Purchasing Manager - Assembly

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead strategic procurement initiatives to support company objectives and growth strategies.
• Support the General Manager and Executive Team by gathering and analyzing spending and investment data for key programs.
• Maintain awareness of upcoming programs and business opportunities to ensure procurement decisions are made proactively and effectively.
• Partner closely with Engineering to ensure procurement considerations are integrated into design-for-manufacturing initiatives and future product designs.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and close operational gaps.
• Issue purchase orders and expedite materials as required to support production schedules.
• Drive total cost of ownership (TCO) reductions through supplier collaboration, process improvements, and strategic sourcing initiatives.
• Develop and implement sourcing strategies, including vendor consolidation, annual agreements, and volume-based pricing arrangements.
• Develop and manage formal commodity strategies, including spot buys, forward buys, and forward contracting.
• Assess and monitor commodity and supply chain risks among key suppliers and provide regular updates to the Executive Team.
• Conduct periodic supplier audits to evaluate quality, delivery performance, and continuous improvement efforts.
• Develop requests for proposals (RFPs) and negotiate supplier contracts to achieve cost reductions and service improvements.
• Research, evaluate, and qualify new suppliers to support business needs.
• Identify and mitigate risks associated with single-source suppliers.
• Develop and maintain the Approved Vendor List (AVL) in partnership with the Quality Department.
• Lead supplier communications and negotiations.
• Maintain a supplier management matrix identifying key suppliers and the status of associated supply agreements.
• Establish and maintain processes that ensure strategic procurement activities include appropriate due diligence and integration for long-term master agreements.
• Develop standardized supplier performance metrics, including targets, scorecards, and action plans.
• Track, measure, and report TCO metrics for key suppliers.
• Manage, monitor, and report on supplier quality programs and performance.

Qualifications/Requirements

• Demonstrated leadership and decision-making skills.
• Strong leadership presence with the ability to motivate, influence, develop, and train team members.
• Working knowledge of Lean principles and tools, with the ability to translate theory into practical implementation.
• Able to collaborate effectively across multiple departments and with diverse personalities.
• Strong interpersonal, negotiation, and communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Able to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment while remaining hands-on and proactive.
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and problem-solving abilities.
• Strong sense of urgency and ability to prioritize effectively.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications.
• Experience with ERP systems and reporting tools; Oracle experience preferred.