Maintenance Purchaser

About the role

Cérélia operates a state‑of‑the‑art commercial bakery and production facility in Whitehall, Ohio, a 160,000‑square‑foot plant that opened in September 2021 and serves as the U.S. manufacturing hub for the Jus‑Rol brand. The Whitehall facility specializes in ready‑to‑bake chilled dough products—including pizza dough, pie crusts, puff pastry, and gluten‑free cookie dough—and continues to expand with new product lines to support national growth. Team members enjoy modern onsite amenities such as a fitness center and EV charging stations, all within a clean, innovative, and fast‑growing environment. While the Whitehall plant is new, Cérélia’s roots trace back to 1974, evolving from a France‑based bakery into an international leader in dough innovation. As we grow, our people grow with us—if you’re passionate about doing meaningful work with a company on the rise, we’d love to hear from you.

The Maintenance Purchaser is responsible for purchasing maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) materials, spare parts, services, tools, and equipment required to support safe and reliable plant operations. This position works closely with Maintenance, Operations, Engineering, Finance, and approved suppliers to ensure required materials are available when needed while maintaining appropriate inventory levels and controlling costs. The Maintenance Purchaser will support a food‑manufacturing environment where equipment reliability, food safety, employee safety, and production up time are critical.

Responsibilities

• Purchase MRO parts, supplies, tools, equipment, and contracted services
• Process purchase requisitions and purchase orders in accordance with company procedures
• Obtain and compare supplier quotations
• Negotiate pricing, lead times, freight, payment terms, and other purchasing conditions
• Identify opportunities for cost savings and standardization
• Expedite critical parts and materials required to prevent or minimize production downtime
• Monitor open purchase orders and communicate expected delivery dates to Maintenance personnel
• Develop and maintain relationships with approved vendors and suppliers
• Identify alternate suppliers when parts are obsolete, unavailable, or experiencing extended lead times
• Work closely with Maintenance Supervisors, Technicians, CI, and Reliability personnel to understand material requirements
• Support planned maintenance, preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, and major shutdown activities
• Purchase parts based on equipment specifications, manufacturer part numbers, and approved alternatives
• Research replacement parts and identify equivalent or improved components when appropriate
• Assist technicians and planners in locating hard‑to‑find or obsolete parts
• Support emergency purchasing during equipment breakdowns and production interruptions
• Maintain awareness of critical spare parts and long‑lead‑time components
• Coordinate with the Maintenance Manager to maintain appropriate MRO inventory levels
• Monitor stock levels, reorder points, minimum/maximum quantities, and critical spares
• Help identify obsolete, excess, and slow‑moving inventory