Inventory Control Manager

Job Summary 

Manage inventory for business including development of solutions. Oversee inventory team. 

Major Tasks, Responsibilities, and Key Accountabilities 

• Manages inventory by reducing exposure to excess stock, dead stock and write downs. Reallocates and redistributes excess and potential dead stock. 

• Identifies products slow or non-moving and develops solutions. Enters transfers to facilitate movement of materials. Adjusts sell prices if necessary. 

• Manages vendor relations and vendor return process; leverages against forward buys. Analyzes forward buys to reduce exposure to excess. 

• Oversees inventory control team, managing hiring, training and development and performance appraisals. 

• Trains associates on systems as related to inventory. Performs analysis and support line reviews. Responds to questions and provides support for inventory issues. 

• Analyzes trends, determines methods for reporting excess and dead stock to field. Analyzes and researches inventory drift, contrasting inventory value between system and books. 

• Updates inventory lists and researches gains and losses. Manages physical inventory and counts. Performs inventory adjustments researching validity and coordinating adjustments. 

• Supports purchasing group. 

Nature and Scope 

• Solutions require analysis and investigation. 

• Achieves planned results by decisions and actions based on professional methods, business principles, and practical experience. 

• Manages a group or team of professional individual contributors and/or indirectly supervises support staff. 

Work Environment 

• Located in a comfortable indoor area. Any unpleasant conditions would be infrequent and not objectionable. 

• Most of the time is spent sitting in a comfortable position and there is frequent opportunity to move about. On rare occasions there may be a need to move or lift light articles. 

• Typically requires overnight travel 20% to 50% of the time. 

Education and Experience 

• Typically requires BS/BA in a related discipline. 

• Generally 7+ years of experience in a related field. 

• May require certification. 

• Advanced degree may offset less experience in some disciplines.

• Experience managing inventory, replenishment, or supply chain operations in a distribution, manufacturing, or wholesale environment

• Demonstrated success reducing excess inventory, dead stock, write-downs, and inventory-related costs through data-driven decision-making

• Strong analytical skills with experience evaluating inventory trends, forecasting demand, and developing inventory optimization strategies

• Proficiency with ERP, inventory management, and reporting systems, including advanced Excel or similar data analysis tools

• Experience leading, coaching, and developing inventory, purchasing, or operational support teams

• Knowledge of inventory control processes, cycle counting, physical inventories, reconciliations, and variance analysis

• Experience managing vendor relationships, returns, forward-buy programs, and inventory-related negotiations

• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills with the ability to partner effectively with purchasing, branch operations, finance, and supply chain teams