Purchasing Manager

Position Summary:

Leads purchasing activities for raw materials and finished goods to ensure supply continuity, competitive total cost, appropriate inventory, and reliable supplier performance. Converts approved plans into purchase orders and supplier forecasts, manages commercial supplier relationships, leads shortage recovery, and develops the purchasing team. Partners with the Supplier Resiliency Manager on material supplier risks and long-term continuity strategies.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Strategic Procurement and Sourcing

- Partner with Supplier Resilience Manager on Sourcing Strategy and activities

- Develop and execute category and sourcing strategies aligned with business objectives.

- Lead RFQs and RFPs and evaluate the commercial and operational fit of suppliers.

- Perform market, should-cost, and total-cost analyses where practical.

- Negotiate pricing, commercial terms, contracts, and amendments.

- Coordinate supplier selection, product launches, and supply requirements with relevant functions.

Supplier Performance Management

- Establish and monitor supplier KPIs for delivery, quality, cost, responsiveness, and capacity.

- Lead supplier reviews, corrective actions, and escalation of chronic performance gaps.

- Manage compliance with contracts, purchase orders, forecasts, quality requirements, and service levels.

- Maintain supplier performance and corrective-action reporting.

- Escalate material continuity or supplier-health concerns to the Supplier Resiliency Manager.

Inventory and Demand Management

- Translate approved forecasts and inventory policies into executable supply plans.

- Review demand changes, lead times, order constraints, and inventory exposure; challenge assumptions when appropriate.

- Establish inventory targets that balance service, turns, working capital, obsolescence, and space.

- Provide suppliers with forecasts and align quantities and delivery schedules with approved planning parameters.

- Use approved replenishment methods, including blanket orders and scheduled releases.

Purchase Order Management

- Oversee purchase requirement review and release within approved controls and authorization limits.

- Validate quantities, pricing, terms, delivery requirements, and spend before transmission.

- Ensure acknowledgments, promised dates, changes, and shipment status are accurately maintained.

- Resolve receiving, invoicing, pricing, and purchase order discrepancies and address root causes.

Shortage Recovery

- Identify supply gaps using current demand, inventory, and supplier commitments.

- Lead recovery through expediting, supplier reprioritization, substitutions, premium freight requests, or production-plan changes.

- Coordinate with the Supplier Resiliency Manager when alternate sourcing or formal continuity action is required.

- Maintain shortage, action-owner, escalation, and expected-resolution reporting.

Team Leadership and Process Improvement

- Establish team and individual KPIs and lead structured operating reviews.

- Define standard work, decision rights, escalation paths, and management routines.

- Coach team members through one-on-ones, development plans, workload reviews, and problem-solving support.

- Build cross-training and succession coverage for critical responsibilities.

- Lead process and system improvements that increase control, productivity, data quality, and decision speed.

Measures of Success:

- Supplier performance against approved delivery, quality, cost, capacity, and responsiveness targets.

- Service, inventory turns, working capital, shortages, past-due orders, and excess or obsolete inventory.

- Sourcing savings and cost avoidance supported by documented baselines.

- Purchase order accuracy, date accuracy, discrepancy reduction, and recovery effectiveness.

- Team capability, process adherence, and cross-training coverage.

Qualifications

Experience, Skills & Education:

- Bachelor's degree in supply chain, business, operations, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

- Typically 8 or more years of progressive purchasing, sourcing, materials management, or supply planning experience, including leadership responsibility.

- Demonstrated supplier management, negotiation, cost and inventory analysis, and cross-functional problem-solving skills.

- Experience with ERP or MRP systems and advanced Microsoft Excel; ability to create clear reports and presentations.

- Strong communication, judgment, organization, change leadership, and stakeholder-management skills.

- Professional supply chain or procurement certification preferred.

- Willingness to support other departments as needed.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity in our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other status protected by applicable law.