The VAM Parts Manager position is in Bay City, Wisconsin onsite at Vista Aircraft Maintenance Red Wing. VAM is the in-house maintenance provider for Vista’s unrivaled fleet of over 300 aircraft worldwide, including light, super mid-size, long-range, and ultra-long-range models, with maintenance hubs strategically located across the U.S. and Europe.
In the world of private and corporate aviation, downtime isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a massive financial and operational burden. As the VAM Parts Manager, you ensure that the parts required arrive onsite at the Part 145 Repair Station VAM Red Wing to ensure we can meet the project timeline. You have proven ability to anticipate and adapt to changing priorities from preliminary planning to “Return to Service” (RTS). As a supervisor, you lead and develop the parts team to ensure success with procurement, organization/distribution of parts/materials, receiving inspections, processing of cores, and management of parts inventory. You are proactively clear barriers and ensuring real-time partnership between the Part 135 teams (Maintenance Planning, Control, and Parts) and the 145 teams onsite (Maintenance, Interiors, Avionics, Parts, QA). Your proximity, strong communication, strategic partnerships and real time project timeline oversight will ensure that multi-million-dollar assets move through the hangar with precision, keeping safety, regulatory compliance, and RTS dates at the forefront.
Role Duties and Responsibilities
- Ensure overall profitability and performance of the parts department.
- Ensure conformity with FAA regulatory requirements (Calibration, certification, shelf life, parts quarantine)
- Responsible for inventory management and control, including core and warranty procedures.
- Lead, train, and develop parts, shipping/receiving, and materials teams
- Set priorities in high-pressure maintenance environment
- Enforce procedural compliance without slowing operations
- Perform initial training of new parts personnel and recurrent training as required to ensure all duties and responsibilities are properly carried out.
- Prepare summary reports as to progress, purchase commitments, and miscellaneous recommendations.
- Implementation of internal programs, e.g., communications, training, work simplification, and cost reduction for the parts department.
- Maintain conformity with work rules, regulations, and safety procedures.
- Assist with sourcing parts requested by technicians and customers (internal & external).
- Assist with searching OEM’s and independent part sources for certified and traceable products.
- Establish/maintain relationships with vendors to ensure that we obtain the best pricing and highest quality service
- Monitor outside services to ensure on-time delivery
- Perform receiving inspection of parts and materials to ensure conformity with FAA regulations and customer requirements, ensuring that no unapproved parts go undetected.
- Creation, tracking, and receipt of purchase orders placed with vendors.
- Coordinate shipping on outside work requests.
Role Competencies
- Strong decision-making under pressure
- High attention to detail with a safety-first mindset
- Excellent written and verbal communication
- Ability to balance regulatory compliance, Part 135 expectations & operational efficiency
- Inventory forecasting
- Inventory control
- Technical knowledge
- Procurement & Vendor management
- Preventative maintenance Planning
- Problem Solving
- Understanding of inventory’s impact on Maintenance downtime
Required Skills and Experience
5–8+ years of parts, materials, or supply chain experience in aviation related role, preferably with Part 145 MRO
Direct experience supporting corporate/business aircraft preferred
Working knowledge of: FAA Part 145 requirements, Airworthiness directives (ADs), service bulletins, traceability and certification requirements
Expertise in:
- Aircraft parts procurement, repair, exchange, and loan programs
- Rotable, consumable, and expendable inventory control
- Shelf life, life-limited parts, hazardous materials handling
Proven ability to:
- Optimize inventory levels and turns
- Reduce no-fault-found and excess/obsolete inventory
- Manage core returns and warranty claims
ERP / Systems Proficiency: Strong hands-on experience with aviation MRO systems such as: EBIS, AMOS, CAMP, TRAX, Quantum, SAP (aviation modules)
Strong computer skills to include MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc
Must possess excellent written and verbal communications skills
Ability to manage high stress situations, and effectively change priorities
Excellent time management and organization skills and ability to multi-task and prioritize work.
Must be proficient in the operation of standard office equipment and Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, and Outlook)
Driver’s License with no major infractions required