Purchasing Supervisor

Job Description

Job Description

At Brian Tooley Racing, passion fuels innovation. Founded in 2012, BTR has become a leader in high-performance camshafts, valvetrain systems, and precision-engineered components for modern American pushrod engines. With advanced in-house capabilities—including CNC machining, Spintron testing, and specialized camshaft grinding—BTR designs, tests, and manufactures products trusted by enthusiasts, engine builders, and racers worldwide. If you’re driven by engineering excellence and high-performance innovation, BTR is an exceptional place to grow your career.

Summary:
Reporting to the Director of Purchasing, the Purchasing Supervisor is responsible for leading the day-to-day activities of the Purchasing Department and ensuring that materials, components, and services are available when required at the best overall value to the Company.

This position supervises the Purchasing team and manages key supplier relationships, while driving measurable cost reductions and process improvement through supplier negotiations, strategic sourcing, data analysis, workflow standardization, and continuous improvement. The Purchasing Supervisor works closely with Operations, Production Planning, Engineering, Quality, Finance, and Inventory Control to support production requirements, reduce supply-chain risk, and improve supplier performance.

This role is based at our Bardstown, KY location and is fully onsite.

Duties and Responsiblities:

• Manage the complete purchasing cycle, including requirements review, requests for quotation, supplier selection, purchase-order placement, order confirmation, expediting, delivery follow-up, and discrepancy resolution.
• Maintain a hands-on portfolio of strategic and complex suppliers, including international suppliers, while ensuring purchasing team members maintain balanced and appropriate supplier portfolios.
• Lead supplier negotiations involving price, payment terms, lead times, minimum order quantities, freight, tooling, warranty, rebates, and other commercial terms.
• Develop and maintain a measurable purchasing cost-reduction pipeline aligned with annual financial targets and operational priorities.
• Use competitive bidding, supplier consolidation, specification review, value analysis, alternate sourcing, volume leverage, and total-cost analysis to reduce costs without compromising quality or continuity of supply.
• Establish savings baselines with Finance, track forecast and realized saving, distinguish cost avoidance from verified savings, and regularly report results against established targets.
• Analyze purchasing spend, purchase price variance, supplier concentration, fright costs, order frequency, and transactional costs to identify savings and working-capital opportunities.
• Partner with Engineering, Quality, Operations, and Finance on supplier transitions, make-versus-buy analysis, design-to-cost opportunities, and other cross- functional cost-reduction initiatives.
• Evaluate, qualify, and develop suppliers in partnership with Quality and Operations, including identifying alternate and dual-source options for critical materials.
• Monitor supplier performance related to cost, quality, on-time delivery, responsiveness, and lead time. Conduct supplier performance reviews and implement corrective action plans when expectations are not met.
• Coordinate supplier non-conformances, returns, credits, warranty claims, and commercial disputes to achieve timely and favorable resolutions.
• Identify and communicate supply risks, shortages, capactiy constraints, and market changes, including developing and implementing appropriate mitigation plans.
• Measure pruchasing effectiveness and efficiency using established KPIs, including verified cost savings, purchase price variance, supplier on-time delivery, overdue purchase orders, supplier quality, lead-time performance, and purchase-order accuracy.
• Standardize purchasing workflows, approval controls, supplier records, and departmental procedures to improve speed, consistency, compliance, and audit readiness.
• Maintain accurate supplier, pricing, lead0time, order-quantity, and purchasing data within the ERP system.
• Reduce manual effort and avoidable purchasing transactions through workflow improvements, blanket purchase orders, supplier scheduling, reporting tools, automation, and other practical process changes.
• Develop and maintain purchasing procedures, work instructions, and standard work. Monitor compliance and conduct follow-up reviews to ensure improvements are sustained.
• Build effective working relationships with internal stakeholders and ensure purchasing decisions, supply risks, and supplier commitments are communicated clearly and promptly.
• Protect confidential supplier, pricing, commercial, and Company information and ensure purchasing activities comply with Company policies and delegated authority.
• Other duties as assisgned by your supervisor.

Management Responsibilities:

• Hire, develop, coach, and manage a team of purchasing professionals.
• Establish clear priorities, service expectations, performance objectives, and cost-reduction targets for the Purchasing Department.
• Provide employees with regular direction, feedback, training, and development opportunities.
• Complete annual employee performance reviews.
• Address employee performance or conduct concerns promptly and in partnership with Human Resources.
• Manage departmental workload, staffing coverage, attendance, and timecards to maintain dependable support for operations.
• Promote accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and data-based decision-making within the department.
• Ensure employees comply with Company health and safety requirements, receive required training, report hazards and incidents, and use required personal protective equipment.

Requirements

Duties and Responsiblities:

• Manage the complete purchasing cycle, including requirements review, requests for quotation, supplier selection, purchase-order placement, order confirmation, expediting, delivery follow-up, and discrepancy resolution.
• Maintain a hands-on portfolio of strategic and complex suppliers, including interantional suppliers, while ensuring purchasing team members maintain balanced and appropriate supplier portfolios.
• Lead supplier negotiations involving price, payment terms, lead times, minimum order quantities, freight, tooling, warranty, rebates, and other commercial terms.
• Develop and maintain a measurable purchasing cost-reduction pipeline aligned with annual financial targets and operational priorities.
• Use competitive bidding, supplier consolidation, specification review, value analysis, alternate sourcing, volume leverage, and total-cost analysis to reduce costs without compromising quality or continuity of supply.
• Establish savings baselines with Finance, track forecast and realized saving, distinguish cost avoidance from verified savings, and regularly report results against established targets.
• Analyze purchasing spend, purchase price variance, supplier concentration, fright costs, order grequency, and transactional costs to identify savings and working-capital opportunities.
• Partner with Engineering, Quality, Operations, and Finance on supplier transitions, make-versus-buy analysis, design-to-cost opportunities, and other cross- functional cost-reduction initiatives.
• Evaluate, qualify, and develop suppliers in partnership with Quality and Operations, including identifying alternate and dual-source options for critical materials.
• Monitor supplier performance related to cost, quality, on-time delivery, responsiveness, and lead time. Conduct supplier performance reviews and implement corrective action plans when expectations are not met.
• Coordinate supplier non-conformances, returns, credits, warranty claims, and commercial disputes to achieve timely and favorable resolutions.
• Identify and communicate supply risks, shortages, capactiy constraints, and market changes, including developing and implementing appropriate mitigation plans.
• Measure pruchasing effectiveness and efficiency using established KPIs, including verified cost savings, purchase price variance, supplier on-time delivery, overdue purchase orders, supplier quality, lead-time performance, and purchase-order accuracy.
• Standardize purchasing workflows, approval controls, supplier records, and departmental procedures to improve speed, consistency, compliance, and audit readiness.
• Maintain accurate supplier, pricing, lead time, order-quantity, and purchasing data within the ERP system.
• Reduce manual effort and avoidable purchasing transactions through workflow improvements, blanket purchase orders, supplier scheduling, reporting tools, automation, and other practical process changes.
• Develop and maintain purchasing procedures, work instructions, and standard work. Monitor compliance and conduct follow-up reviews to ensure improvements are sustained.
• Build effective working relationships with internal stakeholders and ensure purchasing decisions, supply risks, and supplier commitments are communicated clearly and promptly.
• Protect confidential supplier, pricing, commercial, and Company information and ensure purchasing activities comply with Company policies and delegated authority.
• Other duties as assisgned by your supervisor.

Management Responsibilities:

• Hire, develop, coach, and manage a team of purchasing professionals.
• Establish clear priorities, service expectations, performance objectives, and cost-reduction targets for the Purchasing Department.
• Provide employees with regular direction, feedback, training, and development opportunities.
• Complete annual employee performance reviews.
• Address employee performance or conduct concerns promptly and in partnership with Human Resources.
• Manage departmental workload, staffing coverage, attendance, and timecards to maintain dependable support for operations.
• Promote accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and data-based decision-making within the department.
• Ensure employees comply with Company health and safety requirements, receive required training, report hazards and incidents, and use required personal protective equipment.

Working Conditions:

• Fully onsite position based in Bardstown, KY, USA.
• Office and production-facility environment.
• Regular use of a computer, software, and standard office equipment.
• Periodic entry into production, warehouse, and shipping areas.
• Steel-toed footwear and other personal protective equipment are required when entering designated areas.
• Occasional domestic or international travel may be required, up to 33%.
• Occasional lifting of up to 50 pounds may be required for product reviews.

Education and Experience:

• Post-secondary education in supply chain management, business, operations, or a related field is preferred.
• A supply-chain designation or certification, such as CSCP, CPIM, or CPSM, is considered an asset.
• Minimum five years of progressive purchasing or supply-chain experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Minimum two years of supervisory or team-lead experience.
• Demonstrated experience achieving measurable cost reductions, conducting supplier negotiations, and improving purchasing processes.
• Strong knowledge of purchasing practices, strategic sourcing, supplier management, commercial terms, inventory principles, and manufacturing supply chains.
• Proficiency using an ERP system for purchasing, materials planning, supplier management, and reporting. Experience with SAP B1 is considered an asset.
• Advanced spreadsheet and data-analysis skills, with the ability to translate purchasing information into priorities, actions, and measurable results.
• Strong negotiation, problem-solving, planning, communication, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, respond effectively to urgent supply issues, and maintain accuracy in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
• High degree of integrity, sound judgment, accountability, and professionalism.
• An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the USA.

Benefits

We are a team-driven company that values strong working relationships, work/life balance, and the enjoyment of the work we do together. You will find a collaborative environment with Friday team breakfasts, quarterly potlucks, and a culture built on respect and support.

Benefits include:

• 401k with company match
• Paid time off (PTO) and sick time
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Employee discount