The Role

You will own FORT's supply position end-to-end — vendor purchase orders, safety stock, contract manufacturer relationships, and demand planning. This is a hands-on role working directly alongside sales and customer experience leadership to balance forecast and inventory, and with engineering to build supply chains for new products.

Responsibilities

• Monitor and maintain safety stock levels for all active SKUs; flag risk before it becomes a customer problem
• Build rolling demand forecasts from Salesforce pipeline data and historical velocity; translate them into PO decisions aligned to CM lead times
• Own all purchase orders with Contract Manufacturers — placement, tracking, receipt confirmation, and escalation
• Drive improvement in supplier fill rates and lead time performance; develop dual-source options for high-concentration vendors
• Coordinate First Article Inspections for new CM batches with the Operations team
• Produce weekly and monthly KPI reports per SOP covering backorder rate, stock-out events, inspection pass rate, and inventory turn
• Maintain Fishbowl as the system of record; PO records, lead times, and stock data must be accurate and current
• Partner with Engineering during new product development to evaluate component sourcing options, establish approved vendor lists, and optimize BOM costs before designs are finalized.
• Support ISO 9001 compliance through auditable inventory and procurement records

What We're Looking For

• 4–6 years in supply chain, procurement, or inventory management in a hardware or contract manufacturing environment
• Direct CM relationship experience: PO management, lead time negotiation, and quality escalation
• Hands-on ERP/IMS proficiency 
• Ability to build demand forecasts from CRM pipeline data and act on them proactively
• Strong written communication skills; you will be escalating supply constraints to leadership before they affect customers
• Experience in robotics, defense, industrial automation, or similarly demanding hardware environments preferred
• ISO 9001 familiarity is a plus
• 1–2 years of experience leading, mentoring, or managing individuals, with a track record of fostering growth, accountability, and strong team performance