The Materials/Planning Specialist supports New Product Introduction (NPI) programs by managing material procurement, tracking, readiness, and delivery from initial engineering builds through customer shipment. This role also strengthens process execution through accurate master data, data analysis, reporting, system support, and AI-enabled automation. The ideal candidate will be comfortable working with ERP/MES/PLM data, Microsoft Copilot, Copilot agents, and workflow automation tools to improve productivity, visibility, and decision-making.

Digital Transformation Focus: This role will support scalable process improvements by improving master data quality, reporting automation, AI-enabled workflows, and NPI execution visibility.

Responsibilities

• Support NPI programs across the full lifecycle, from material sourcing and procurement through build support, readiness tracking, and final customer shipment.
• Manage, validate, cleanse, and maintain accurate material, supplier, inventory, and planning master data across ERP, MES, PLM, and related systems.
• Document current processes, define data standards, and develop end-to-end process flows to support consistent execution and future system enhancements.
• Analyze operational and supply chain data to identify material risks, shortages, overages, delivery issues, and opportunities for process improvement.
• Create dashboards, exception reports, and self-service analytics to improve visibility into material readiness, program execution status, and decision-making.
• Leverage Microsoft Copilot, Copilot agents, Power Platform, and other AI-enabled tools to automate routine analysis, summarize data, accelerate issue identification, and reduce manual work.
• Assist in designing, testing, validating, and maintaining AI-enabled workflow tools for BOM checks, material status updates, schedule visibility, lab updates, and operational reporting.
• Translate business requirements into clear process flows, data requirements, automation use cases, and validation criteria for IT, data, or system development teams.
• Receive, log, store, transfer, reconcile, and coordinate disposition of engineering materials while maintaining accurate inventory records.
• Monitor delivery timelines, resolve material issues, and align with Program Managers, IT, data teams, suppliers, and cross-functional stakeholders on material readiness and program goals.
• Support inventory optimization, material control, work instruction improvements, and cost reduction initiatives.

Required Experience and Skills

• Required Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, Data Analytics, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
  • 2+ years of experience in NPI, supply chain, materials planning, master data, data analysis, manufacturing operations, or process improvement roles.
  • Hands-on experience with SAP S/4HANA, ERP, MES, PLM, or related business systems in a supply chain, planning, or production environment.
  • Experience with master data management, data governance, data quality checks, and maintaining accurate material or planning data.
  • Strong skills in Excel, data analysis, reporting, and business process documentation.
  • Working knowledge of AI-enabled productivity tools such as Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot, or similar generative AI tools.
  • Ability to define business requirements for automation, data extraction, reporting, process mapping, and workflow improvement use cases.
  • Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
  • Ability to manage multiple priorities and work cross-functionally in a fast-paced environment.

• Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience with Copilot Studio, Copilot agents, Power Automate, Power Apps, or similar low-code/no-code automation platforms.
  • Experience building or supporting automation use cases for reporting, workflow routing, data validation, material status updates, or operational dashboards.
  • Experience with Power Query, Power BI, SQL, stored procedures, or equivalent analytics and visualization tools.
  • Strong experience with SAP, SAP Ariba, and Kinaxis is a plus.
  • Familiarity with semiconductor operations, engineering sample support, manufacturing planning, or NPI execution.

Desired Experience and Skills

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, data-driven, and comfortable working across supply chain, program management, IT, data, engineering, and supplier teams. This person enjoys improving processes, learning new digital tools, and turning complex material data into clear execution insights that support faster, better-informed decisions.

What Success Looks Like

• Improved visibility into NPI material readiness through dashboards, exception reports, and timely status updates.
• Cleaner master data and fewer manual data reconciliation issues across planning and execution systems.
• Faster identification and escalation of material risks, shortages, and delivery constraints.
• Increased automation of recurring reporting, data validation, and workflow follow-up activities.