Purchasing Manager

Company Overview

JGM is a structural steel fabrication and industrial construction company operating AISC-certified fabrication shops in Coatesville and Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania (D1.1 structural and D1.5 bridge welding certifications, including Fracture Critical endorsement), alongside a national Construction Services field team performing traveling erection, rigging, hauling, and industrial construction work. JGM serves clients across infrastructure, power generation, pharmaceutical, mining, and manufacturing markets, and is known for taking on fast-track, high-complexity projects that other fabricators turn away.

Position Summary

The Purchasing Manager leads procurement across all of JGM's operations - fabrication shop materials and consumables, field/construction equipment and supplies, and general office/corporate purchasing - with the goal of ensuring the right materials and services arrive at the right place, at the right time, at the right cost. This is both a strategic and a tactical role: the successful candidate will handle the day-to-day tactical work of issuing POs, expediting orders, and resolving vendor issues, while also building the vendor relationships, systems, and processes that will let purchasing scale smoothly as JGM adds capacity, shops, and project volume. Based in Coatesville with regular travel to Downingtown and Sinking Spring, this is a highly cross-functional role that touches Fabrication, Field Construction, Estimating, Project Management, Safety, and Administration, and requires someone equally comfortable on the shop floor, on a jobsite call, and in a spreadsheet. The role reports to the Controller, reflecting the tight coordination required between purchasing activity and cost/budget control.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Purchasing & Scalability (Future Focus)
• Build for scale, not just today: design and document purchasing processes, approval workflows, and vendor structures that can support JGM's growth in shop capacity, headcount, and project volume without a proportional increase in purchasing headcount.
• Category and vendor strategy: develop sourcing strategies for steel and raw material, welding consumables, PPE/safety equipment, tooling, rigging and hauling equipment, fuel, and office/facility supplies, balancing cost, lead time, and quality.
• Preferred vendor programs: consolidate spend where it makes sense, negotiate volume pricing and payment terms, and establish backup/secondary suppliers to reduce single-source risk on critical materials.
• Forecasting: work with Estimating, Project Management, and Fabrication leadership to anticipate material needs against the project pipeline and backlog, rather than purchasing reactively.
• Cost visibility: track and report material cost trends (e.g., structural steel pricing) and flag exposure on active or upcoming bids.

Tactical / Day-to-Day Purchasing - Fabrication (Coatesville & Sinking Spring)
• Procure raw and structural steel, plate, and specialty materials to support fabrication schedules at both shops, coordinating delivery timing against production sequencing.
• Source welding consumables, cutting/machining supplies, tooling, and shop equipment, maintaining appropriate inventory levels to avoid production delays.
• Partner with shop supervisors and quality/QA personnel to ensure materials meet AISC, AWS D1.1/D1.5, and project-specific specifications and certifications (mill test reports, material traceability).
• Manage equipment maintenance parts and outside machining/processing services (e.g., blasting, galvanizing, coating) as needed to support fabrication throughput.

Field & Construction Purchasing
• Support Construction Services with procurement of rigging, hauling, and erection equipment, rental equipment, small tools, and consumables for traveling project crews.
• Coordinate just-in-time delivery of materials and equipment to active jobsites nationally, working around project schedules and site logistics constraints.
• Manage relationships with equipment rental companies, freight/logistics carriers, and specialty subcontractors used on field projects.
• Track and reconcile field purchase orders against project budgets in partnership with Project Managers and Project Controllers.

General Office & Corporate Purchasing
• Manage procurement of office supplies, furniture, IT equipment, facilities services, and vehicle fleet needs across all JGM locations.
• Administer contracts and renewals for office services (e.g., copiers, telecom, janitorial, landscaping) and evaluate vendors for cost and service quality.
• Support HR/Administration with purchasing tied to employee onboarding (uniforms, safety gear, workstation setup) and company events.

Vendor & Supplier Management
• Identify, qualify, and onboard new vendors; maintain an approved vendor list with performance history across cost, quality, and on-time delivery.
• Negotiate pricing, terms, and contracts, and resolve disputes related to quality, delivery, or invoicing discrepancies.
• Conduct periodic vendor performance reviews and benchmark pricing against market conditions.

Systems, Process & Compliance
• Own the purchase requisition and purchase order process end-to-end, including approval routing, budget coding, and receiving/matching against invoices.
• Partner with Accounting/AP to ensure accurate three-way matching (PO, receipt, invoice) and timely resolution of discrepancies.
• Evaluate and help implement purchasing/procurement software or ERP modules as JGM's systems mature, improving on manual/spreadsheet-based tracking where used today.
• Ensure purchasing practices support compliance with OSHA, AISC/AWS quality requirements, and any customer- or contract-specific procurement flow-down requirements (e.g., government or prime-contractor projects).
• Maintain documentation needed for audits, certifications, and material traceability.
• Prepare regular and ad hoc reports: provide the Controller and leadership with recurring purchasing/spend reports (open PO aging, budget-to-actual variance, vendor spend by category) as well as ad hoc analysis on demand (e.g., cost exposure on a specific bid, material price trend, vendor comparison).

Qualifications

Required
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Construction Management, or equivalent professional experience.
• 5+ years of progressive purchasing/procurement experience, ideally spanning both manufacturing/fabrication and construction or industrial environments.
• Demonstrated experience managing supplier relationships, negotiating pricing/terms, and managing purchase orders against budgets.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel and purchasing/ERP or accounting systems; comfort building and maintaining tracking tools.
• Ability to travel regularly to Downingtown and Sinking Spring, and occasionally to active field project sites.

Preferred
• Experience purchasing structural steel, welding consumables, or other fabrication/construction materials.
• Familiarity with AISC/AWS quality and certification requirements, or a willingness to learn them quickly.
• Experience scaling a purchasing function to support company growth (multi-site, increasing project volume, or added shop capacity).
• Working knowledge of rigging/hauling equipment, heavy equipment rental markets, or industrial construction logistics.

Core Competencies
• Cross-functional collaboration - equally effective working with shop floor personnel, field superintendents, estimators, and office staff.
• Process-builder mindset - comfortable creating structure and documentation where none exists today.
• Negotiation and vendor management.
• Organization and follow-through across a high volume of concurrent purchase orders and projects.
• Clear written and verbal communication.

Work Environment & Physical Demands

Primarily an office environment based in Coatesville, with regular time spent on the fabrication shop floor and regular travel to Downingtown and Sinking Spring, which may include exposure to noise, heat/cold, dust, and moving equipment typical of an industrial fabrication setting. Standard safety PPE (hard hat, safety glasses, steel-toed boots) is required when on the shop floor or at jobsites. Occasional travel to field project locations as needed.

What Success Looks Like
• Fabrication and field teams consistently have the materials and equipment they need, when they need them, with minimal production or project delays caused by procurement gaps.
• Purchasing costs are actively managed and benchmarked, with visible savings or cost avoidance over time.
• A documented, repeatable purchasing process exists that a growing team could step into as JGM adds volume, shops, or people - this role builds the foundation, not just handles today's transactions.
• Strong, well-negotiated vendor relationships with reliable backup options for critical materials.