Purchasing and Inventory Specialist

Core Responsibilities

• Manage the end-to-end procurement process.
• Collaborate directly with external vendors to obtain the best possible pricing, freight terms, and delivery schedules.
• Analyze market trends and supplier pricing shifts to make highly informed, cost-effective purchasing decisions.
• Follow through rigorously on damaged, defective, or incorrect vendor shipments to secure credits, returns, or replacements.
• Create all purchase orders (POs) for both standard in-stock inventory and customer special orders.
• Maintain open lines of communication with Sales teams regarding the arrival timelines and status of special orders.
• Manage cross-location logistics by systematically allocating and sending product transfers to other company retail branches.
• Safely unload incoming freight trucks and delivery vehicles.
• Physically inspect all incoming shipments for freight damage, verify piece counts against packing slips, and log discrepancies.
• Enter newly received items into the company database, accurately label product components, and organize them into their designated warehouse storage bays.
• Ensure that multi-box or multi-pallet product components are meticulously kept together and sequentially labeled.
• Track all ongoing purchases and historical stock movements using point-of-sale (POS) and spreadsheet software.
• Meticulously maintain up-to-date listings, pricing tiers, and descriptions for all items inside the POS and master spreadsheets.
• Convert all finalized purchase orders into bills and route them promptly to the accounting department for payment processing.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Forklift Certification required (or willingness and ability to secure certification immediately upon hire).
• Proven experience in purchasing, procurement, inventory management, or supply chain logistics.
• Strong proficiency in spreadsheet software (Excel/Google Sheets) and retail Point-of-Sale (POS) software systems.
• Excellent negotiation, verbal communication, and interpersonal skills for building strong vendor relationships.
• High level of data integrity, numerical accuracy, and organizational skills.

Physical Demands

• Must be able to safely lift, push, and pull heavy boxes and product packages routinely, and work on your feet in a warehouse environment.
• Able to collaborate effectively across departments, including Logistics, Sales, and Materials Management.