Vice President, Supply Chain and Inventory Management in Calgary

Vice President, Supply Chain & Inventory Management

Delta Group is a Western Canadian wholesale distribution and solutions platform serving waterworks and water infrastructure, agricultural irrigation, pumps and motors, water treatment, wastewater and related markets.

With approximately $130 million in annual revenue, Delta combines multi-branch wholesale distribution with specialist technical solutions, engineered systems, projects and service.

Through acquisitions and organic growth, the group has an opportunity to integrate supply-chain practices while maintaining the market knowledge and relationships of its operating businesses.

Position mandate

Lead Delta’s end-to-end group supply-chain strategy, with executive accountability for procurement, inventory investment and quality, demand planning, vendor economics, replenishment and network efficiency.

Build one disciplined operating framework across multiple companies and branches without impairing customer service or project execution.

This is an operational change-leadership position, not simply a senior purchasing appointment.

• Group supply-chain strategy and governance
• Design and implement group-wide policies for inventory, purchasing, approvals, stock allocation and supplier engagement.
• Clarify central versus local authority, escalation rules, exception management and performance accountability.
• Partner closely with General Managers, Finance, sales and operations; lead monthly supply-chain performance reviews.
• Integrate acquired businesses and branch practices into a scalable operating model.
• Inventory investment, productivity and controls
• Own group inventory productivity, target-setting and action plans by branch, segment, category and SKU.
• Drive reduction of excess, obsolete, slow-moving and duplicate inventory through transfers, vendor returns, disposition and prevention.
• Set service-sensitive reorder points, safety stocks, inventory classifications and replenishment policies.
• Establish consistent cycle counts, inventory accuracy and inventory ownership controls; coordinate valuation and reserves with Finance.
• Protect strategic, seasonal and critical long-lead stock while improving inventory turns and cash generation.
• Procurement and supplier management
• Coordinate category strategy, purchasing scale, approval limits and controls for committed purchases.
• Negotiate supplier terms, pricing, rebates, freight, returns, vendor-managed/consignment arrangements and service commitments.
• Implement supplier scorecards and contingency planning for critical products and manufacturers.
• Improve purchase-order visibility, interbranch-first decisions and special-order controls; prevent unsupported speculative buys.
• Maintain the relationships needed to protect exclusive lines and the commercial advantage of Delta’s technical product portfolios.
• Demand planning and major projects
• Create rolling forecasting processes using sales patterns, seasonality, known projects and credible customer commitments.
• Differentiate recurring wholesale replenishment from project-specific purchasing for pivots, pipe, pumps and engineered packages.
• Coordinate purchasing with project managers, installation schedules, deposits and supplier lead times.
• Manage cancellations, unallocated project material, foreign-exchange and supply risks through clear ownership and exit plans.
• Warehousing, distribution and logistics
• Evaluate branch stocking, regional hubs, stock transfers, warehousing productivity and freight economics.
• Standardize receiving, storage, picking, shipping and transfers where it creates measurable value.
• Build evidence-based business cases for any warehouse consolidation, logistics outsourcing or network redesign.
• Systems, master data and analytics
• Serve as executive business owner for supply-chain processes within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
• Establish item-master governance: duplicates, naming, UOMs, vendor references, product attributes, inactive SKUs and status.
• Build reliable dashboards for aging, turns, fill rate, demand accuracy, outstanding POs, project stock and supplier performance.
• Drive practical system-based replenishment and useful automation rather than spreadsheets without accountability.
• Working capital and financial accountability
• Develop annual and rolling plans for inventory cash release, purchasing efficiencies and inventory-related operating costs.
• Coordinate with VP Finance on cash forecasting, open commitments, vendor terms and independently verified savings.
• Evaluate investments against inventory carrying cost, service levels, gross margin, liquidity and project risks.
• Report monthly to the CEO with financial outcomes, constraints and corrective actions.
• People leadership and transformation
• Assess and develop existing branch purchasing, inventory and supply-chain employees; recommend an appropriate group structure.
• Hire, coach and hold accountable functional leaders and analysts as approved.
• Work constructively with GMs while challenging unsupported inventory and purchasing decisions.
• Lead branch-level adoption through training, site visits, clear metrics and consistent follow-through.
• Required experience and qualifications
• 12–15+ years of relevant progression in supply chain, inventory, procurement or wholesale distribution operations, including at least five in a senior multi-branch leadership role.
• Demonstrable responsibility for material inventory investment across multiple branches, with quantified improvements in turns, aged inventory, cash flow and service.
• Strong track record in vendor negotiations, category strategy, purchase controls and operational change after acquisitions.
• Commercial understanding of distribution gross margin, inventory carrying cost, cash conversion, stockouts and service economics.
• Hands-on experience implementing effective ERP-based replenishment and master-data management.
• Ability to lead effectively through influence and formal authority in decentralized technical distribution businesses.
• Relevant degree or equivalent operating experience; SCMP, CSCP or CPIM an asset; regular Western Canadian travel required.
• Preferred background

Industrial, waterworks, plumbing, pump and motor, agricultural equipment, irrigation, electrical or HVAC wholesale distribution; Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central; acquisition integration; regional distribution network optimization; and balancing project procurement with standard branch replenishment.

Leadership profile

Commercially astute, financially disciplined and decisive; credible at branch and warehouse level; analytically strong, capable of difficult conversations with respected GMs, and equally focused on supplier relationships, customer service and sustainable cash release.

Comfortable with ambiguous data but unwilling to accept unsupported conclusions.

• Key measures of success
• Inventory investment and turns by business, branch and category, adjusted for commercial conditions and service needs.
• Aged, obsolete and duplicate stock reduction; inventory accuracy and shrinkage.
• Working-capital release and annualized procurement/freight/rebate savings validated by Finance.
• Customer fill rates, on-time delivery, backorders and project material availability.
• Purchasing compliance, forecasting reliability, supplier performance and inventory transfer effectiveness.
• Business Central item-master quality, supply-chain reporting and adoption of replenishment processes.
• Strength and accountability of supply-chain leadership and branch operating practices.
• First-year priorities

First 30 days: establish validated baselines, purchasing commitment visibility, risk/opportunity ranking and assessment of current team.

By 90 days: institute buying authority, interbranch-first controls, aged-inventory program and CEO dashboard.

Months 4–6: demonstrate measurable cash release, supplier and forecasting improvements.

By 12 months: deliver sustained financial and service outcomes and an approved second-year improvement plan.

Specific financial targets will be agreed with the CEO and VP Finance after verifying opening conditions.

The opportunity is to shape the supply-chain economics of a substantial Western Canadian technical distribution platform, turn scale into meaningful procurement and inventory advantage, and build a disciplined, scalable organization.

The role carries senior leadership visibility, operating influence and direct accountability for measurable results.

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