Contract Program Manager (Supplier Recovery) - 21477

Contract Program Manager (Supplier Recovery) - Defense Search

OVERVIEW

Are you looking for a new career opportunity with an exciting Defense/Aerospace company?! Then we've got the right team for you! In this role, you're responsible for the duties listed below.

Immediate opening for a Contract Program Manager (Supplier Recovery)in Jackson, MS who possesses:

• Experience managing projects, programs, suppliers, and/or supplier recovery initiatives
• Strong communication skills with the ability to drive accountability and obtain clear, accurate status information from suppliers
• Experience managing project timelines, production commitments, material shortages, and delivery risks
• Ability to work directly with supplier leadership, Purchasing, Planning, Production, and Operations personnel
• Aerospace and Defense industry experience preferred
• Ability to work onsite at the supplier approximately two days per week
• Must qualify as a U.S. Person for applicable export-control requirements

FULL DESCRIPTION:We are seeking an experienced Contract Program Manager - Supplier Recovery to provide hands-on leadership and oversight at a critical supplier experiencing material shortages, production constraints, inconsistent delivery commitments, and on-time delivery challenges. This highly execution-focused contract role will serve as the primary point of coordination between the customer and supplier, establishing disciplined recovery processes, validating production and material status, driving corrective actions, and ensuring leadership receives accurate and timely information. The ideal candidate will be comfortable working directly on the supplier's production floor, challenging unsupported commitments, driving accountability, and converting incomplete or changing information into clear recovery plans and realistic delivery expectations.

The selected candidate will be responsible for:

• Developing, implementing, and managing a detailed supplier recovery plan
• Addressing past-due purchase orders, material shortages, production constraints, and delivery performance issues
• Establishing priorities based on customer demand and potential impact to downstream manufacturing operations
• Reviewing open purchase orders and requirements to identify current and emerging delivery risks
• Validating supplier delivery commitments against material availability, production capacity, and actual production schedules
• Challenging unrealistic or unsupported delivery commitments
• Driving closure of overdue supplier actions
• Escalating issues when commitments are not being achieved
• Maintaining focus on execution until supplier performance has stabilized
• Establishing a comprehensive material-shortage management process
• Maintaining visibility of required material, quantities needed, quantities available, suppliers, purchase order status, delivery dates, production impact, responsible owners, and recovery actions
• Validating shortage information rather than relying solely on verbal supplier updates
• Working directly with Purchasing and Planning personnel to identify shortage root causes
• Confirming commitments from suppliers and sub-tier suppliers
• Identifying material shortages early enough to support mitigation before scheduled production is affected
• Escalating critical shortages requiring management intervention
• Establishing a reliable process for communicating promise dates and expected shipment dates
• Ensuring delivery commitments are supported by executable production plans
• Tracking daily supplier performance against established commitments
• Immediately identifying missed or at-risk commitments
• Developing revised recovery actions when commitments are missed
• Preventing repeated movement of delivery dates without documented causes and corrective actions
• Providing clear visibility regarding what will ship, when it will ship, and potential obstacles to shipment
• Establishing a structured supplier communication cadence
• Leading daily operational and recovery meetings as appropriate
• Coordinating daily shortage and shipment updates
• Supporting weekly management-level recovery reviews
• Formally escalating critical production and delivery risks
• Creating and maintaining a single source of truth for open orders, shortages, production status, and delivery commitments
• Assigning clear owners and due dates to recovery actions
• Providing concise and fact-based supplier status reporting to leadership
• Communicating emerging risks immediately rather than waiting until commitments are missed
• Reviewing supplier production schedules against customer demand
• Assessing capacity, labor, equipment, materials, and other production constraints
• Verifying appropriate sequencing of priority requirements through production
• Working directly with supplier Operations personnel to identify opportunities to recover schedule
• Monitoring critical work orders through the manufacturing process when necessary
• Identifying systemic constraints preventing required production output
• Establishing and maintaining supplier recovery metrics
• Tracking past-due purchase order value and quantity
• Tracking the number and aging of past-due order lines
• Monitoring on-time delivery performance
• Monitoring supplier commitment attainment
• Tracking critical material shortages and shortage aging
• Measuring schedule recovery against established plans
• Tracking daily and weekly shipment performance
• Monitoring overdue corrective actions and delivery-date changes
• Developing visual management tools and dashboards to provide clear performance visibility
• Identifying recurring causes of missed deliveries and communication failures
• Facilitating structured root cause and corrective action activities
• Separating immediate containment and recovery actions from long-term corrective actions
• Ensuring corrective actions have accountable owners, deadlines, and measurable results
• Verifying corrective-action effectiveness before actions are closed
• Maintaining a visible presence at the supplier facility and directly verifying production status when necessary
• Performing other supplier recovery, program management, and production support duties as assigned

The selected candidate will also possess:

• Previous experience managing projects, programs, suppliers, or complex manufacturing recovery efforts required
• Supplier management or supplier recovery experience strongly preferred
• Experience within a manufacturing environment required
• Aerospace and Defense manufacturing experience preferred
• Experience working with Purchasing, Supply Chain, Planning, Production, and Operations teams required
• Experience managing production schedules and delivery commitments preferred
• Experience resolving material shortages and supply-chain constraints preferred
• Strong understanding of manufacturing workflow and production planning required
• Experience reviewing purchase orders and supplier commitments preferred
• Experience monitoring production capacity, labor, material, and equipment constraints preferred
• Experience developing recovery plans and corrective actions preferred
• Root cause and corrective action experience preferred
• Experience developing KPIs, dashboards, or visual management tools preferred
• Strong project-management skills required
• Strong timeline and action-item management skills required
• Exceptional communication skills required
• Ability to ask difficult questions and challenge unsupported supplier commitments professionally
• Ability to develop productive working relationships while maintaining accountability
• Ability to obtain and validate accurate information directly from supplier personnel
• Strong organizational and analytical skills required
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities required
• Ability to communicate concise, fact-based updates to leadership
• Ability to operate independently with limited day-to-day supervision
• Ability to work effectively with supplier leadership, Buyers, Planners, Production Supervisors, Operations personnel, and executive stakeholders
• Ability to work in a fast-moving environment with shifting production and supply-chain priorities
• Ability to successfully complete required background and drug screening
• Must qualify as a U.S. Person under applicable export-control requirements
• No employment sponsorship available
• Ability to work onsite at the supplier facility in Jackson, MS approximately two days per week
• Ability to support a temporary contract assignment expected to last approximately 3 to 6 months
• Ability to work an as-needed schedule based on supplier recovery requirements

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to sit and work at a computer while reviewing purchase orders, recovery plans, production schedules, shortage reports, dashboards, and supplier documentation
• Ability to stand and walk throughout supplier production and manufacturing areas for extended periods as needed
• Ability to move regularly between offices, production areas, Planning, Purchasing, Shipping, and Operations functions
• Ability to use hands and fingers for computer work, documentation, reporting, and standard office tasks
• Ability to review production schedules, purchase orders, material status information, dashboards, spreadsheets, and computer screens for extended periods
• Ability to communicate by phone, email, virtual meeting, and in person throughout the workday
• Ability to occasionally bend, reach, stoop, and move throughout manufacturing areas as needed
• Ability to work around production equipment, materials, work-in-process, warehouse activity, and normal manufacturing operations
• Ability to wear required PPE and follow applicable supplier manufacturing, quality, and safety procedures
• Ability to maintain focus, sound judgment, professionalism, and attention to detail while managing urgent supplier-recovery issues

Salary Range: $40 to $60/hour
More information can be found at www.defensesearchusa.com.

Defense Search is a specialized recruiting and staffing firm dedicated exclusively to the defense & aerospace industry. We place candidates on a contract, contract-to-hire, and direct hire basis.