Purchasing Agent - Smallwares

IMPERIAL DADE•Jersey City, NJ

53d•$75,000 - $85,000•Onsite

About The Position

Imperial Dade, a leading North American distributor, has a Purchasing Agent role available On-Site in Jersey City, NJ! Join a strong and continuously evolving Purchasing group, helping to continue to grow our business in Kitchen Smallwears and Commercial Kitchen Equipment. Imperial Dade is a great place to take that next step if you're eager for your next opportunity. A successful Purchasing Agent combines strategic and tactical expertise, with experience in vendor relations, new item setup, and purchase order management for Kitchen Smallwears. The ideal candidate demonstrates strong prioritization and negotiation skills, maintains a sense of urgency in resolving issues, and has experience with Kitchen Smallwares. Imperial Dade is the leading independently owned and operated distributor of foodservice packaging and janitorial supplies in North America. As a provider of customized supply chain solutions, we serve customers in many business-to-business market segments including restaurants, grocery stores, healthcare, sports and entertainment, and cruise lines. Founded in 1935 and headquartered in New Jersey, Imperial Dade serves as a mission-critical partner to more than 120,000 customers through our footprint of 130+ branches. All correspondence will come directly from Imperial Dade and not a personal email address.

Requirements

Minimum of 2+ years of buying Kitchen Smallwares is required, inventory management, or supply chain experience; commercial equipment experience is a big plus.
Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, or related field (preferred).
Strong negotiation, prioritization, and problem-solving abilities with a consistent sense of urgency.
High proficiency in Microsoft Excel; aptitude to quickly learn other technical applications and ERP/procurement systems.
Effective collaborator, able to build strong working relationships with Sales, Design, Buying teams, suppliers, and ensure alignment and maintain clear lines of contact with both suppliers and internal teams.

Responsibilities

Source and purchase Smallware category, managing vendor relationships and ensuring product availability to meet customer and operational needs.
Collaborate with Sales leads, Designers and suppliers to support the quoting process, item set-up, purchase order writing and tracking for the Commercial Equipment program.
Develop and maintain strong relationships with suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and internal Sales teams to ensure alignment on priorities and customer needs.
Create, release, and track purchase orders accurately and on time, ensuring compliance with procurement policies and inventory requirements.
Monitor and manage supplier performance, negotiating and resolving issues that impact cost, quality, delivery, or service levels.
Maintain up-to-date purchase records, inventory levels, and reporting to ensure visibility and accuracy.
Define, track, and continuously improve key performance metrics (e.g., fill rates, in-stock levels, lead times, inventory turns).