Director of Purchasing

The Director of Purchasing is responsible for the strategic leadership and overall performance of the Purchasing function, ensuring the timely, cost-effective, and reliable procurement of raw materials, packaging, and other materials required to support manufacturing operations and customer requirements.

This position leads a team of four purchasing professionals and works closely with Planning, R&D, Production, Quality, Warehouse, and other departments to ensure materials are available to meet production and customer requirements. The Director of Purchasing is responsible for purchasing strategy, supplier relationships and performance, cost management, supply continuity, and the development of efficient and scalable purchasing processes.

The ideal candidate is a strong and proactive leader with significant procurement experience in a manufacturing environment, sound business judgment, strong analytical and organizational skills, and the ability to build effective relationships internally, with suppliers, and with customers.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, manage, mentor, and develop the Purchasing team of four employees, establishing clear priorities, accountability, and performance expectations.
• Develop and execute purchasing strategies aligned with production requirements, customer needs, inventory objectives, and overall business goals.
• Oversee purchasing activities for raw materials, packaging components, manufacturing supplies, and other materials required to support operations.
• Review MRP requirements and ensure materials are purchased and available in accordance with production schedules and inventory objectives.
• Monitor purchase orders, pricing, quantities, delivery dates, lead times, and supplier commitments to ensure continuity of supply.
• Develop and maintain strong, strategic relationships with key suppliers.
• Negotiate pricing, lead times, payment terms, minimum order quantities, and other commercial terms to achieve favorable business outcomes.
• Monitor and manage supplier performance across quality, cost, delivery, service, and responsiveness.
• Proactively identify and resolve material shortages, supply disruptions, delivery delays, and other procurement-related risks.
• Develop supply-continuity and risk-mitigation strategies, including alternate sourcing and supplier diversification, where appropriate.
• Lead and support the sourcing and qualification of new suppliers and alternative materials when needed.
• Partner with customers, as needed, on procurement-related matters, including material availability, lead times, sourcing, and supply risks.
• Collaborate closely with Planning, R&D, Production, Quality, Warehouse, and other cross-functional teams to support operational and customer requirements.
• Identify and implement cost-reduction opportunities while maintaining appropriate quality, service, and supply standards.
• Establish and monitor appropriate purchasing and supplier KPIs to measure performance, identify trends, and support data-driven decision-making.
• Drive continuous improvement of purchasing processes, controls, reporting, and departmental efficiency.
• Ensure accurate and timely purchasing, supplier, pricing, and lead-time information is maintained within the ERP/MRP system.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, procedures, purchasing controls, and applicable quality and regulatory requirements.

Key Requirements and Competencies

• 8+ years of progressive purchasing, procurement, or strategic sourcing experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated supervisory or management experience, including the ability to lead, develop, and hold teams accountable.
• Experience purchasing raw materials, packaging components, and/or other materials used in manufacturing.
• Strong strategic thinking, business judgment, and awareness of market and supply-chain conditions.
• Demonstrated supplier management and negotiation skills, including experience negotiating pricing, commercial terms, lead times, and supply agreements.
• Strong analytical, organizational, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to identify supply risks, develop solutions, and appropriately escalated significant business issues.
• Strong relationship-building and collaboration skills with internal stakeholders, suppliers, and customers.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience working with ERP/MRP systems and proficiency with Microsoft Excel.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and make sound decisions in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively across functions and influencing stakeholders at multiple levels of the organization.
• Experience in personal care, cosmetics, beauty, consumer products, or contract manufacturing is strongly preferred.