Materials Manager

CONFIDENTIAL RETAINED SEARCH | AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURING

Search Reference: TNF-MX-MM-2026 | Retained exclusively by Top Notch Finders, Inc.

Gómez Palacio Operations · Comarca Lagunera, Durango, Mexico

POSITION SUMMARY

Our client serves multiple OEM and Tier 1 automotive programs from a single binational footprint in the Comarca Lagunera. The Materials Manager is the single point of accountability for end-to-end material flow through the plant, from customer release through supplier delivery, and owns the outcomes that keep the lines fed and the trucks moving: on-time customer delivery, inventory health, freight cost, and clean customs compliance under the IMMEX maquiladora program.

Reporting to the Plant General Manager with a functional line to Corporate Supply Chain, the Materials Manager leads the plant’s production control and planning, materials and warehouse, logistics and import / export, and customer service functions. This is a hands-on leadership role in an environment with zero tolerance for delivery surprises, where the wrong material or logistics decision carries a direct EBITDA consequence. The successful candidate protects customer delivery while driving structural cost out of inventory and freight.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Customer Delivery and Planning

• Own plant on-time customer delivery performance and act as the escalation point for any delivery risk to OEM and Tier 1 customers.
• Direct production control and materials planning, including short-term and long-term customer release and demand analysis, to keep the lines running without interruption.
• Manage customer forecast analysis and broadcast planning, translating OEM signals into stable, executable build schedules.

Inventory and Warehouse

• Manage warehouse operations, shipping, receiving, and inventory control, driving days-on-hand and obsolescence down without starving the lines.
• Apply disciplined inventory methodology (PFEP, ABC analysis, cycle counting) to sustain inventory accuracy and improve turns.
• Control obsolete material on build-outs and engineering change activity, minimizing excess and obsolescence exposure.

Procurement, Freight, and Logistics

• Oversee raw material procurement and supplier delivery management, driving supplier on-time performance and past-due resolution.
• Own inbound and outbound freight strategy and the annual freight budget, delivering year-over-year logistics cost reduction.
• Analyze domestic and overseas transport routes for optimum cost per shipment and service.

Customs, Compliance, and Launch

• Control import and export operations under the IMMEX maquiladora program, ensuring clean customs compliance and uninterrupted cross-border flow, including T-MEC country-of-origin requirements.
• Sustain compliance with customer and quality systems, including IATF 16949, ISO 14001, and OEM customer-specific supplier programs (GM, Ford, VW).
• Lead materials readiness for facility startups, program launches, and business transfers, maintaining continuity of customer delivery throughout.
• Develop and monitor departmental budgets, KPIs, and monthly operating reviews, and build an empowered, accountable materials team.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Fifteen or more years in automotive supply chain, materials, and logistics, with progressive plant-level materials or supply chain accountability.
• Demonstrated ownership of customer delivery performance in a Tier 1 OEM-serving environment.
• Hands-on import / export and customs control experience under the IMMEX maquiladora program.
• Proven freight and inventory cost reduction with quantified profit-and-loss impact.
• Working command of IATF 16949 and OEM customer-specific requirements (GM, Ford, VW or equivalent).
• ERP fluency (SAP, Oracle, or equivalent) and advanced planning and analysis tools.
• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, or a related field. MBA preferred.
• Fully bilingual, English and Spanish.

PREFERRED ATTRIBUTES

• Experience in seating, interiors, or comparable Tier 1 assembly-driven programs.
• Track record leading materials teams through plant startups, ERP implementations, or ownership transitions.
• PFEP, Lean, or APICS certification and a documented continuous-improvement orientation.

 SUCCESS IN THE FIRST TWELVE MONTHS

Within the first year, the Materials Manager will have taken full ownership of plant material flow with no degradation to customer delivery, established a clear baseline and improvement plan for inventory and freight cost, confirmed clean IMMEX and customs compliance, and built a materials organization that is accountable to its metrics. The measure of success is simple: the lines never stop, the customer never waits, and the cost structure improves quarter over quarter.

THE SEARCH PROCESS

This is a confidential retained search conducted by Top Notch Finders, Inc., a member of Sanford Rose Associates. Candidate identities and client details are held in strict confidence throughout the engagement. Qualified candidates are assessed against this specification and presented with a confidential benchmark report mapping documented experience to each responsibility and qualification.

HOW TO APPLY

This is a discreet, retained engagement. Your candidacy will never be presented to any organization without your explicit prior authorization, and no application will be visible to the hiring company at this stage. Accomplished manufacturing operations executives are invited to submit a resume in confidence, in English or Spanish, through the Top Notch Finders website. Please reference search code TNF-MX-MM-2026 in your submission. Do not include patient-identifiable, trial-blinded, or other confidential clinical or proprietary information of any kind in your application materials. Only candidates whose backgrounds align closely with the mandate will be contacted.