Material Planning Manager - Contract Manufacturing

Job Title : Material Planning Manager – Contract Manufacturing

Location : Chicago, IL (co-located at Contract Manufacturer)

Company Profile

Suave Brands Company LLC (SBC) is located in Hackensack NJ. It currently encompasses two consumer brands, Suave and Chapstick, and is owned by private equity firm Yellow Wood Partners.

Suave is a well-known consumer brand, with 80% aided brand awareness, putting it in the top 3 best-known hair care brands in the market today. The brand has a longstanding history and was founded 75+ years ago. One out of every four households uses Suave shampoo and one out of every five households uses Suave body wash.

Chapstick is the most well-known lip care brand in the country, with 95% aided brand awareness. The brand sells 122M units in the United States per year, and boasts a 20% share of the lip care market by dollar sales.

Yellow Wood Partners is a Boston-based private investment firm that invests exclusively in the consumer industry. The firm seeks to acquire branded consumer products that sell into a variety of consumer channels, including mass, drug, food, specialty, value, club and e-commerce. Yellow Wood's investment and operating strategy is based on utilizing the firm's functional operating resources to help maximize brand performance by driving organic growth and increasing operating efficiencies while acquiring additional brands into a limited number of platform companies in its concentrated investment portfolio. Yellow Wood believes in a philosophy of working closely and collaboratively with management teams, resulting in greater alignment and co-ownership of outcomes.

Business Highlights

• In the 12 months ending December 2022, Suave generated ~$660M in retail sales in tracked channels. Suave holds the #1 market share position in hair care by volume in the mass, food, and drug channels and #2 volume market share position in body wash.
• Chapstick sold just under $200M in retail sales in the 12 months ending August 2023, and holds the #1 market share position in lip care by volume in the United States.

About the Role

Suave Brands is seeking a collaborative and proactive Material Planning Manager responsible for Suave’s full CMO network while co-located with one of our key contract manufacturing partners in Chicago. This role is focused on enabling and supporting suppliers in effective material planning and production scheduling, ensuring alignment with Suave’s supply chain priorities. Acting as a partner and liaison, this individual will work side-by-side with suppliers to improve planning accuracy, inventory reliability, and schedule adherence, while fostering strong operational relationships.

Key Responsibilities

Qualifications