Purchasing Manager

About the role

The Purchasing Manager develops and executes Avanti's purchasing and supply chain strategy. This role establishes and maintains strategic vendor relationships, negotiates pricing and purchasing programs, and leads the Purchasing team to ensure products are purchased efficiently, delivered on time, and managed at the lowest total cost. The Purchasing Manager works cross-functionally with Sales, Project Management, Warehouse, Finance, and Operations to improve profitability, inventory performance, and customer satisfaction.

Responsibilities

• Review and negotiate programs for Avanti’s top 100 vendors, including discounts, rebates, specification and freight programs, and payment terms.
• Review project and stocking purchases for savings, accuracy, timing, inventory allocation, alternative specifications, and potential bulk purchases.
• Evaluate vendor spend and recommend alternative brands to maximize earnings and rebates.
• Lead, coach, and develop the Purchasing and Supply Chain team.
• Own vendor management, measure vendor performance, including pricing, quality, lead times, and service levels. Conduct periodic business reviews and work to resolve performance issues.
• Responsible for inventory stocking strategies that balance service levels and inventory investment. Utilize obsolete inventory.
• Partner with warehouse leadership on inventory accuracy and cycle counts.
• Lead process improvements for the department. Improve purchasing workflows through ERP automation. Standardize purchasing processes across the company. Partner with IT on ERP enhancements.
• Partner with Sales and Project Management to ensure customer commitments are met while maximizing purchasing efficiencies and company profitability.
• Maintain up-to-date pricing and program information in Avanti systems.

Requirements

• Commercial kitchen industry experience.
• 5+ years purchasing and/or supply chain experience.
• 2+ years managerial experience.
• Strong negotiation skills. Experience managing vendor contracts.
• Experience with inventory planning and forecasting.
• Experience using ERP systems (Epicor, NetSuite, Acumatica, etc.).
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
• Strong analytical and financial skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Proven leadership and team development experience.
• Experience in commercial foodservice equipment distribution.
• Existing relationships with major foodservice manufacturers.
• Experience with AutoQuotes and kitchen equipment specification.

Physical and Intellectual Requirements

• Hearing: Perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction. Ability to receive detailed information through oral communication and to make discriminations in sound.
• Hand dexterity and coordination: Critical for tasks requiring use of one or both arms and wrists to lift parts, fixtures, and tools on a frequent basis.
• Lifting: Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects.
• Sitting: Must be able to sit for long periods of time, but at least 50% of the time.
• Standing: Particularly for sustained periods of time.
• Talking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word. Must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately or quickly.
• Vision: Required to have visual acuity to determine the accuracy, neatness, and thoroughness of the work assigned or to make general observations of structures. Must be able to read a computer screen for long periods of time.
• Walking: Moving about on foot to accomplish tasks, particularly for long distances or moving from one workstation to another.