RedBalloon

Supply Chain DirectorRheo Engineering

  • Not-remote
  • Full-time
  • $150K - $180K/yr
  • Salary
  • Peoria, IL
Job Summary

Rheo is looking for a Director of Supply Chain to own planning, sourcing, warehouse, and logistics across both of our divisions — Equipment (engineer-to-order capital systems with some standard products) and SUT (repetitive production of single-use technologies). Two very different demand profiles, one supply chain. Reporting to the COO, you'll lead the buyer/planner and warehouse/shipping teams and own the strategic side too: supplier partnerships, risk governance, and market intelligence that protect the company as it grows.

This is a build role. We're growing fast, and we need someone with an entrepreneurial mindset who can put real planning structure and discipline in place while keeping material moving. You'll have the runway to do it — and we'll expect you to earn it back with follow-through.

Responsibilities
  • Own supplier selection, qualification, and performance across both divisions, holding suppliers to cost, quality, and lead-time commitments

  • Translate Equipment project schedules and SUT production plans into material requirements, purchase timing, and lead-time buffers

  • Own inventory strategy across two demand profiles, minimizing aging and obsolete stock while protecting on-time-in-full delivery

  • Own warehouse operations, inventory accuracy, and outbound shipment execution — disciplined cycle counting, location/lot control, and ERP transaction integrity in Epicor Kinetic

  • Own and continuously improve a managed freight program — carrier contracts, consolidation, mode selection — to cut expedited shipping and keep freight spend in line with revenue growth

  • Own a formal supply risk register, mitigating single-source and long-lead-time exposure through contingency, dual-sourcing, nearshoring, and alternate qualified sources

  • Build and grow strategic, multi-year supplier relationships, and maintain the market intelligence that surfaces risk and opportunity early

  • Partner with the Directors of Manufacturing on material release timing, work-order readiness, and recovery when materials are at risk

  • Partner with the Director of Quality on incoming inspection, supplier documentation (CoC, CoA, BoL), DMR compliance, and supplier-caused nonconformances

  • Feed lead-time, constraint, and sourcing inputs to PMO and Engineering during design, and into project and enterprise capacity planning

  • Partner with Manufacturing and Facilities on warehouse layout, racking, and material handling — planning space and capital ahead of demand

  • Lead, develop, and hold accountable the buyer/planner and warehouse/shipping teams, and partner with HR on hiring and onboarding as the team scales

  • Report cost performance, savings pipeline, and price/inflation exposure to the COO and Finance on a recurring cadence

What Success Looks Like

  • Materials never cause a project or production-run slip — fabrication, assembly, and SUT production stay on schedule

  • The warehouse runs with high inventory accuracy and on-time outbound shipment, and scales ahead of demand

  • Freight and direct-material costs are actively managed, with a sustained savings track record

  • Supply risk is identified and managed proactively — not discovered through a shortage or a missed schedule

  • Supply Chain is a predictable, data-driven partner to Manufacturing, Engineering, PMO, and Quality, with a buyer/planner team that grows with the business

Qualifications

Adherence to and alignment with our core values is first: 

  • Initiative — instinct for taking action to improve, solve, and deliver 

  • Collaboration — proactive communication with your stakeholders 

  • Competence — ability to do your job well 

  • Reliability — persistent follow-through on commitments 

  • Bold Humility — courage to speak, act, and listen without arrogance 

 

Experience 

  • Supply chain or procurement leadership in a manufacturing environment, ideally spanning both project-based (engineer-to-order) and repetitive production demand 

  • Owning warehouse operations and driving inventory accuracy 

  • Managing single-source and long-lead-time material risk in a quality- or regulation-sensitive setting 

  • Building strategic supplier relationships and a formal supply risk governance practice 

Education & Technical Skills 

  • Bachelor's degree required; supply chain management, business, engineering, or an operations discipline strongly preferred 

  • Proficiency with an ERP system (Epicor Kinetic preferred) and Microsoft 365 

  • Strong analytical and negotiation skills — you turn spend and supplier data into action 

How You Work 

  • Entrepreneurial — you're energized by owning the buildout of a scaling department 

  • Hands-on and proactive — you build credibility with suppliers, buyers/planners, and internal stakeholders alike 

  • Comfortable with ambiguity, and a clear communicator across every function you touch 

Preferred Qualifications 

  • Experience in pharmaceutical, life-sciences, or other regulated capital equipment and/or single-use/disposables manufacturing 

  • Familiarity with engineer-to-order project procurement and long-lead capital equipment sourcing 

  • APICS/ASCM (CPIM, CSCP) or comparable supply chain certification 

  • Experience building or scaling a freight/logistics program and a formal supplier scorecard 

About Us

Rheo Engineering designs and manufactures advanced powder handling equipment and integrated systems for the pharmaceutical industry. Our equipment is used in the direct manufacture of life-saving medicine around the world. We're privately owned and vertically integrated—we design it, build it, and ship it all under one roof.

Why Rheo

  • Privately owned and operated for 30 years and counting 

  • A seat at the leadership table — you report directly to the COO and own your function end to end 

  • Real scope: two divisions, two demand profiles, and the mandate to build the structure that carries us through growth 

  • Smaller team (~100 team members) with a strong, in-person work culture  

  • Vertically integrated — the material you source gets built into finished systems in the same building 

  • Unique, impactful work — direct influence over the safe, reliable, and efficient production of medicine around the world 

  • A growing company in a stable, regulated industry where precision and on-time delivery matter 

Working Conditions

Primarily office-based, with regular time on the manufacturing floor and in the warehouse coordinating material readiness, inventory accuracy, and shipment flow. Exposure to warehouse and manufacturing environments—forklifts and material-handling equipment, moving machinery, and elevated noise—with associated PPE and site safety requirements. Extended standing and walking, plus periods at a desk for planning, analysis, and reporting. Standard business hours with flexibility to support production needs, project launch ramps, and peak workload; occasional after-hours or on-call response to shipment, receiving, or material-availability issues. Travel up to approximately 20% of the time for supplier visits; valid driver's license required. 

The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met to perform the essential functions of this role, with or without reasonable accommodation. 

Rheo Engineering is an equal opportunity employer. 

Benefits 
  • Leading medical insurance—consistently low rates compared to other businesses in the area 

  • Health Savings Account with employer contributions (plan-dependent) 

  • Dental, vision, and life insurance 

  • Short-term and long-term disability 

  • Identity theft insurance 

  • 401(k) with 4% employer match 

  • PTO 

  • Paid paternity and maternity leave 

  • Paid cell phone plan with stipend for a new phone every 2 years 

  • Employee referral program 

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