Purchasing Manager

The Distribution Group Inc•Grand Rapids, MI

27d

About The Position

Are you a data-driven purchasing leader who thrives on balancing inventory, service levels, supplier performance, and team development? We're looking for a Purchasing Manager to lead our buying team, optimize inventory performance, and help shape the future of our purchasing operations as we continue to grow. In this high-impact leadership role, you'll oversee purchasing execution across multiple facilities, develop and coach a team of buyers, and drive continuous improvement in forecasting, replenishment, inventory health, and supplier accountability. If you're passionate about operational excellence and enjoy turning data into action, we'd love to hear from you.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in purchasing, inventory management, replenishment, demand planning, category management, or a related supply chain function.
Proven ability to lead, coach, mentor, or develop purchasing professionals.
Strong knowledge of forecasting, inventory management, supplier performance, and supply chain operations.
Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills with advanced Excel proficiency.
Ability to make informed decisions in a fast-paced, high-volume environment.
Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Experience with Blue Ridge or similar forecasting and replenishment systems.
Experience within foodservice distribution, wholesale distribution, or other inventory-intensive industries.
Strong understanding of item master management, replenishment parameters, lead times, vendor minimums, and order cycles.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, or a related field preferred.

Responsibilities

Directly manage, coach, and develop all Category Buyers.
Set clear expectations, daily priorities, standard work, and accountability measures for the buying team.
Build buyer capability through coaching, cross-training, development plans, performance conversations, and succession readiness.
Lead regular buyer huddles focused on service level, forecasting exceptions, vendor issues, shrink risk, and inventory health.
Ensure backup coverage and continuity across categories.
Own replenishment execution and inventory planning across all categories for multiple facilities.
Hold buyers accountable for forecast review, demand signal interpretation, system exceptions, and replenishment discipline.
Monitor demand shifts, seasonality, promotions, customer changes, vendor lead times, and service risks.
Drive continuous improvement in forecast accuracy, forecast bias, and replenishment compliance.
Optimize inventory investment while maintaining service-level commitments and minimizing inventory carrying costs.
Monitor turns, days on hand, on-hand inventory, excess inventory, and category-level inventory health.
Review forward-buy opportunities and ensure purchasing decisions to balance cost savings with inventory risk.
Support appropriate inventory positioning across distribution locations as the business grows.
Own purchasing service-level performance and drive improvement in fill rate and stockout prevention.
Identify supply risks early and lead corrective action with buyers, vendors, and cross-functional partners.
Escalate and resolve vendor or supply disruptions that could impact customer service.
Establish and maintain consistent processes to reduce shrink, spoilage, product aging, and obsolescence.
Monitor slow-moving, short-coded, aged, obsolete, and at-risk inventory.
Partner with Sales and Category Management on exit strategies for excess or obsolete inventory.
Hold buyers accountable for timely action on inventory risk.
Establish supplier performance scorecards measuring service, fill rate, quality, lead-time reliability, responsiveness, and shortage recovery.
Partner with buyers to address vendor performance issues and improve supplier accountability.
Proactively identify and mitigate supply risks that could impact service, inventory availability, shrink, or profitability.
Develop recovery plans for critical supply disruptions and vendor performance issues.
Enhance purchasing processes, workflows, and reporting.
Identify opportunities to improve service levels, inventory productivity, forecasting accuracy, and buyer effectiveness.
Collaborate with Operations, Sales, Transportation, Finance, and Supply Chain teams to support business growth and customer success.