Supply Chain Replenishment Planning Internship – Summer

$22.00 per hour

We live our values - W.E.L.I.G.H.T (Winning, Excellence, Love, Integrity, Gratitude, Humility, and Teamwork). Gratitude. Humility. Love. You don’t often see values like these in most corporate statements, but Ace is different. These things are important to us. They represent our commitment to the company, our employees, to Ace retailers and to the Ace brand.

As a Replenishment Planning Intern, your primary responsibility is to ensure optimal product availability for Ace retailers by achieving targeted order fill rates across a portfolio of vendors. This involves managing inventory levels to ensure the right products are in the right place at the right time, using advanced forecasting and replenishment tools. You will be responsible for executing and monitoring purchase orders, overseeing vendor partnerships, and balancing inventory turnover goals with profitability targets.

A key challenge in this role is optimizing the trade-off between high fill rates and high inventory turns. In this role, you will provide exceptional support to retail store owners and collaborate daily with a variety of internal and external stakeholders, including Retail Support Centers (RSCs), Merchandising teams, Vendor partners, Traffic teams, Supply Chain Compliance. This internship offers hands‑on experience in supply chain operations, data‑driven decision‑making, and cross‑functional collaboration, making it an excellent opportunity for individuals pursuing a career in supply chain management or any analytical field of study.

• Working towards a Bachelor’s degree in the following areas:
  Supply Chain, Economics, Business Administration, Analytics, Finance or related discipline
• Completing Senior year of college (Graduating December ’27 or May ‘28)
• An analytical mindset and strong oral and written communication skills
• Excellent time management, organizational, and problem‑solving skills
• Adaptability and ability to learn quickly in high‑pressure environments
• Ambitious self‑starter who has demonstrated the ability to contribute as an effective team member
• Demonstrated motivation and initiative to succeed
• Knowledge and interest in Ace Hardware Corporation
• Ability to work 40 hours per week, Monday - Friday for 12 weeks in the summer (Mid‑May through Mid‑August 2027)
• Willingness and ability to give presentations to colleagues, managers and directors

Ace Hardware (headquartered in Oak Brook, IL) is the largest retailer‑owned hardware cooperative in the world with over 5,800 locally owned and operated stores in approximately 60 countries. Since 1924, Ace has become a part of local communities around the world and known as the place with the Helpful Hardware Folks.

Ace Hardware corporate headquarters is about 20 miles west of Chicago and you’ll get the very best of city and suburban life – prestigious shopping, dining, recreation, performing arts and historical neighborhoods. Our brand‑new corporate facility opened in September 2023 and has state of the amenities such as a work‑out facility, underground parking and upscale cafeteria. We work in the office the majority of the week and enjoy everything our new facility has to offer together as a team.

The Ace Internship program allows you to apply the skills and knowledge that you’re learning in school today, while contributing in a hands‑on environment to fit your career objectives, complement your academic work and enhance your learning. Here’s what you will take away from your experience:

• Real hands‑on experience in your assigned department/function with day‑to‑day…