Supply Chain Management Trainee Jobs in Rochester, NY

The Supply Chain Manager is responsible for ensuring outstanding product availability and inventory productivity by managing purchasing and replenishment, supplier performance, service issue resolution, and continuous improvement across Monro's supply chain network. This role plays a critical role in ensuring the right product is available in the right place, at the right time, and in the right quantity to support Monro's fleet of retail locations and service categories.

The Supply Chain Manager is accountable for ensuring vendors and distribution partners deliver best-in-class service to stores, while also managing inventory levels to minimize outages, excess inventory, and unproductive inventory. This role serves as a key liaison between stores, vendors, distribution partners, Category Management, Marketing, Operations, and leadership to resolve service issues, improve processes, and support business objectives.

The Supply Chain Manager may support one or more major product categories, including Tires, Oil & Lubricants, Under-hood parts and under-car parts. This role is responsible for supplier collaboration, inventory management, issue resolution, supply chain performance and inventory reporting, and the development of direct reports, including offshore team members. This role requires strong vendor relationship management, analytical capability, cross-functional collaboration, and a continuous improvement mindset.

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Operations Management, Logistics, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered. 

• 4+ years of progressive experience in supply chain, vendor management, inventory management, logistics, distribution, procurement, or related operational roles.

• Experience in automotive parts, tires, retail, wholesale distribution, durable goods, or multi-location service businesses preferred. 

• Experience managing supplier relationships, vendor performance, service issue resolution, and inventory availability. 

• Strong vendor relationship management and supplier performance management skills.

• Strong understanding of inventory management, replenishment, and supply chain service levels.

• Ability to conduct root cause analysis and drive corrective actions with vendors, suppliers, and internal teams.

• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to evaluate service levels, prices, product options, inventory data, supplier performance, and operational tradeoffs to identify issues and opportunities. 

• Ability to create reports, presentations, and business updates for teammates, vendors, and senior management.

• Strong communication skills, including the ability to speak effectively with stores, field leaders, vendors, internal stakeholders, and senior leaders in person, over the phone, and in writing.

• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to apply practical judgment to resolve issues involving multiple variables.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and operate effectively in a fast-paced, service-oriented environment.

• Proficient in Microsoft Office, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

• Leadership skills with the ability to hire, train, coach, and develop direct reports, including offshore teammates

• Knowledge of supply chain systems, ERP tools, inventory management platforms, reporting tools, or business intelligence platforms preferred.

Vendor & Supplier Performance Management

• Serve as the primary supply chain contact for assigned vendors, suppliers, and distribution partners to ensure consistent service, product availability, and operational execution.

• Lead weekly vendor operations meetings and participate in monthly vendor collaboration meetings to review performance, service issues, inventory availability, open actions, and improvement opportunities.

• Develop and maintain reporting to monitor vendor performance against service level expectations, delivery requirements and issues, inventory commitments and availability, and other business and performance criteria.

• Partner with vendors to address performance issues by resolving service disruptions, backorders, late deliveries, allocation issues, product substitutions, and other supply chain constraints to drive sustainable and measurable performance improvement.

• Support business reviews with vendors and internal stakeholders by providing performance insights, action plans, and follow-up items.

• Monitor market and supply conditions, including capacity constraints, shortages, raw material trends, and supply risks, and proactively recommend mitigation strategies.

Inventory Management & Product Availability

• Manage store inventory levels for assigned categories to minimize outages, reduce excess or unproductive inventory, and improve product availability.

• Partner with Category Management, Demand Planning, and vendors to ensure inventory plans support assortment strategies, sales trends, promotional activity, product lifecycle changes, seasonal demand, and operational needs.

• Analyze inventory performance and recommend actions to improve in-stock rates and product availability, while balancing turns, service levels, and overall supply chain efficiency. 

• Assess and proactively address inventory risks and opportunities, including stockouts, slow-moving inventory, obsolete inventory, excess inventory, and service-level gaps; provide clear and timely communication to stakeholders regarding supply chain risks, vendor performance, inventory availability and issue resolution. 

• Support replenishment, inventory positioning and inventory rebalancing decisions across stores, suppliers, and distribution partners.

• Provide clear and timely communication to stakeholders regarding supply chain risks, vendor performance, inventory availability, and issue resolution. 

Store Service Issue Resolution

• Serve as the key contact for store issue resolution related to vendor performance, product availability, delivery, or other service-related issues.

• Communicate timely updates to stores, field leaders, vendors, and internal stakeholders regarding issue status, resolution timing, and next steps.

• Track recurring store service issues and develop corrective action plans to reduce repeat failures by conducting root cause analyses to determine the source of service failures and identifying the resolution required. 

Logistics, Distribution & Fulfillment Coordination

• Partner with suppliers, distributors, and internal stakeholders to support the timely flow of goods from suppliers to stores in alignment with merchandising plans, store needs and operational priorities.

• Partner with Category, Demand Planning and Suppliers to review purchase forecasts and ensure supplier and distribution partners provide timely visibility to inventory availability, constraints, and recovery plans.

• Work with vendors and distribution partners to address delays, routing issues, capacity constraints, and other fulfillment challenges.

• Support category transitions, new item launches, assortment changes, promotional events, vendor transitions, and other business initiatives requiring supply chain coordination.

Supply Chain Operations & Process Improvement

• Partner with Category Management, Operations and Finance to support the development and execution of supply chain strategies that support store execution and guest service, and improve speed, reliability, scalability, and operational performance.

• Continuously assess supply chain processes and procedures to identify opportunities for improved efficiency, effectiveness, cost control, accuracy, and service; work cross-functionally to develop and execute improvement plans to close gaps.

• Collaborate with other Supply Chain Managers and team members to create, document, and regularly update best practices for use across the Supply Chain department.

• Support implementation of tools, reporting, processes, and operating routines that improve visibility, accountability, and decision-making.

Analytics, Reporting & Performance Management

• Track progress against key performance indicators, including in-stock rates, service levels, fill rates, lead times, inventory productivity, issue resolution timing, and supplier responsiveness.

• Use data to identify trends, root causes, risks, and opportunities across vendor performance and inventory management.

Project Support & Department Initiatives

• Lead or participate in cross-functional projects focused on vendor performance, inventory optimization, process improvement, cost reduction, service improvement, and operational execution.

• Support supply chain readiness for major category initiatives, supplier changes, store support programs, and enterprise priorities.

• Identify risks, dependencies, and resource needs related to assigned supply chain projects.

• Ensure project tasks, timelines, and deliverables are clearly documented and communicated.

Team Leadership & Development

• Ensure accurate and up-to-date training, performance feedback and coaching for offshore teammates and direct reports.

• Provide clear direction, prioritization, and support to team members responsible for vendor communication, store support, inventory analysis, reporting, and issue resolution.

• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and service excellence.