Buyer

What You Will Be Doing

• Material planning and MRP execution
• Purchase materials to ensure supply meets MRP planned order requirements and supports on-time delivery for domestic and global demand.
• Demand, forecast, and inventory alignment
• Ensure international, subsidiary, and miscellaneous demand requirements are accurately incorporated into monthly purchasing actions as required by the business unit.
• Review annual forecast requirements with planning to ensure inventory availability and participate in determining disposition of excess and obsolete materials.
• Order placement, supplier follow-up, and delivery management
• Use analytics and automation tools to summarize supplier status, identify overdue confirmations, and escalate issues as appropriate.
• Ensure supplier communications remain accurate, professional, and aligned with contract terms, sourcing strategy, and company commitments.
• Risk identification, shortage management, and issue resolution
• Identify potential issues and continuously monitor and resolve disconnects such as anticipated product shortages, nonconforming material, and excess or obsolete material.
• Use predictive indicators, supplier performance trends, and AI-assisted summaries to identify at-risk parts, capacity constraints, recovery gaps, and alternate supply options.
• Develop alternative solutions, assess impact on product delivery, and communicate options and resolutions to internal teams including sourcing, planning, operations, engineering, quality, and product management.
• Supplier performance, contract compliance, and accountability
• Manage day-to-day supplier performance and fulfillment. Evaluate and monitor contracts to ensure vendors and suppliers comply with expectations, contract terms, and conditions.
• Use dashboards and AI-assisted analytics to monitor supplier delivery performance, responsiveness, confirmation discipline, quality trends, and recurring root-cause themes.
• Clearly communicate expectations to suppliers, monitor compliance, and escalate repeated performance gaps through the appropriate sourcing or supplier management process.
• Inventory partnerships and working capital improvement
• Aid in the development of partnership arrangements with suppliers to manage internal inventories and vendor-consigned inventories to reduce inventory ownership and lead time.
• Perform inventory analysis when required, including safety stock, open order exposure, aged inventory, E&O risk, and supplier flexibility.
• Quality, freight, and cost-impact collaboration
• Troubleshoot and analyze quality issues in collaboration with internal and external teams to obtain resolution.
• Focus on reducing freight expense, material liability, and cost of managing materials through disciplined follow-up, data-based decisions, and cross-functional root-cause resolution.

What You Need to Succeed

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, supply chain management, purchasing or equivalent.
• Typically requires a minimum of 2 years of buying/procurement in a manufacturing consumer goods environment.
• Excellent quantitative and analytical skills, along with a strong attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex problems and analyze possible solutions using technical experience and judgment.
• Proficiency in using MRP software, Excel and automation tools to create analytics that create actionable insights.
• Strong working knowledge of supply chain management, production planning, and inventory control methods.
• Knowledge and strong understanding of receiving, manufacturing engineering, quality and material flow processes.
• Excellent interpersonal/communication skills to communicate with multiple internal teams, external vendors/suppliers and various levels of employees.
• Strong attention to data integrity, systems discipline, confidentiality and supplier-facing professionalism.

Compensation and Benefits

• Compensation range $60k - $70k depends upon experience.
• Find work/life balance with generous Paid Time Off and holiday benefits, a full benefits package, and broad range of employee support and fitness and wellness plans.
• Further your career with performance development and training opportunities, including our tuition assistance program.
• Have fun at work, enjoying a collaborative and casual work environment, participating in fun company events, and taking advantage of great employee discounts on all our outdoor recreational products.
• Plan for your future with our 401(k) with company match and deferred retirement contributions, Sons & Daughters Scholarship program, college savings program, life and LTD insurance, and more.

About the Role

BuyerAt Johnson Outdoors, home to some of the world’s most innovative and best-known outdoor recreation brands, we create amazing outdoor experiences - for adventurers, by adventurers. Check out each of the unique Johnson Outdoor brands in Fishing, Camping , Watercraft and Diving!

Join us in shaping the future growth of Johnson Outdoors and our Fishing brands by playing a key role within the Materials Management department. Located at our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Mankato, Minnesota, the Buyer is responsible for the procurement of materials, daily supplier performance management, purchasing issue resolution, and MRP-driven supply execution to support manufacturing and customer demand.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, supply chain management, purchasing or equivalent.
• Typically requires a minimum of 2 years of buying/procurement in a manufacturing consumer goods environment.
• Excellent quantitative and analytical skills, along with a strong attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex problems and analyze possible solutions using technical experience and judgment.
• Proficiency in using MRP software, Excel and automation tools to create analytics that create actionable insights.
• Strong working knowledge of supply chain management, production planning, and inventory control methods.
• Knowledge and strong understanding of receiving, manufacturing engineering, quality and material flow processes.
• Excellent interpersonal/communication skills to communicate with multiple internal teams, external vendors/suppliers and various levels of employees.
• Strong attention to data integrity, systems discipline, confidentiality and supplier-facing professionalism.