Purchasing/Materials Manager - Torrance

PolyPeptide US • Torrance, CA

5d • $90,000 - $100,000 • Onsite

About The Position

PolyPeptide partners with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to support the development and manufacturing of peptide-based therapies. This role leads purchasing, material planning, inventory coordination, and supplier performance across the Torrance and San Diego sites. It is ideal for a supply chain leader who enjoys solving complex material challenges, developing teams, managing suppliers, and ensuring critical materials are available to support production and customer commitments. The Purchasing / Materials Manager leads a team responsible for raw materials, solvents, reagents, resins, packaging components, and other critical supplies. Responsibilities include translating production demand into purchasing and material plans, managing supply risks, improving supplier performance, optimizing inventory, and maintaining accurate ERP data. Collaboration with Production Planning, Warehouse, Quality, EHS, Finance, Project Management, Manufacturing, and Global Procurement is essential.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, Engineering, Science, or a related field.
• 5+ years of progressive experience in purchasing, procurement, material planning, or supply chain.
• 3+ years of leadership or supervisory experience.
• Strong knowledge of purchasing, supplier management, MRP, inventory control, logistics, and ERP systems.
• Ability to analyze demand, supply, inventory, cost, and supplier data and turn it into clear actions.
• Strong negotiation, problem-solving, and risk-management skills.
• Effective people leadership, coaching, delegation, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Strong organization, communication, and prioritization skills.
• High level of accountability, attention to detail, and continuous-improvement focus.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, chemical, or another regulated manufacturing environment strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of GMP requirements and controlled documentation preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead purchasing activities from requisition and purchase order placement through delivery and issue resolution.
• Manage material planning for production, development projects, and customer requirements.
• Review forecasts, inventory, safety stock, open orders, shelf life, and manufacturing schedules.
• Lead MRP reviews and address shortages, late deliveries, and supply risks.
• Develop recovery plans using expedited deliveries, approved substitutions, alternate suppliers, or revised priorities.
• Monitor supplier delivery, quality, responsiveness, lead times, and OTIF performance.
• Lead supplier performance reviews and corrective-action follow-up.
• Identify opportunities to improve pricing, payment terms, freight costs, and total cost of ownership.
• Manage inventory levels while balancing availability, working capital, shelf life, storage, and obsolescence risk.
• Maintain accurate purchasing and planning data in ERP systems.
• Support supplier qualification, audits, documentation, and change notifications.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of approximately 3–5 direct reports.
• Establish clear priorities, standard work, and accountability across the purchasing and materials team.
• Partner with Finance on purchase-price variance, inventory, freight, and cost-saving initiatives.

Benefits

• This role has a direct impact on whether materials are available, production stays on schedule, and customer commitments are met.
• You will have the opportunity to lead a team, support two Southern California sites, strengthen supplier partnerships, and improve supply chain performance in a regulated pharmaceutical manufacturing environment.
• If you enjoy combining people leadership, purchasing, planning, supplier management, and operational problem solving, this role offers the opportunity to make a visible impact across the organization.
• Join PolyPeptide and help keep our Torrance and San Diego operations supplied, resilient, and ready to deliver for our customers.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level