is a small (approximately 35–40 person) consumer products firm based in Texas, known for premium consumer goods. The supply base is primarily overseas and U.S. warehousing spans multiple locations. The organization is seeking a hands-on Fractional Director of Supply Chain for a front-loaded, part-time, approximately 90-day engagement to take operational control of inventory, procurement, and supplier performance. This is an execution role (not advisory): the person will inspect data, make and drive decisions, stabilize operations, and deliver a documented operating system the permanent team can run. The role reports to the VP of Operations, works directly with a junior procurement buyer and the logistics manager, is hybrid-preferred in Texas (fully remote considered), and may convert to an ongoing fractional or full-time arrangement.

Responsibilities

• Build a validated baseline of on-hand, available, allocated, in-transit, and open-PO inventory by SKU and location across all U.S. warehouses
• Set SKU- and location-level inventory targets using months-of-supply, safety stock, reorder parameters, lead time, service expectations, MOQ/case-pack constraints, and demand variability
• Create projected inventory-at-receipt views and run a weekly exception process producing clear Buy, Expedite, Delay, Cancel, Reallocate, or Hold recommendations
• Identify excess, obsolete, slow-moving, shortage, and stockout exposure; drive prioritized disposition and mitigation plans
• Reconcile the open-PO book against ERP records, supplier confirmations, production milestones, ship dates, quantities, costs, and destinations
• Establish PO control from release through factory completion, booking readiness, departure, and receipt handoff, including escalation routines for late PO, shortages, and quality issues
• Design and implement a structured allocation methodology to determine which warehouse receives each inbound overseas PO, line, shipment, or container, including split vs. single-destination evaluation
• Set decision calendar and cutoff rules so allocations are approved ahead of supplier labeling, booking, consolidation, and routing deadlines; establish reallocation process for changing conditions
• Segment suppliers by spend, risk, criticality, lead time, quality exposure, and switching difficulty; implement practical scorecards for on-time delivery, commit reliability, quality, responsiveness, lead time, cost, and corrective-action closure
• Lead negotiations, cost-down actions, term and MOQ improvements, capacity commitments, dual-source evaluation, and run business-review and escalation cadence with priority suppliers
• Manage RFP and RFQ packages for new product launches and sourcing initiatives
• Quantify and prioritize material, freight, duty, expediting, inventory-carrying, MOQ, and payment-term opportunities with Finance and Logistics; track initiatives from identification through realized value
• Define weekly management cadence, standard reports, decision rights, exception thresholds, and escalation paths for procurement and inventory
• Write SOPs and standard work for PO control, supplier follow-up, inventory exceptions, allocation, routing handoff, approvals, and master-data stewardship
• Coach the procurement buyer through live cycles, clarify roles across Demand Planning, Logistics, and Procurement, and build named internal ownership of each routine
• Deliver a Day-90 transition package including KPI baseline, open-risk register, tools and templates, and a prioritized 6–12 month roadmap

Qualifications

• 8+ years of supply chain experience in a product or manufacturing environment at Senior Manager or Director level, with hands-on ability to execute operationally
• Demonstrated ownership of inventory and supply planning across multiple warehouses or distribution nodes
• Strong background in inventory management, procurement, and supplier management
• Direct experience with overseas or Asia-based supply chains, long lead times, international purchasing, production milestones, and cross-border inbound supply (language skills not required)
• Hands-on ERP and MRP fluency; ability to work pragmatically from imperfect data, spreadsheets, and operational reports; familiarity with mainstream ERP systems a strong plus
• Working knowledge of international logistics, container planning, routing constraints, landed cost, freight tradeoffs, and warehouse receiving realities
• Proven ability to convert forecasts and inventory policy into executable PO, supply, allocation, and exception decisions
• Strong financial orientation across working capital, total landed cost, inventory exposure, and benefit validation
• Track record negotiating with overseas suppliers and delivering measurable improvements in service, inventory, cost, or supplier performance
• Proven ability to operate independently and to mentor and develop junior team members
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, resource-constrained SMB environment, entering a developing situation, challenging assumptions, and escalating early
• Clear executive communication, structured problem solving, and a track record of building sustainable processes
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, Supply Chain, or related field; professional supply chain certifications a plus