Materials Buyer

Job Responsibilities

• Purchase Order Management
• Issue, confirm, and maintain purchase orders based on requirements and delivery dates provided by the Material Planner.
• Ensure PO accuracy, including quantities, pricing, lead times, delivery addresses, and supplier acknowledgment.
• Manage PO updates, reschedules, cancellations, and changes based on updated planning signals.
• Routinely review open purchase orders to ensure past-due, prior-month, partially received, short-shipped, or over-shipped orders are actively managed and resolved.
• Ensure unresolved prior-period PO issues are escalated appropriately before the start of a new reporting period.
• Supplier Coordination & Follow-Up
• Serve as the day-to-day point of contact for assigned suppliers supporting the production facility.
• Expedite open orders to ensure on-time delivery aligned with production schedules.
• Maintain accurate documentation of supplier communication, PO updates, and issue resolution history in the ERP system or approved tracking tools.
• Receiving & Inbound Logistics
• Career with the receiving and warehouse teams to ensure inbound shipments are expected, documented, and reconciled against purchase orders.
• Manage discrepancies between ordered and received quantities, including damages, short shipments, overages, and partial receipts.
• Support escalation of late loads, hot loads, and time-sensitive shipments needed to support production.
• Assist with manual creation of small shipments in TMS when required.
• Support customs/import documentation for international suppliers when applicable.
• Inventory & Material Availability
• Monitor on-hand and on-order inventory for assigned materials to help prevent stock-outs, overstock situations, or production interruptions.
• Communicate urgent material shortages, supply risks, BOM-related updates, or material surpluses to the Material Planner and appropriate internal stakeholders.
• Support cycle count and physical inventory reconciliation activities when material discrepancies are identified.
• Partner with Production, Warehouse, Quality, and Planning to ensure materials are available and usable when needed.
• Supplier Performance Monitoring
• Track and report key supplier performance metrics, including on-time delivery, fill rate, lead time adherence, and recurring service issues.
• Escalate chronic supplier performance concerns to leadership, corporate procurement, or the commodity team for further action.
• Maintain supplier contact information and facility-level purchasing details, including consignment, VMI, or other local supplier arrangements when applicable.
• Pricing & Cost Management
• Ensure purchases are executed at contracted, quoted, or otherwise approved pricing.
• Review and resolve pricing discrepancies in partnership with Accounts Payable, suppliers, and internal stakeholders.
• Identify and communicate cost-saving or process improvement opportunities to leadership.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Partner closely with the corporate Material Planner to align on material priorities, demand changes, delivery requirements, and supply constraints.
• Work with Production, Quality, Warehouse, Finance, and Planning to resolve material-related issues impacting plant execution.
• Coordinate with Accounts Payable to resolve invoice discrepancies tied to PO, receipt, pricing, or quantity mismatches.
• Provide excellent service to internal and external partners while supporting operational excellence, safety, and teamwork.
• Documentation, Compliance & Reporting
• Maintain accurate purchasing records in the ERP system, including purchase orders, supplier confirmations, receipts, pricing updates, and supplier communications.
• Ensure purchasing activity complies with company policies, approved supplier lists, audit requirements, and food manufacturing standards.
• Generate or support reporting related to open POs, late materials, supplier performance, cost savings, inventory risks, and procurement activity.

Skills, Knowledge & Abilities

• Strong understanding of purchasing processes, MRP logic, lead times, supplier management, shipping processes, and inventory control.
• Experience working with ERP systems such as NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, or similar systems preferred.
• Strong Excel skills and ability to maintain accurate tracking tools and reports.
• Strong communication, follow-up, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced production environment.
• High attention to detail and ability to identify risks before they impact production.
• Customer service mindset with the ability to support both internal and external partners professionally.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, Business, or related field preferred; equivalent experience will be considered.
• 2–5 years of purchasing, procurement, materials, logistics, or supply chain experience, preferably in a manufacturing or food production environment.

Work Environment

• This role works in both an office setting and a food manufacturing facility. The position requires a significant amount of time working at a computer station, with occasional visits to various areas of the manufacturing floor.
• Required PPE must be worn while in all manufacturing areas.
• Moving parts and machinery are present in the plant.
• Noise levels may vary and can be higher in production areas.

Physical Demands

• Frequently sitting, standing, and walking.
• Occasional ability to lift up to 50 lbs.
• Ability to perform functions involving repetitive motion, grasping, lifting, pulling, pushing, reaching, kneeling, stooping, balancing, and climbing as needed.
• Noise levels will vary; higher noise levels exist while in the plant operations areas.