Senior Buyer, Contract Manufacturing

Who We Are
John Paul Mitchell Systems ("JPMS") is recognized worldwide for developing and marketing innovative hair and skin care products since 1980. We've been serving the professional beauty industry with salon-quality hair care products, styling tools and professional hair color through our family of brands including Paul Mitchell, MITCH, Awapuhi Wild Ginger, Tea Tree, Paul Mitchell Tools, Neuro, The Demi, Paul Mitchell the Color, Blonde, and Color XG.
We were the first professional hair care company to take a stand against animal testing and continue our strong commitment to giving back, supporting a wide range of philanthropic causes both domestically and internationally. Sustainability has always been a priority, and we are committed to making our company operations climate neutral to preserve the beauty of the world around us.
Who You Are:
You are a skilled and enthusiastic, high-performing professional who is passionate about hair care and wants to positively contribute to the growth of our iconic brand as well as to our people first culture.
About the Role
The Senior Buyer, Contract Manufacturing is responsible for the end-to-end execution of purchase orders and supply activities across assigned contract manufacturers. The role coordinates and directs day-to-day work across internal partners and external manufacturing contacts to ensure purchase orders, production requirements, delivery commitments, inventory movements, and issue resolution are executed accurately and on time. As a senior individual contributor, this position provides operational leadership, establishes follow-up priorities, monitors execution, and escalates risks to Procurement leadership. The role does not have direct reports or formal performance-management authority unless separately assigned.
What You will Do :
* Lead end-to-end purchase order execution across assigned contract manufacturers, including PO creation, confirmation, change management, production tracking, shipment coordination, receipt, and closure.
* Coordinate and direct internal stakeholders and external contract-manufacturer contacts to ensure PO requirements, production schedules, component readiness, documentation, and delivery commitments are understood and executed.
* Establish follow-up priorities, owners, and due dates for open-order actions; monitor completion and escalate missed commitments or unresolved risks.
* Maintain accurate and timely open-order reporting, including current production status, material constraints, delivery dates, quantity changes, and business-impact notes.
* Review MRP recommendations, forecasts, inventory positions, safety stock requirements, and open supply to identify shortages, excess exposure, or timing risks and recommend appropriate purchasing actions.
* Partner with Planning, Quality, R&D, Product Development, Regulatory, Receiving, Finance, and other functions to resolve constraints affecting production, release, shipment, invoice matching, or receipt.
* Monitor contract-manufacturer and supplier performance against delivery, responsiveness, quality, and execution expectations; document service gaps and coordinate corrective follow-up.
* Serve as the first operational escalation point for assigned contract manufacturers, resolving routine issues independently and escalating material supply, quality, commercial, or continuity risks to Procurement leadership.
* Validate PO pricing, quantities, ship-to locations, payment terms, lead times, and supporting documentation before release and throughout the order lifecycle.
* Coordinate PO changes, cancellations, substitutions, transfers, returns, credits, and reconciliation of order, shipment, receipt, and invoice discrepancies.
* Support commercialization, reformulation, artwork, BOM, and technology-transfer activities by tracking purchasing deliverables, dependencies, and readiness dates.
* Analyze purchasing data, supplier performance, lead times, inventory exposure, and cost impacts; prepare recommendations and concise updates for Procurement leadership.
* Maintain accurate supplier, item, pricing, lead-time, and PO data in D365 and related purchasing reports.
* Provide day-to-day guidance, process support, and training to buyers or cross-functional partners on assigned workflows; contribute to SOPs and continuous-improvement initiatives.
* Perform other related responsibilities as assigned.
Required Qualifications:
Skills:
* Working knowledge of purchasing, inventory control, MRP, production planning, and contract-manufacturing supply processes.
* Ability to coordinate work across internal and external parties, establish clear ownership and deadlines, and drive timely follow-through without formal authority.
* Strong purchase order management, supplier relationship management, escalation, and issue-resolution skills.
* Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to assess risk and make structured operational decisions.
* Ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and production dependencies in a fast-paced environment.
* Clear written and verbal communication, including concise status reporting and escalation of risks, decisions, and required actions.
* Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint; experience using an ERP/MRP system.
* Ability to work independently with general direction and exercise sound judgment within established policies and approval levels.
Education:
* High school diploma or GED required
Experience:
* Minimum 5 years of purchasing, procurement, supply chain, inventory planning, or buyer experience.
* Demonstrated experience coordinating complex work across suppliers and cross-functional stakeholders
Preferred Qualifications:
Skills:
* Experience managing purchase orders and supply execution with contract manufacturers or third-party production partners.
* Experience in beauty, personal care, cosmetics, consumer products, health and wellness, or another regulated manufacturing environment.
* Experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 or a comparable ERP system.
* Experience with supplier scorecards, open-order reporting, inventory analysis, PPV or cost analysis, and corrective-action follow-up.
* Ability to read and interpret bills of material, specifications, drawings, forecasts, production schedules, and quality or regulatory documentation.
* Familiarity with cGMP, FDA, Prop 65, quality-system, or related industry requirements as they apply to purchasing execution.
Education:
* Associate or bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, Finance, or a related field preferred.
Experience:
* Experience in manufacturing and contract manufacturing strongly preferred.
We are eager to meet people who believe in our mission and can contribute to our team in a variety of ways - not just candidates who check all the boxes. If you think you would be a good fit for the position and our company, we invite you to apply.
Working Conditions
* Office and Warehouse environments
Competitive Compensation:
* The expected base salary range for this position is $75,000 to $80,000. The exact base salary is determined by various factors including geographic location, experience, skills, and education.
* Discretionary Bonus Plan: This position is also eligible for participation in the company discretionary bonus plan, based on personal performance and company results.
* Comprehensive Benefits Package: In addition to base salary, JPMS offers a competitive benefits package to eligible employees, including medical, dental, vision, life, accident, critical illness, and disability insurance, retirement savings plans and company match, paid family leave, education-related programs, paid holidays, discretionary vacation time, and more.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and take pride in a diverse environment.
Compensation details: Yearly Salary