Purchasing Manager

Purchasing Manager

The Purchasing Manager is responsible for leading the plant's purchasing team and ensuring materials, components, supplies, and services are available to support production schedules and customer requirements. This position supervises approximately 9-12 Buyers and oversees daily purchasing activities, including production schedule reviews, RFQ management, supplier management, purchase order creation, order confirmations, and past-due purchase order recovery. The Purchasing Manager works closely with Production Planning, Engineering, Quality, Warehouse, Finance, and Operations to resolve material shortages, maintain supplier performance, control purchasing costs, and prevent disruptions to manufacturing.

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Manage, train, coach, and develop a purchasing team of approximately 9-12 Buyers.

2. Assign suppliers, commodities, projects, and purchasing responsibilities to team members.

3. Establish daily and weekly priorities based on production schedules, material shortages, and customer requirements.

4. Monitor buyer workloads and redistribute assignments when necessary.

5. Review buyer performance, purchasing accuracy, responsiveness, and follow-up activities.

6. Conduct regular team meetings to review shortages, open purchase orders, past-due orders, supplier issues, and upcoming production requirements.

7. Establish measurable goals and performance expectations for the purchasing team.

8. Responsible for interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and training new purchasing employees.

9. Review current and future production schedules to identify material requirements and purchasing priorities.

10. Ensure Buyers are placing orders early enough to support scheduled production dates while avoiding unnecessary excess inventory.

11. Coordinate with Production Planning and Warehouse to identify material shortages and potential schedule risks.

12. Escalate critical shortages and develop recovery plans with suppliers and internal departments.

13. Monitor changes to production schedules and ensure purchase orders are adjusted accordingly.

14. Support inventory reduction efforts while maintaining the material availability required for production.

15. Participate in production, scheduling, shortage, and operations meetings.

16. Oversee the company's Request for Quote (RFQ) system and ensure RFQs are completed accurately and on time.

17. Assign RFQs to Buyers and monitor open, pending, and overdue RFQs.

18. Ensure Buyers obtain competitive quotations when required.

19. Review supplier pricing, lead times, payment terms, freight terms, quality history, and production capabilities.

20. Maintain accurate RFQ documentation and supplier quotation records.

21. Track RFQ performance, including response times, cost savings, supplier participation, and award status.

22. Work with Engineering and Operations to ensure suppliers receive complete drawings, specifications, quantities, and delivery requirements.

23. Manage and maintain the company's supplier management system.

24. Support the qualification, evaluation, approval, and ongoing monitoring of suppliers.

25. Monitor supplier performance in the areas of quality, delivery, cost, service, responsiveness, and lead time.

26. Conduct supplier performance reviews and communicate corrective action requirements.

27. Lead or support supplier corrective actions when quality or delivery performance does not meet expectations.

28. Develop improvement plans for underperforming suppliers.

29. Identify, qualify, and develop alternate suppliers to reduce supply-chain risk.

30. Build strong working relationships with key suppliers.

31. Conduct supplier meetings, business reviews, negotiations, and site visits when necessary.

32. Create and open purchase orders as needed to support production and operational requirements.

33. Review purchase orders for correct pricing, quantity, part number, revision level, delivery date, shipping terms, and payment terms.

34. Review and resolve purchase order discrepancies, invoice issues, quantity differences, and pricing variances.

35. Maintain accurate purchasing information in the company's ERP or MRP system.

36. Maintain visibility of all past-due and at-risk purchase orders.

37. Ensure Buyers follow up with suppliers and obtain updated delivery commitments.

38. Review the past-due purchase order report daily or weekly, depending on production needs.

39. Identify and document purchasing cost savings and cost-avoidance opportunities.

40. Review supplier price increases and obtain supporting documentation before approval.

41. Work with Engineering and Operations to identify alternate materials, suppliers, or sourcing methods.

42. Balance cost savings with quality, delivery, inventory, and production requirements.

43. Develop and maintain purchasing reports and key performance indicators.

44. Conduct additional tasks as required.

Education and Experience

· Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Operations Management, or a related field preferred but not required.

· 10 or more years of purchasing or procurement experience in a manufacturing environment.

· 5 or more years of purchasing leadership or supervisory experience preferred.

· Experience managing multiple Buyers, suppliers, commodities, and purchasing priorities.

· Working knowledge of manufacturing production schedules, bills of material, inventory requirements, and material planning.

· Experience with RFQs, supplier selection, purchase orders, supplier performance management, and contract negotiations.

· Experience using an ERP or MRP purchasing system. Syspro ERP is a plus.

· Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Outlook, Word, and related business software.

Specific Skills

· Strong leadership and employee-development skills.

· Ability to manage multiple Buyers and competing purchasing priorities.

· Strong negotiation, analytical, and problem-solving abilities.

· Ability to read and understand production schedules, bills of material, technical drawings, and purchasing specifications.

· Strong knowledge of supplier management and purchasing best practices.

· Ability to identify supply risks and develop effective recovery plans.

· Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

· Strong attention to detail and purchasing-document accuracy.

· Ability to work effectively with Production, Engineering, Quality, Finance, Warehouse, and Inventory Control.

· Ability to make timely decisions in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

· Strong organizational, follow-up, and time-management skills.

· Ability to maintain confidential pricing, supplier, and company information.

Preferred Qualifications

· Professional certification such as CPSM, CPIM, CSCP, or CPM.

· Experience working within an ISO 9001-certified manufacturing environment.

· Experience with supplier audits, corrective actions, and supplier development.

· Experience purchasing fabricated parts, machined components, electrical components, raw materials, or other manufacturing-related goods.

· Experience developing purchasing dashboards and performance metrics.

Key Performance Indicators

Performance may be measured using the following

· Supplier on-time delivery percentage

· Number and value of past-due purchase orders

· Material shortages affecting production

· RFQ completion and response time

· Purchase price variance

· Documented cost savings and cost avoidance

· Supplier quality and corrective-action performance

· Purchase order accuracy

· Supplier acknowledgment and confirmation rates

· Buyer productivity and follow-up performance

· Inventory levels and excess or obsolete material

· Internal customer satisfaction

Physical and Work Requirements

· Primarily works in an office located within a manufacturing environment.

· Must be able to visit production, warehouse, receiving, and inventory areas as required.

· May occasionally visit supplier locations.

· Must be able to sit, stand, walk, and use a computer for extended periods.

· May occasionally be required to lift or move items weighing up to 25 pounds.

· Must follow all plant safety requirements and wear required personal protective equipment when entering production areas.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental and Vision Coverage, including FSA/HAS
• Company – Paid