Buyer / Supply Chain Analyst

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced Buyer / Supply Chain Analyst to manage purchasing, inventory planning, supplier relationships, and supply chain activities for an assigned portfolio of products. This is a hands-on role requiring strong analytical skills, inventory management experience, supplier negotiation abilities, and independent decision-making.

The selected candidate will initially work closely with senior leadership to learn products, suppliers, inventory methodology, and purchasing processes. Responsibilities will progressively transition toward independent ownership of assigned product lines.

Key Responsibilities

Purchasing & Inventory Management

• Manage purchasing and inventory performance for assigned product lines from planning through delivery.
• Analyze sales history, demand trends, inventory levels, open orders, lead times, and supplier constraints to determine purchasing requirements.
• Establish and adjust minimum/maximum inventory and replenishment parameters.
• Create and manage purchase orders with domestic and international suppliers.
• Make purchasing decisions within established inventory and financial guidelines.
• Identify and resolve backorders, shortages, excess inventory, slow-moving stock, and inventory imbalances.
• Coordinate inventory transfers between locations when appropriate.
• Support sales teams with supplier pricing, product availability, lead times, and special quotations.

Supplier Management & Strategic Sourcing

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with domestic and international suppliers.
• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, lead times, minimum order quantities, and other commercial terms.
• Evaluate existing suppliers and identify qualified alternative sources.
• Compare suppliers based on total landed cost, quality, reliability, lead time, tariffs, and supply risk.
• Address supplier quality, warranty, delivery, and commercial issues.
• Coordinate the commercial aspects of international shipments with suppliers and freight-forwarding partners.

Systems, Data & Process Improvement

• Maintain accurate purchasing, supplier, pricing, lead-time, and inventory information within ERP systems.
• Support new supplier and product-line onboarding.
• Use reporting and data analysis to improve inventory availability, purchasing decisions, supplier performance, and working-capital utilization.
• Identify opportunities to improve purchasing processes and reduce manual or inefficient workflows.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in purchasing, buying, procurement, or supply chain within industrial distribution, PVF, manufacturing, or a similar inventory-intensive environment.
• Proven experience managing inventory and making replenishment decisions.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to evaluate historical demand, forecasts, lead times, and market conditions.
• Experience negotiating with international suppliers and identifying cost-saving or strategic sourcing opportunities.
• International purchasing/import experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with ERP/MRP systems; Acumatica experience is a plus.
• Strong Excel and computer skills.
• Excellent communication, organization, follow-through, and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams.