Senior Buyer III

About the role

Join our team at Johnstone Supply - The Founders Group, a 3rd-generation family-owned wholesale distributor for heating, cooling, and refrigeration supplies and equipment. We operate across 6 states as one of the nation's largest HVAC/R distributors, offering superior customer service, technical advice, training seminars, and an industry-respected catalog featuring over 80,000 quality parts and supplies. Our purpose is to keep our communities safe and comfortable.

The primary purpose of this role is to ensure products are readily available to Johnstone branches through effective forecasting, branch collaboration, and purchasing activities. The role also focuses on balancing inventory capacity with financial objectives by evaluating inventory levels and managing supplier relationships.

Schedule

Exempt onsite position, requiring 8 hours a day between the hours of 7am–5pm.

Responsibilities

• Inventory Management
  • Review and manage inventory at suppliers’ level and coordinate stock transfers between branches.
  • Participate in excess inventory processes, including communication, reporting, removing forecasts (T-Min), and disposition activities.
  • Utilize replenishment reports and lost sales data to identify and address inventory needs.
  • Analyze inventory control metrics, including forecasts, weekly/monthly reports, and vendor lead times, to optimize ordering processes.
• Purchase Order Management
  • Create, maintain, and manage all aspects of purchase orders from initiation to closure, ensuring timeliness, transactional accuracy, and data integrity.
  • Review and execute purchasing activities in alignment with strategic, operational, and opportunity-driven plans.
  • Monitor inventory levels and take corrective actions to balance inventory flow.
  • Coordinate, expedite, maintain, and monitor deliveries of purchase orders.
  • Propose, evaluate, and process pre-season, special buy opportunities, and trade show orders according to established procedures.
  • Conduct daily reviews of branch demand and usage to determine optimal stock levels for high-selling (A & B rank) items and expedite overdue purchase orders.
• Communication/Collaboration
  • Collaborate with suppliers, corporate teams, branches, and cross-functional teams to resolve issues, improve processes, and enhance buying accuracy and efficiency.
  • Provide suppliers with trends, expediting lists, and other tactical requirements.
  • Lead the monthly inventory meeting, ensuring strong cross-functional alignment and flawless execution among Purchasing, TM, and BSM.
  • Review customer issues and opportunities, market intelligence, forecasts, and special-request purchases.
• Operational Excellence (Continuous Improvement / Learning / Training)
  • Actively lead process improvement, manage projects with cross-functional teams, acquisitions-related actions, integration, system updates, and buy optimization projects with the product team.
  • Review, analyze, and resolve all pricing discrepancies in a timely and accurate manner.
  • Share knowledge and expertise by training, mentoring, and coaching Buyer I and Buyer II team members.
  • Maintain and update the department's Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) document.
  • Travel may be required (approximately once per quarter).
• Perform all other duties and projects as assigned.

Requirements

• Associate's degree or equivalent from a two-year college; one to two years of related experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Knowledge of inventory control principles and techniques, including monitoring, ordering, and expediting of products.

Skills

• Knowledge of product distribution operations.
• Ability to work under multiple deadlines simultaneously.
• Proficiency in PC applications such as MS Word, Excel, Outlook, and other Windows-based applications.
• Ability to learn and utilize customized purchasing software.
• Ability to collect data, evaluate results, and draw valid conclusions.
• Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, proportions, and percentages.
• Problem-solving skills, including listening to, interpreting, and meeting the needs of others, diagnosing issues, and implementing solutions.
• Maintains organized work processes, materials, and files.
• Maintains confidentiality of information.
• Keeps the company’s best interest in mind when considering or addressing issues.
• Skill in adapting standard procedures to meet the requirements of a given situation.
• Skill in following up with individuals, information, or processes until project completion.
• Ability to demonstrate considerable tact and diplomacy in dealing with others.
• Skill in communicating with others to obtain information or assistance in a timely manner.
• Ability to communicate with different individuals, departments, and external parties.
• Desire to support and meet the needs of customers and other employees.