Materials Specialist - Supply Chain

About the role

A Materials Specialist is needed for the Supply Chain team in Costa Rica. The role ensures the right materials are available in the right quantities and at the right time for production at the company's manufacturing operations and external partners. It combines materials planning, inventory management, supplier coordination and data analysis, with a focus on anticipating risks and keeping supply continuous.

Key responsibilities

• Plan and manage the availability of raw and packaging materials according to production requirements.
• Create and manage purchase orders for internal and external manufacturing operations.
• Monitor inventory levels, material coverage and stock health, flagging shortages, excess and obsolete materials.
• Coordinate deliveries with suppliers, considering lead times and warehouse capacity.
• Analyze material requirements and investigate MRP discrepancies (master data, BOMs, calendars).
• Build mitigation plans for material risks, including rescheduling, supplier follow-up and alternatives.
• Translate production plans into future material requirements, inventory projections and supplier capacity needs.
• Maintain inventory policies (safety stock, coverage, MOQ) and partner with Procurement on supplier constraints and inventory reduction.
• Track supplier performance, support new product launches, new SKUs and material setups in SAP, and analyze consumption vs. plan and lead-time variances.
• Build what-if scenarios for disruptions and propose process improvements such as automation, data quality, MRP optimization and reporting.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain, Business, Operations or a related field.
• Approximately 2-4 years of experience in materials planning, supply planning, procurement planning, inventory management or a related supply chain role.
• Experience with MRP and materials planning processes.
• Spanish and English proficiency.
• Experience in manufacturing, consumer goods, food or other fast-paced environments is highly desirable.

Required skills

• SAP; exposure to SAP MRP and/or MDG is highly desirable.
• Intermediate Excel; advanced capabilities are a plus.
• Power BI, Tableau or similar BI tools are desirable.
• Strong understanding of inventory management and material availability.