Inventory Control Lead

Position Overview:

The Inventory Control Lead is responsible for overseeing and maintaining accurate inventory levels of raw materials, work-in-process (WIP), finished goods, packaging, and production supplies throughout the rare earth magnet manufacturing operation. This position plays a critical role in ensuring materials are available to support production schedules while minimizing excess inventory, shortages, waste, and carrying costs.

The Inventory Control Lead will establish and maintain inventory-control systems, procedures, and performance standards while working closely with Purchasing, Production, Quality, Sales, Shipping/Receiving, and Finance.

Key Responsibilities:

Inventory Management

·       Manage daily inventory activities for raw materials, components, WIP, finished magnets, and supplies.

·       Maintain accurate inventory records within the Business Central, the company’s ERP/MRP system.

·       Establish appropriate minimum, maximum, safety-stock, and reorder levels.

·       Monitor inventory movements and investigate discrepancies.

·       Develop and maintain inventory-control procedures and standard operating practices.

·       Ensure proper identification, labeling, lot tracking, and storage of materials.

·       Monitor inventory aging and identify obsolete, excess, damaged, or slow-moving materials.

Rare Earth Material Control

·       Maintain strict inventory accountability for rare earth materials and magnet-related raw materials.

·       Track materials by lot, heat/batch, supplier, specification, and production order when required.

·       Ensure traceability of materials throughout receiving, production, inspection, storage, and shipment.

·       Work with Quality and Production to properly control nonconforming, quarantined, rejected, and rework materials.

·       Monitor material yields, scrap, and production losses to identify opportunities for improvement.

Cycle Counting & Physical Inventory

·       Develop and manage a structured cycle-count program.

·       Conduct and oversee monthly physical inventory counts.

·       Research and resolve inventory variances.

·       Establish root causes for recurring discrepancies and implement corrective actions.

·       Maintain inventory accuracy targets and report performance to management.

Production Support

·       Coordinate material availability with Production Planning and Manufacturing.

·       Ensure production orders have the required materials available when needed.

·       Identify potential shortages before they impact production schedules.

·       Coordinate the movement of materials between receiving, raw-material storage, production, WIP locations, and finished-goods areas.

·       Work with the Warehouse Manager to help optimize warehouse layout and material flow.

Purchasing & Supplier Coordination

·       Work closely with Purchasing to communicate inventory requirements and material shortages.

·       Provide inventory data to support purchasing decisions and production planning.

·       Monitor incoming materials and identify potential supply issues.

·       Assist in evaluating supplier performance related to quantity, quality, lead time, and material availability.

ERP/MRP & Data Management

·       Maintain accurate inventory, locations, units of measure, and transaction records.

·       Ensure all receiving, issuing, transfers, adjustments, and production transactions are properly recorded.

·       Develop inventory reports and dashboards for management.

·       Analyze inventory trends and identify opportunities to improve accuracy and efficiency.

·       Support ERP/MRP system improvements and implementation of improved inventory-control processes.

Leadership

·       Supervise and develop inventory, warehouse, receiving, and/or material-control personnel.

·       Establish clear performance expectations and accountability.

·       Train employees on inventory procedures, ERP transactions, material handling, and documentation requirements.

·       Promote a culture of accuracy, organization, safety, and continuous improvement.

Knowledge, Skills &Abilities:

·      Inventory forecasting and replenishment

·      Cycle counting and physical inventory

·      ERP/MRP systems

·      Materials requirements planning

·      Lot and batch traceability

·      Warehouse organization and material flow

·      Root-cause analysis

·      Microsoft Excel and data analysis

·      Lean manufacturing principles

·      Production planning support

·      Team leadership and employee development

·      Strong written and verbal communication

Requirements:

Required:

·      3–5+ years of experience in inventory control, warehouse management, materials management, or manufacturing.

·      Previous supervisory or management experience.

·      Strong understanding of inventory-control principles and warehouse operations.

·      Experience working with ERP/MRP inventory systems.

·      Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

·      Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills.

·      Ability to work effectively across Production, Purchasing, Quality, Shipping, and Finance.

·      Strong computer skills, particularly Microsoft Excel and inventory/ERP systems.

Preferred:

·      Experience in metal, magnet, aerospace, automotive, electronics, machining, or other precision manufacturing environments.

·      Experience with rare earth materials, including neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets.

·      Experience with lot/batch traceability.

·      Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or other continuous-improvement experience.

·      Experience with ERP/MRP implementation or optimization.

·      APICS/ASCM certification or similar supply-chain certification.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and distance vision. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to walk, stand, move, sit, carry, bend, kneel, reach, push, pull, lift, use hands and fingers, handle, or feel, and talk and hear. May be required to lift and move boxes or packages not exceeding 20 pounds in weight. Some work stress inherent to the position and extended work hours may be required.

Work Environment: 

The work environment will be a mix of a typical office environment, a manufacturing floor and a construction site.   Noise level: Normal office, manufacturing and construction noises.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills required of personnel so classified. The reporting relationship may not reflect the most recent changes to the corporate reporting structure.

USA Rare Earth proudly supports Equal Employment Opportunities

USA Rare Earth's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and will provide reasonable accommodations according to applicable federal, state, and/or local laws.

For assistance applying for employment through this site due to disability, please contact People & Culture,people@usare.com, to discuss reasonable accommodations.

Who we are:

We are on a mission to become a leading supplier of critical materials that enable the green energy and technology revolution.  Our materials and technologies are required for the electric vehicle, green energy, consumer electronics, and defense industries, and our battery grade lithium and tech metals are needed for chipsets, semiconductors, and 5G. 

We have a substantial interest in the Round Top, Heavy Rare Earth, Lithium and Critical Minerals deposit in West Texas. We have also developed the United States’ first rare earth and critical minerals processing facility and we own the only scalable, sintered neo-magnet manufacturing system in the Western Hemisphere. By developing this fully integrated, US-based “mine-to-magnet” critical mineral supply chain, we are poised to become the leading domestic supplier to these industries.

What you can expect:

At USA Rare Earth, we are pioneers and problem solvers, technologists and team players. Together, we:

Build Solutions: If our task was a simple one, it would already be done. We are creative and solution-oriented, and we think outside the box to solve important problems. We know that a range of expertise and technologies is needed for success, and we work across sectors and alongside customers to deliver world-class solutions in sustainable ways.

Deliver Quality: When we do things, we do them well. We believe that top-tier quality leads to industry competitiveness and we hold ourselves to the highest quality standards. We move fast when executing, but safety, quality, and excellence always come first.

Lead responsibly: We have a responsibility to the planet, our consumers, our country, and each other. We put safety at the center of all we do, take accountability for our actions, incorporate sustainable practices in our processes and act with the financial best interest of our investors and consumers in mind.

Win Together: Establishing a rare earth magnet supply chain is a big undertaking – and getting there is a team effort. We communicate openly, work together and challenge each other in pursuit of our goals. With every step we take we learn and get better.