Senior Buyer

About the Role

This Senior Buyer role leads purchasing, material planning, and supplier management for metal fabrication and heat transfer projects in the United States. You will align procurement activities with the company's backlog and growth strategy, ensuring high-quality materials are secured on time and within budget. The position manages the purchasing function and department processes, but does not include direct people management responsibilities.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the purchasing function based on current backlog and standard serial business, with a strong emphasis on material planning that supports the company's current business model and growth strategy.
• Provide leadership for all purchasing activities and actively engage with current and potential vendors to secure high-quality materials and services in a timely and cost-effective manner.
• Monitor vendor performance for quoting accuracy, acknowledgement processes, on-time delivery, and quality of deliverables and services, and take corrective action when needed.
• Maintain and update a database to evaluate and manage blanket orders, particularly for high-volume materials, to achieve cost-effective procurement and inventory management.
• Analyze and fully understand commodity markets to forecast trends and plan effective procurement strategies for key materials.
• Communicate lead times, material constraints, and improvement options clearly and proactively to management and other departments.
• Maintain robust inventory controls through regular cycle counts and effective use of the ERP/MRP system.
• Collaborate closely with the Quality function to investigate, troubleshoot, and resolve supplier and material issues.
• Uphold and promote company goals, core values, and standards in all purchasing and supplier management activities.
• Support and execute additional projects and initiatives as assigned by the VP of Operations.

Skills

• Minimum of 2+ years of purchasing experience.
• Hands-on experience with ERP systems, with the ability to manage purchasing, inventory, and material planning within an ERP/MRP environment.
• Experience with JobBoss ERP is strongly preferred; experience with other systems such as SAP or similar ERP platforms is also acceptable.
• Demonstrated experience in vendor management, including quoting, purchase order management, and performance evaluation.
• Proven ability to manage purchase orders, inventory levels, and blanket orders in a manufacturing or industrial setting.
• Strong understanding of engineer-to-order environments and processes, including coordination with engineering and production teams.
• Ability to interpret and respond to commodity market trends to support effective procurement decisions.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to clearly convey lead times, material issues, and improvement options to stakeholders at different levels.
• Experience using ERP systems for inventory control, cycle counts, and material planning.
• Background in metal fabrication, heat transfer, or similar industrial/manufacturing industries is strongly preferred.

Additional Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, or a related field is ideal but not required.
• Experience in engineer-to-order manufacturing environments is strongly preferred.
• Industry experience in metal fabrication, heat transfer, or similar manufacturing sectors is strongly preferred.
• Experience with quality improvement initiatives in partnership with suppliers and internal quality teams.
• Ability to work independently, manage priorities, and support multiple projects simultaneously.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills, with attention to detail in purchasing and inventory records.
• Comfort working in a collaborative, team-oriented environment where everyone contributes to shared goals.

Work Environment

This role is primarily on-site in Lockport, NY, with the expectation of working 100% in the facility initially to ensure thorough training and integration with the team. Once fully trained and able to work independently, there is potential to work 1-2 days per week from home under a hybrid schedule. The standard shift is 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with a 1-hour lunch break, and there is some flexibility in start time, typically between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., to accommodate personal needs.

Job Details

This is a Contract to Hire position based in Lockport, NY. The pay range is $33.65 - $40.86/hr. Benefits may include medical, dental, vision, 401(k), life insurance, short and long-term disability, health spending account, transportation benefits, employee assistance program, and time off/leave.