Sr. Estimator

All jobs at Southern Champion Tray (SCT) require Team members to act in accordance with the shared Core Values and Operating principles of the company as they perform specific job functions. These include:

• Trustworthy - We strive for our actions to match our words in all our relationships.
• Servant - Hearted - We enable and empower our team to serve the needs of customers, Team members, suppliers and the community.
• Relational - We aim to build healthy relationships while fostering an environment that promotes compassion, balance, and personal and professional growth.
• Resourceful - We value strategic insourcing, first looking to create solutions internally, and then looking to apply that knowledge to future opportunities.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY:

Provides optimal and accurate cost estimates on custom, retail paperboard packaging for SCT customers. Manages the output of cost estimates for new and repeat jobs requested by current or prospective customers. Evaluates and analyzes all cost variables and alternatives to provide favorable estimates that maximize profitability and meets customer needs. Collaborates with Sales and Production Leadership to stay current on customer needs, forecasting and production capabilities. Oversees inventory levels of raw material and procures all paperboard supply to support the needs of production and customer forecasts, while minimizing customer lead times and maximizing profitability.

SECONDARY RESPONSIBILITY:

• Determines pricing estimates that support the overall business utilizing accurate production job costs including cost of materials, freight, corrugate, inks, tooling costs, dies, etc.
• Collaborates with General Manager and Sales Manager to ensure the lowest possible cost of materials that will yield the best performance and achieve optimal results overall
• Gathers all necessary information from Customer Service and Sales to provide an optimal and accurate estimate for the manufacturing of paperboard packaging
• Prioritizes and organizes workload and estimate requests to maintain high-levels of responsiveness while delivering optimal, accurate estimates; provides guidance and assists Manager with assigning cost estimates as needed to other Estimators
• Considers all variables that impact cost estimate and assesses the impact of these variables; evaluates and compares the cost/benefit and risks associated with different alternatives and options
• Provides recommendations to Sales and Production about carton structure and specifications, functionality, substrate, caliber of paperboard, print styles, etc. to improve favorability of estimates and maximize profitability
• Participates in daily scheduling and job planning meetings with all stakeholders to understand the changing priorities and needs of the business
• Collaborates with Sales and Customer Service to understand customer forecasts and needs; evaluates customer forecasting reports, historical purchasing patterns and trends to determine adequate inventory levels of raw materials
• Monitors and assesses inventory of paperboard rolls regularly and initiates board purchases to procure paperboard needed to support the current and forecasted needs of customers to ensure customer responsiveness while minimizing lead times
• Partners closely with Production Leadership to stay current with changes to manufacturing costs, production capabilities, machine depreciation, and other operational variables that impact the accuracy of cost estimates
• Manages and maintains estimating parameters in Manufacturing ERP system; sets up and updates item information in manufacturing systems as needed to maintain integrity of data
• Responsible for providing training and guidance to other Estimators; responsible for training new team members or interns during onboarding, or those assigned to learn Estimating fundamentals as a step to developing business acumen
• Actively seeks to stay current on understanding industry specific norms and practices, manufacturing and economic trends, and the current market on raw materials
• Continuously monitors and informs Operations and Sales regarding new offerings of raw materials, vendor information or changes in supply of materials
• Proactively seeks opportunities for continuous improvement and identifying opportunities to improve business processes that positively impact financial results; partners with internal partners to explore and implement improvements
• Participates on various special projects critical to drive process improvements and obtain organizational and departmental goals; serves as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on various internal projects, system upgrades and/or system implementations
• Maintains strong vendor and supplier relationships with regular communication; advises leadership team on supplier issues or information needed to maintain effective supplier partnerships, attends supplier meetings with Leadership team as needed
• Serves as a back-up to production scheduler as needed

QUALIFICATIONS:

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelors degree in Business, Finance, Engineering, Mathematics, or related degree, and minimum of 5 years of experience in a manufacturing cost estimating role; 8+ years of cost estimating & industry experience considered in lieu of degree; CCE designation is a plus.
• Requires paperboard packaging / folding carton industry experience
• Experience with cost accounting, and/or procurement of raw materials within the manufacturing industry is preferred.
• Demonstrates knowledge of basic accounting principles, including Profit & Loss, and has a strong working knowledge of machine and production capabilities.
• Requires strong analytical skills and technical aptitude including proficiency with MS Office suite.
• Requires the ability to achieve favorable results through strong relationships and collaboration with internal partners
• Ability to interact and manage critical relationships with raw material suppliers
• Radius ERP - Manufacturing Resource Planning software (MRP) experience is required.

LANGUAGE SKILLS: Must have the ability to read and understand complex documents, letters, etc. and write legibly in English. Must be able to understand and speak clearly, and communicate in English.
1st Shift
Mansfield Plant - 949 South 6th Ave, Mansfield, TX 76063