Job Description

Aitech Defense Systems is renowned for its innovation in rugged embedded systems, designed to operate reliably in the challenging environments of military, defense, aerospace, and space applications. Founded in 1983, Aitech has a rich history of pioneering advancements such as the world’s first conduction-cooled MIL-SPEC VMEbus board and has continually evolved its product line to include state-of-the-art SBCs, GPGPU-based AI applications, and advanced cybersecurity for mission-critical systems.

Joining us means you’ll be working at the forefront of technology with projects that span across land, sea, air, and space, supporting some of the top prime contractors in the industry. This opportunity will allow you to contribute to groundbreaking projects and push the boundaries of embedded computing technology.

The Planner, Material Readiness is responsible for the daily execution of material readiness activities that support production schedules, program commitments, and customer deliveries. Reporting to Operations, this role serves as the operational link between Planning, Procurement, Warehouse Operations, Production, Engineering, Quality, Program Delivery, and Customer Support to ensure materials are available, properly staged, accurately transacted, and ready for production.

The position oversees the end-to-end flow of raw materials, components, work-in-process, and returned products by monitoring inventory, coordinating material availability, expediting shortages, supporting engineering changes, maintaining inventory accuracy, and processing Return Material Authorizations (RMAs). While Planning (PP&C) owns demand planning, forecasting, MRP, and production schedules, the Material Readiness Coordinator owns the execution activities that ensure production has the right material, in the right place, at the right time.

This role bridges planning and shop-floor execution by identifying and resolving material shortages, inventory discrepancies, receiving delays, transaction errors, and readiness risks before they impact production schedules or customer commitments.

Key Responsibilities

Material Readiness & Production Support

• Monitor material readiness against production schedules, work orders, and customer commitments.
• Ensure production has the right materials available at the right time to support schedule execution.
• Coordinate material availability, staging, kitting, and delivery to production work centers.
• Verify material readiness prior to work-order release and production start.
• Track material movement from receiving through warehouse, staging, production, and shipment.
• Identify shortages, missing components, receiving delays, inventory discrepancies, and other material constraints that could impact production.
• Develop recovery plans and expedite critical shortages to minimize manufacturing downtime.
• Maintain material readiness dashboards, shortage reports, and production readiness metrics.
• Support Engineering Change Orders (ECOs), BOM revisions, approved substitutions, and configuration changes to ensure production readiness.

Inventory & Warehouse Management

• Maintain inventory visibility for production materials and finished goods.
• Perform cycle counts, inventory audits, reconciliations, and discrepancy investigations.
• Ensure inventory transactions are accurately recorded in the ERP/MRP system.
• Maintain material traceability and inventory accuracy.
• Optimize warehouse organization, storage locations, and stockroom efficiency.
• Coordinate receiving activities by verifying incoming shipments against purchase orders and routing materials appropriately.

Material Coordination & Expediting

• Collaborate with Planning (PP&C), Procurement, Warehouse Operations, Production, Engineering, and Quality to resolve material shortages and supply risks.
• Expedite critical materials with buyers and suppliers to support production priorities.
• Coordinate material releases and kit availability based on production schedules.
• Communicate material readiness risks proactively and escalate issues before they impact customer deliveries.

Return Material Authorization (RMA) Coordination

• Manage day-to-day processing and coordination of RMAs.
• Coordinate receipt, tracking, routing, inspection, and disposition of returned products.
• Ensure RMAs are accurately documented and maintained within ERP systems.
• Coordinate returned-product activities with Customer Support, Engineering, Quality, and Production.
• Monitor RMA turnaround performance and escalate delays affecting customer commitments.

Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain material shortage reports, readiness dashboards, inventory reports, and performance metrics.
• Provide Operations leadership with visibility into material readiness, inventory health, shortages, and execution risks.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives that improve inventory accuracy, material flow, production readiness, and on-time delivery performance.

Accountabilities

The Planner, Material Readiness is accountable for:

• Material readiness execution
• Production staging and kitting readiness
• Inventory visibility and transaction accuracy
• Material shortage identification and resolution
• Warehouse material coordination
• Shop-floor material support
• Engineering change material readiness
• RMA coordination and returned product processing
• Material readiness risk identification and escalation
• Cross-functional coordination supporting production execution

Measures of Success

Success in this role is measured by:

• Material availability to support scheduled production
• Reduction in material-driven production delays
• Production staging and kitting accuracy
• Inventory accuracy and transaction integrity
• Timely identification and resolution of material shortages
• Improved material readiness visibility across programs
• RMA turnaround performance
• Reduced production disruptions due to material constraints
• Support of On-Time Delivery (OTD) objectives
• Customer return processing cycle time

AiTech offers a competitive total rewards package aligned with the individual’s skills, knowledge, and experience, and in line with both internal standards and external market practices. The expected annual salary range for this role is $85,000 - $95,000 a year.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, Manufacturing, or equivalent experience.
• Minimum 3–5 years of experience in manufacturing, materials coordination, production support, logistics, inventory control, or supply chain operations.
• Experience using ERP/MRP systems.
• Experience supporting aerospace, defense, electronics, or other regulated manufacturing environments preferred.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Proficient with Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Office applications.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional coordination skills.
• This position requires use of information or access to hardware which is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). All applicants must be U.S. persons within the meaning of ITAR. ITAR defines a U.S. person as a U.S. Citizen, U.S. Permanent Resident (i.e. 'Green Card Holder'), Political Asylee, or Refugee