Planning and Purchasing Specialist

About the role

We are looking for a Planning and Purchasing Specialist to support material planning and procurement activities for a manufacturing operation in Danville, Virginia. This role is responsible for aligning supply availability with production needs, improving inventory performance, and working closely with suppliers and internal teams to maintain a dependable flow of materials.

The ideal candidate brings strong purchasing experience, sound planning judgment, and the ability to resolve supply issues while supporting cost, quality, and operational goals. This is a hybrid work environment.

Responsibilities

• Build short-, mid-, and long-range material plans by balancing demand forecasts, inventory goals, supplier lead times, lot sizing, transportation efficiency, and product shelf-life considerations.
• Place and track purchase orders, confirm supplier commitments, and follow through on deliveries to help ensure materials arrive accurately and on schedule.
• Partner with internal departments and external suppliers to address receiving discrepancies, invoice concerns, quality issues, and documentation needs that could interrupt procurement or payment activities.
• Support product launches, equipment readiness, and plant trials by coordinating material availability, reviewing specifications, and helping implement local and global initiatives within the facility.
• Evaluate opportunities to lower material costs and improve inventory turnover through better planning methods and supplier programs such as vendor-managed inventory or kanban replenishment.
• Manage supplier follow-up for nonconforming raw materials, including timely issue escalation, corrective action tracking, and coordination of technical visits when production support is needed.
• Maintain accurate material master data and complete planning work within established monthly business cycles and reporting expectations.
• Contribute to continuous improvement efforts while following safety requirements, workplace standards, and company policies, and take on additional assignments as directed by leadership.

Requirements

• At least 3 years of experience in purchasing, procurement, or material planning within a manufacturing or production environment.
• Working knowledge of materials requirements planning and the ability to translate demand into effective purchasing actions.
• Experience managing purchase orders, supplier communication, delivery follow-up, and issue resolution related to materials procurement.
• Ability to analyze inventory trends, identify improvement opportunities, and support reductions in excess or obsolete stock.
• Familiarity with coordinating cross-functional activities involving production, quality, finance, logistics, and supplier partners.
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills with close attention to data accuracy and process discipline.
• Proficiency in purchasing-related systems and standard business software used for planning, ordering, and reporting.

Benefits

Benefits are available to contract/temporary professionals, including medical, vision, dental, and life and disability insurance. Hired contract/temporary professionals are also eligible to enroll in our company 401(k) plan. Visit roberthalf.gobenefits.net for more information.