Purchasing Operations Manager

We are seeking an experienced Purchasing Operations Manager to lead our team of Buyers and be responsible for executing the day-to-day purchasing activity of food products, supporting the company’s broad supply chain organization. In this role, you will convert category strategies, sourcing decisions, supplier agreements, and business priorities into accurate, timely, and consistent purchasing execution. In addition to people leadership and purchasing execution, this position owns co-packing operations, purchasing process improvement, ERP enhancements, and Purchasing representation on cross-functional initiatives. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Buyer Team Leadership and Purchasing Execution
  • Lead, coach, develop, and evaluate Buyers and Senior Buyers while building capability in purchasing fundamentals, ERP utilization, supplier management, analysis, and problem-solving
  • Set team priorities and direct purchasing activities based on production requirements, inventory risk, supplier constraints, category strategies, and business needs
  • Ensure timely and accurate purchase order execution, including creation, maintenance, confirmations, expediting, price updates, supplier follow-up, and exception resolution 
  • Coordinate cross-functional handoffs among Purchasing, Planning, Operations, Quality, Finance, and suppliers, escalating significant supply, pricing, capacity, quality, service, or contractual issues as needed 

• Co-Packing and External Manufacturing
  • Lead operational management of co-packing and external manufacturing partners, overseeing purchase orders, production schedules, material availability, inventory, pricing, capacity, and service performance 
  • Partner cross-functionally with Purchasing, Operations, Planning, Quality, R&D, Marketing, and Finance to support co-packer selection, onboarding, commercialization, and ongoing relationship management 
  • Monitor and improve co-packer performance across cost, service, quality, inventory, schedule adherence, capacity, and responsiveness, while identifying opportunities for greater efficiency and business continuity 
  • Lead resolution of co-packer issues and support sourcing activities, including RFPs, cost analysis, commercial negotiations, capacity evaluations, contract administration, and corrective action management

• Purchasing Processes, Systems, and Continuous Improvement
  • Serve as the business process owner for purchasing systems, ERP workflows, master data, reporting, controls, and technology enhancements, including requirements development, testing, implementation, training, and support
  • Lead efforts to simplify, standardize, automate, and strengthen purchasing processes, policies, procedures, work instructions, approval workflows, and internal controls 
  • Drive continuous improvement initiatives using data analysis, process mapping, root-cause analysis, and structured problem-solving methodologies 
  • Improve purchasing dashboards, reporting, and data quality while ensuring effective adoption and long-term sustainability of system and process changes across the Purchasing organization

• Cross-Functional Projects and Supply Chain Initiatives
  • Represent Purchasing on major company and supply chain initiatives, including new product launches, facility projects, acquisitions, integrations, network changes, and strategic operational programs 
  • Lead Purchasing participation in the implementation and optimization of supply chain planning systems, ensuring supplier constraints, lead times, sourcing rules, pricing, and other purchasing data are accurately reflected in planning processes 
  • Coordinate Purchasing project deliverables, resources, timelines, testing, issue resolution, and implementation readiness, while communicating status, risks, decisions, and resource needs to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders

• Capital Expenditure Monitoring
  • Oversee Purchasing support for approximately $10 million in annual capital expenditures, partnering with Engineering, Operations, Finance, and project teams to establish effective purchasing and financial controls
  • Monitor capital project purchasing activity, including purchase orders, contracts, invoices, change orders, budget consumption, forecasts, commitments, and project closeout, while providing visibility to spending and forecast status 
  • Ensure compliance with sourcing, authorization, contracting, and documentation requirements, identify spending risks and potential overruns, and support capital equipment negotiations and supplier coordination as needed 

• Performance Management and Governance
  • Establish and monitor key performance indicators for purchasing operations, providing regular reporting and visibility into material availability, supplier performance, purchase order execution, co-packer performance, process compliance, system adoption, and project status 
  • Lead operational reviews with Buyers, Senior Buyers, Purchasing Managers, and cross-functional stakeholders to drive accountability, performance improvement, and risk mitigation 
  • Ensure compliance with company policies, delegated authority, contracts, ethical sourcing standards, quality requirements, and internal controls, while supporting audits, risk assessments, corrective actions, and supply continuity planning

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

This job has supervisory responsibilities

QUALIFICATIONS 

Our ideal candidate will have experience in commodity buying - specifically food related and be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. These requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE 

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, business, operations, finance, engineering, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered

• Seven or more years of progressive experience in purchasing, food procurement, supply chain, planning, operations, or a related discipline

• Three or more years of direct leadership or significant team-leadership experience

• Lean, Six Sigma, ISM/CPSM, ASCM/APICS, or project-management certification is beneficial but not required. 

LANGUAGE SKILLS 

Ability to read and comprehend detailed instructions, correspondence, reports and memos. Ability to communicate cross-functionally both internally and externally.

OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES 

• Demonstrated purchasing execution experience in manufacturing, food, consumer packaged goods, or a similarly complex operating environment 
• Background with ERP purchasing systems, process design, system implementations, testing, master data, and reporting 
• Exposure to co-packers, contract manufacturers, or external production partners strongly preferred 
• Track record in leading cross-functional process-improvement or technology initiatives 
• Hands-on experience with supporting capital equipment purchasing or capital expenditure monitoring preferred 
• Ability to connect strategic category management with disciplined transactional execution and translate business requirements into practical system and process solutions 
• Strong project-management, change-management, analytical, financial, and problem-solving skills 
• Effective communication with employees, suppliers, executives, and cross-functional stakeholders.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands and/or fingers to type, handle, or feel; and view a computer monitor or video display.  The employee is occasionally required to talk or hear. 

WORK ENVIRONMENTS 

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

NOTE: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employees may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.