Cross Reference Supervisor

Work Location Type: Hybrid 

As a leading industrial distributor with operations primarily in North America, Japan and the United Kingdom, We Keep The World Working® by serving more than 4.5 million customers worldwide with products delivered through innovative technology and deep customer relationships. With 2023 sales of $16.5 billion, we’re dedicated to providing value for customers, fostering an engaging culture for team members and driving strong financial results.

Our welcoming workplace enables you to learn, grow and make a difference by keeping businesses running and their people safe. We’re looking for passionate people to join our team as we continue leading the industry over our next 100 years.

PRIMARY FUNCTION

The Cross-Referencing Team provides the ability to identify Grainger products for customer opportunities, allowing for sales of those products to customers. The Supervisor leads, manages and coaches a team of Cross Reference analyst and Project Admin’s to enable our sales team to grow sales and increase market share by effectively managing all cross-reference project requests. This is achieved through balancing team workload, scheduling projects within the team and maximizing team productivity. Additionally, this individual will aid the Sr. Manager, Cross Reference Services for the operational activity of team.

MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Establish and maintain customer level strategic alliances with key internal and external business partners, focusing on delivering relevant business solutions.
• Provide Cross Referencing subject matter expertise for our internal and external business partners
• Collaborate with aligned Sales team to ensure objectives are supported with desired levels of performance
• Accountable for team operational workflow, including implementing policies and procedures, monitoring and addressing attendance and performance issues
• Accountable for team member direction and objectives, around project assignment to ensure that projects are completed on time, within budget to deliver against business goals. 
• Responsible for all Talent Management activities to ensure employee assessments, coaching, development, and management, are performed on a consistent basis
• Recruits, conducts interviews and selects new team members as needed.
• Address scheduling escalation issues related to the daily operations of the team
• Facilitate and participate in cross-functional projects to support plans to increase customer impact and experience
• Facilitate periodic audits of projects, in conjunction with the Quality Control Specialist, to identify areas of improvement and provide coaching feedback to the Cross Reference Specialist
• Lead efforts for training team members on the processes and tools utilized to complete projects
• Adopt and engage continuous improvement methodologies to check and adjust tools, processes, and resources as necessary to provide the best customer experience
• Serve as a key communication resource to aligned Sales Leaders, and act as liaison to resolve cross referencing-related issues
• Monitor team’s measurements in key areas such as productivity, cycle-time, success rate, and revenue generation.
• Contribute to the development of department goals and expectations.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• BA/BS or equivalent is preferred
• 3-5 year of equivalent work experience is preferred
• Ability to manage multiple tasks, clarify ambiguous situations, resolve outstanding issues and react quickly to changes in direction.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills required
• Inspires and challenges others to set and achieve high “stretch” goals.
• Ability to identify and address organizational barriers to ensure that employees can perform their jobs to their full potential as well as continue self-development.
• Able to source information from variable inputs and synthesize into meaningful and actionable formats.
• Experience with Continuous Improvement methodologies
• Demonstrated ability to quickly learn, become competent in, and effectively apply new processes and applications as well as lead change in an environment of rapidly evolving technologies
• Clear understanding of suppliers, customers, as well as Grainger’s strengths and weaknesses
• Strong customer-service & communication skills required to interact with all levels of organization
• Proficient with multiple PC applications and utilizes tools, such as MS Office to maximize productivity.
• Superior communication skills, both written and verbal, with ability to provide clear and concise information both vertically and horizontally within the organization.
• Strong coaching skills, with ability to motivate, inspire, and achieve results through others. 
• Provide “just in time” coaching to ensure continuous learning and improvement.
• Develop people to their full potential including developing successors to his/her current position.

Grainger is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.