Material Handling Supervisor

The Opportunity

Avantor is looking for a Material Handling Supervisor, EWM to serve as the site’s primary leader for all Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) processes within SAP S/4

HANA.

They will oversee the daily activities of the warehouse material handlers and function as the Business Process Leader (BPL) for EWM, ensuring system accuracy, operational discipline, and continuous improvement across all warehouse workflows.

The Supervisor is responsible for aligning warehouse practices with SAP standards, coordinating system issue resolution, developing and maintaining process documentation, and providing ongoing training to end users.

In addition, the role provides direct leadership and oversight to the warehouse team, driving performance, supporting material flow, and ensuring timely and accurate execution of picking, putaway, replenishment, staging, and shipping tasks.

The Supervisor, EWM plays a critical role in restoring and improving operational performance, enhancing customer response time, reducing OTIF backlog, and ensuring consistent, reliable support for production and delivery operations.

This is a full-time position based out of our Bakersfield, CA office.

Delivers day-to-day operational objectives through the supervision of a team of distribution associates, including warehouse operators, material handlers and/or administrative support staff.

Sets daily priorities for the team and oversees execution of distribution activities such as order fulfillment, inventory movement, and shipment scheduling, ensuring alignment with operational plans and service targets.

Serves as the site’s Business Process Leader (BPL) for SAP S/4

HANA EWM, ensuring process consistency, system accuracy, and adherence to standardized workflows.

Leads daily oversight of internal warehouse operations, including picking, putaway, replenishment, staging, shipping, and inventory movements.

Manages, coach, and develops warehouse material handlers, providing direction, performance feedback, and support to ensure operational excellence and safety compliance.

Monitors EWM task queues in real time, prioritizes workload, and allocates labor to prevent bottlenecks and maintain efficient material flow.

Troubleshoots EWM-related issues, coordinates solutions with IT, SAP support teams, and cross‑functional partners, and ensures timely communication to warehouse staff.

Maintains and updates SOPs, work instructions, and training materials related to all EWM processes and warehouse activities.

Conducts training and refresher sessions for end users to reinforce EWM best practices and improve system proficiency across the team.

Analyzes operational data, identifies process inefficiencies, and implements continuous improvement initiatives to restore and enhance pre‑SAP productivity levels.

Ensures accurate and timely execution of inventory transactions, cycle counts, and bin management to maintain high inventory accuracy.

Drives improvements in customer response time and OTIF performance by enabling faster, more reliable warehouse execution and reducing aging open tasks.

Supports cross‑functional alignment with Production, Quality, Planning, Logistics, and Customer Service to ensure coordinated material availability and order fulfillment.

Upholds safety standards, enforces compliance with warehouse procedures, and ensures proper use of equipment and technology.

Reviews team performance and workflows to ensure efficiency, and makes adjustments or recommends enhancements to processes and procedures to improve the effectiveness of the distribution area.

Works on problems and issues within the distribution function, such as delays, space constraints, or inventory discrepancies, requiring the analysis…