Purchasing Manager / Raw Materials Buyer

I&M Machine and Fabrication•Saint Joseph, MO

9h•Onsite

About The Position

I&I&M Machine and Fabrication, a local, family-owned business since 1974, takes pride in the exceptional service their employees provide, making customer satisfaction their top priority for over 50 years. A complete service, a one stop shop encompassing a variety of services from Custom Metal Fabrication, Precision Machining to Industrial Metal Finishing. Our facilities encompass a variety of machines ranging from Sheet and Tube Lasers, CNC Machining Centers, Powder Coating Lines to Deliver Trucks and everything in between needed for Custom Metal Fabrication, Precision Machining to Industrial Metal Finishing. I&M Machine and Fabrication Corp offers a competitive Base Salary, Paid Vacation & Holidays, Health, Dental & Life. We also offer Vision and 401K. The Powder Paint Supervisor is responsible for overseeing the powder coating process, ensuring high-quality finishes on all products, and maintaining a safe and efficient work environment. This role involves managing a team of powder coaters, coordinating with other departments, and ensuring compliance with industry standards and regulations. We are seeking a hands-on, "player-coach" Purchasing & Inventory Manager to lead our raw materials procurement and spearhead a major operational transition. In this dual-role, you will manage day-to-day raw steel buying while serving as the architect for our inventory restructuring. Following recent equipment investments, Phase 1 of this role will focus heavily on inventory overhaul: executing a complete physical count, redesigning warehouse footprint layouts, establishing clear location assignments, and building standardized data tracking procedures within JobBOSS. We have the ERP framework in place, but we need a dedicated leader to implement tight material control procedures and drive departmental accountability.

Requirements

5+ years of dedicated purchasing and inventory control experience within steel fabrication or heavy manufacturing.
Deep understanding of steel grades, mill buying practices, pricing structures, and raw material handling.
Proven track record of setting up inventory locations, auditing data, and enforcing procedures within JobBOSS or a similar manufacturing MRP/ERP.
Demonstrated ability to organize messy inventory environments, build SOPs from scratch, and hold shop teams accountable to data standards.
Ability to read fabrication drawings for material takeoffs, combined with the willingness to be on the shop floor instructing during counting and overseeing iron movement if needed.

Nice To Haves

Managing warehouse transitions or plant layout changes due to new machinery integration & movement.

Responsibilities

Map and optimize new physical stocking locations for raw steel to accommodate our recent equipment upgrades.
Audit, clean, and structure material data, part numbers, and location codes within JobBOSS.
Lead a 100% complete physical inventory count of all raw steel, hardware, and shop consumables.
Establish standard operating procedures (SOPs) for inventory tracking, including material checkout, scrap logging, and cycle counting.
Implement strict inventory control measures to ensure shop floor staff accurately log material movements in the ERP.
Leverage deep market knowledge to source and buy steel (plate, structural, sheet, coil, tube) directly from mills and service centers at optimal price points.
Track steel pricing indices to strategically time volume purchases, hedging against market volatility.
Review bills of materials (BOMs) and production schedules to issue daily purchase orders for steel and shop hardware.
Secure and systematically file Mill Test Reports (MTRs) to guarantee material traceability and project compliance.
Maintain relationships with key vendors, including coordinating occasional secondary outside processing (plating, heat treating) and logistics.