Purchasing Manager

Purchasing Manager

The Purchasing Manager provides plant-wide leadership for procurement, inventory management, and inventory forecasting at FPL Food, LLC's Augusta facility. The position ensures that materials, ingredients, packaging, maintenance supplies, chemicals, personal protective equipment, and other operating supplies are available in the right quantity, at the right time, and at the best total cost—without interrupting production, food safety, employee safety, quality, or regulatory compliance.

This role develops inventory strategies and forecasts using production schedules, historical usage, lead times, seasonality, supplier performance, and operational risk. The Purchasing Manager establishes effective controls, maintains accurate purchasing and inventory data, develops suppliers, leads assigned staff, and partners closely with all departments.

Essential duties and responsibilities include:

• Follow and support all company safety, food-safety, animal-welfare, quality, sanitation, environmental, security, and regulatory policies and procedures applicable to the role.
• Ensure purchased materials and suppliers meet approved specifications and documentation requirements before use, including any applicable certificates, safety data sheets, traceability information, insurance, or regulatory documentation.
• Establish and maintain a system to inspect supplies within 2 business days upon receipt of goods to ensure shipment is correct to include meeting most important specifications of product.
• Promptly report and help address unsafe conditions, food-safety or quality concerns, supply risks, product-integrity concerns, and compliance issues through the appropriate channels.
• Maintain orderly, secure, and properly controlled inventory areas in partnership with warehouse and operating teams, including controls for shelf life, lot identification, chemical compatibility, temperature, and restricted materials as applicable.
• Management of the entire supply purchasing process and maintaining appropriate inventory levels to ensure operations continue without interruption. Work with plant management to establish and maintain item masters, units of measure, supplier information, lead times, minimum/maximum levels, and any other replenishment parameters. Establish and maintain process to review levels with plant management based on weekly production quantities.
• Forecast inventory needs based on inventory quantities and current production levels.
• Develop and oversee cycle-count and physical-inventory programs. Ensure discrepancies are reconciled and adjustments are posted timely in the applicable systems.
• Maintain appropriate controls for inventory management.
• Review inventory aging, shelf life, storage conditions, obsolescence, slow-moving items, duplicate items, and dead stock; recommend disposition and preventive actions.
• Ensure proper processes and internal controls are followed by the department
• Source, qualify, and develop suppliers in partnership with plant management. EVP of Harvest Division and Plant Manager are to be involved at a minimum and department managers as needed; obtain competitive quotes and negotiate pricing, service, lead times, terms, and supply commitments.
• Monitor supplier performance for quality, delivery, fill rate, responsiveness, documentation, and cost. Lead corrective action and supplier-performance reviews when expectations are not met.
• Coordinate order status, substitutions, returns, credits, claims, rejected materials, and delivery changes; keep affected departments informed.
• Maintain records in accordance with company retention requirements and support internal, financial, customer, and regulatory audits.
• Safeguard company assets and maintain segregation of duties, approval limits, ethical sourcing practices, confidentiality, and conflict-of-interest standards.
• Set clear expectations and standard work for purchasing and inventory activities; develop cross-training and backup coverage for critical responsibilities.
• Participate in production planning, maintenance planning, inventory review, food-safety, continuous improvement, and other operational meetings as needed.
• Support emergency response and after-hours purchasing needs when required by business conditions.

Key performance indicators may include:

• Inventory record accuracy and cycle-count completion
• Forecast accuracy and usage variance
• Stockouts, shortages, and production interruptions attributable to material availability
• Inventory turns, days on hand, and working-capital performance
• Excess, obsolete, expired, damaged, and slow-moving inventory
• Purchase price, total-cost savings, cost avoidance, and budget performance
• Purchase-order compliance and invoice-match accuracy
• Supplier on-time delivery, fill rate, quality, and responsiveness
• Expedite frequency and premium freight
• Completion of corrective actions and continuous-improvement initiatives

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Business Administration, Operations Management, Finance, or a related field preferred. An equivalent combination of relevant education and progressively responsible experience may be considered.

Experience

• Minimum of five years of purchasing and inventory-management experience; experience in a manufacturing environment is preferred.
• Minimum of two years of supervisory or team-lead experience.

Knowledge, Skills, and Competencies

• Recognized leadership ability, sound judgment, accountability, integrity, and strong interpersonal skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication, negotiation, organization, and internal-customer service skills.
• Intermediate to advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including formulas, lookups, pivot tables, filters, charts, and data analysis; proficiency with Microsoft Word and Outlook.
• Experience with ERP, purchasing, inventory, warehouse, or maintenance-management systems; ability to learn company systems quickly.
• High attention to detail and the ability to manage competing priorities, urgent requests, confidential information, and time-sensitive decisions in a fast-paced plant environment.
• Ability to collaborate with employees at all organizational levels and work effectively across departments and shifts.

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

• Work is performed in both office and plant environments. Plant exposure may include cold or hot temperatures, wet or humid conditions, noise, odors, moving equipment, industrial chemicals, and areas requiring personal protective equipment.
• Must be able to safely enter and move through production, warehouse, cold-storage, rendering, hide-processing, and maintenance areas as required to verify inventory, investigate issues, or meet with stakeholders.
• May require extended periods of computer and telephone work, standing or walking, and occasional lifting or handling of samples or supplies consistent with company policy and applicable restrictions.
• Must be able to work a flexible schedule and respond to urgent supply needs outside normal business hours when operationally necessary.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.

Travel Requirements

Less than 10%, including occasional supplier visits, training, or travel to other company locations as needed.

Disclaimer

This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this classification. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, qualifications, or working conditions. FPL Food, LLC may modify responsibilities and assignments based on business needs. Employment is subject to applicable company policies and law.