Consultant - "Material Management / Automotive Supply Chain"

P3 provides excellent Engineering, Consulting, and Digital Services across various sectors, including Automotive, Aerospace, Energy, Telecommunications, Finance, and the Public sector, and is seeking talented individuals like you for the following positions:

Main Responsibilities

• Monitor and manage material shortages, backlog situations, and supplier delivery risks for purchased parts and sub-components.
• Coordinate and follow up with up to 10 suppliers in parallel during critical shortage or backlog situations.
• Analyze supplier constraints related to capacity, manpower, material availability, sub-supplier issues, equipment limitations, cycle times, production planning, and logistics bottlenecks.
• Review and understand Bill of Materials, part structures, material requirements, demand signals, release schedules, call-offs, and supplier commitments.
• Evaluate material coverage, including inventory levels, Days on Hand, safety stock, pipeline inventory, transit status, and consumption rates.
• Support suppliers in defining and executing recovery plans to close gaps between demand, available capacity, and actual deliveries.
• Validate supplier production capability using information such as cycle time, shifts, headcount, OEE, output per hour/day, bottleneck processes, and production sequence.
• Follow up on JIT/JIS sequencing logic, production priorities, urgent shipments, and risk to OEM production lines.
• Identify critical parts that could impact production continuity and escalate risks proactively.
• Lead daily or frequent follow-up meetings with suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Coordinate corrective actions and short-term containment plans for shortage situations.
• Track supplier commitments, shipment plans, ASN status, premium freight, backlog reduction, and recovery milestones.
• Prepare clear status reports, dashboards, escalation summaries, and management updates.
• Support problem-solving activities to identify root causes of material shortages and prevent recurrence.
• Work in a high-pressure environment where fast reaction, structure, and disciplined follow-up are required.

Required Experience

• 5 to 10 years of professional experience in automotive supply chain, material planning, logistics, production planning, supplier management, or similar roles.
• Previous experience working with OEMs, Tier 1, Tier 2, or truck/commercial vehicle suppliers.
• Strong experience in material shortage management, supplier escalation, production recovery, backlog reduction, and delivery crisis management.
• Experience managing multiple suppliers, projects, or critical topics in parallel.
• Solid understanding of automotive production environments, especially where line stoppage risk, JIT/JIS delivery, sequencing, and strict production schedules are involved.
• Experience interacting directly with suppliers and cross-functional teams such as purchasing, logistics, production, quality, engineering, and program management.

Technical Knowledge Required (The candidate should have strong knowledge of):

• Material planning and production planning.
• Automotive supply chain processes.
• BOM structure and part-level demand analysis.
• MRP logic, customer releases, call-offs, and supplier schedules.
• Inventory management and material coverage.
• Days on Hand, safety stock, min/max stock, pipeline inventory, and transit material.
• Supplier capacity analysis.
• Production capacity, cycle times, output rates, bottleneck analysis, and shift models.
• Backlog management and recovery planning.
• JIT and JIS supply models.
• Sequencing logic and delivery prioritization.
• Supplier escalation and risk management.
• Logistics flows, transportation, premium freight, ASN, and delivery tracking.
• Root cause analysis and problem-solving.
• Automotive launch, ramp-up, or production stabilization environments.

Methods Knowledge:

• 8D Problem Solving.
• 5 Why Analysis.
• Ishikawa / Cause-and-Effect Analysis.
• A3 Problem Solving.
• PDCA.
• Shortage escalation process.
• Supplier recovery planning.
• Capacity analysis.
• Bottleneck analysis.
• Risk assessment and mitigation planning.
• Basic APQP / PPAP understanding is desirable.
• IATF 16949 awareness is desirable.
• MMOG/LE or automotive logistics assessment knowledge is a plus.

Tools Knowledge:

• Intermediate Microsoft Excel.
• PowerPoint for executive reporting.
• Microsoft Teams / Outlook.
• ERP or MRP systems such as SAP, Oracle, QAD, Plex, or similar.
• Power BI, Tableau, or other dashboard tools is a plus.
• MS Project, Smartsheet, Jira, Planner, or similar project tracking tools is a plus.
• Supplier portals, OEM systems, or EDI-based release systems are a plus.

Required Skills and Competencies

• Strong analytical thinking and ability to work with large amounts of supply chain data.
• Excellent communication skills with suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Ability to manage high-pressure situations with structure and urgency.
• Strong follow-up discipline and ownership.
• Supplier-facing confidence and professional assertiveness.
• Ability to translate complex shortage situations into clear action plans.
• Strong prioritization skills.
• Ability to manage multiple suppliers and critical issues at the same time.
• Strong sense of urgency and customer orientation.
• Hands-on mindset; willing to deep dive into details when required.
• Strong documentation and reporting skills.
• Fluent English is highly desirable; advanced English preferred for OEM interaction.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Business Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
• Additional certifications in Supply Chain, Lean Manufacturing, APICS, Six Sigma, Project Management, or Automotive Core Tools are a plus.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate has a background as a Material Planner, Supply Chain Specialist, Logistics Coordinator, Production Planner, Supplier Development Specialist, with proven experience managing supplier delivery risks and material shortages in a demanding automotive environment.