Director of Planning, Materials & Purchasing

Director of Planning, Materials & Purchasing

Location: Woburn, MA (on‑site)

Reports to: CEO

About Xico Lighting

Xico Lighting is a growing architectural lighting manufacturer serving the specification market. We operate in a high‑mix, engineered‑to‑order manufacturing environment where delivery reliability, material readiness, and execution discipline are critical.

As the business scales, informal handoffs and reactive expediting no longer work. We are investing in strong planning leadership to bring structure, predictability, and accountability from order intake through production execution.

The Role

The Director of Planning, Materials & Purchasing owns end‑to‑end planning and material readiness for the factory—from order receipt through kitting and production start.

Key outcomes include:

• Orders move through pre‑production workflows in a planned, visible way.
• BOMs are released on a schedule that supports material availability.
• Production plans are executable, not aspirational.
• Purchasing and kitting operate ahead of the factory, not behind it.

Note: This is a senior manufacturing operations role for someone who has run planning and materials in a real factory environment and understands that in an engineered‑to‑order business, information flow is as critical as material flow. It is not a transactional buyer, scheduler, or ERP administrator role.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the planning workflow from order receipt through BOM release and production start.
• Define and manage planning timelines for:
  • Shop drawings.
  • BOM creation and release.
  • Material planning and kitting readiness.
• Coordinate closely with Manufacturing Engineering and Product Design to ensure engineering outputs align with production and material lead times.
• Establish visibility to pre‑production queues, priorities, and constraints.
• Ensure planning begins immediately upon order acceptance, not after BOM release.
• Own the master production planning process across the factory.
• Translate demand into credible, capacity‑aware production schedules.
• Lead regular production planning and readiness reviews.
• Partner with Operations to ensure plans are executable on the floor.
• Own materials planning and purchasing strategy.
• Manage supplier relationships with focus on lead time, reliability, and cost.
• Establish and enforce policies for:
  • Lead times.
  • Safety stock.
  • MOQs.
  • Expedites.
• Reduce reactive purchasing and last‑minute shortages.
• Ensure materials are available and organized to support efficient kitting.
• Improve inventory predictability while controlling excess and obsolescence.
• Align kitting readiness with production start dates.
• Own planning and materials workflows within the ERP/MRP system.
• Improve data integrity (BOMs, lead times, planning parameters).
• Define and track KPIs related to:
  • BOM release timing.
  • Material availability at build.
  • Production plan adherence.
  • Inventory health.
• Lead and develop planning, purchasing, and kitting resources.
• Set clear standards for accountability, prioritization, and follow‑through.
• Build systems that scale rather than rely on heroics.

What Success Looks Like

The right candidate will begin driving measurable improvement quickly, establishing credibility through execution and results.

Success Is Demonstrated By

• Predictable pre‑production workflows and on‑time BOM releases.
• More reliable production schedules.
• Fewer material shortages and last‑minute expedites.
• Improved on‑time delivery performance.
• Healthier, more predictable inventory levels.
• Reduced operational noise and firefighting across teams.

Required Experience & Background

• Significant experience owning planning and materials in a manufacturing environment.
• Background in engineered‑to‑order, configurable, or high‑mix products (lighting, electronics, or electro‑mechanical manufacturing preferred).
• Experience coordinating planning across engineering, purchasing, and operations.
• Demonstrated ability to build planning systems, not just operate within them.
• Practical experience with ERP/MRP systems in imperfect, real‑world factories.
• Sound judgment and the ability to drive alignment without constant escalation.

This role is best suited to candidates who have already been operating at or near Director level and…