Trade Relations Manager

Smith Douglas Homes•Fairhope, AL

About The Position

At Smith Douglas Homes, our mission is to enhance people’s quality of life by creating opportunities for homeownership. We believe that mission starts with our people. When you join Smith Douglas Homes, you become part of a team that is committed to doing the right thing, supporting one another, and delivering exceptional experiences for our customers. We foster a culture built on collaboration, accountability, continuous improvement, and mutual respect—where every team member has the opportunity to make an impact and grow their career. Join us and help build more than homes. Help build opportunities, communities, and a future you can be proud of. Smith Douglas Homes is recognized as one of the fastest-growing, residential home-building companies in the U.S. and a certified Great Place to Work™ as rated by our employees in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and again in 2026. Smith Douglas Homes offers careers throughout the South and across various departments. From Construction to Sales and Accounting to Marketing, each member of the Smith Douglas Homes team is a critical part of our success. We are seeking an experienced Purchasing Manager / Trade Relations Manager to join Smith Douglas Homes. In this role, you will have the opportunity to significantly enhance the quality of life for our customers and yourself. The Trade Relations Manager (Purchasing Manager) will play a critical role in managing the procurement process, ensuring the timely and cost-effective acquisition of materials, equipment, and services required for our homebuilding projects. This position requires strong negotiation skills, attention to detail, and the ability to build and maintain relationships with suppliers and vendors.

Requirements

Bachelors degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management or related field preferred.
Knowledge of home construction techniques
Minimum 4 years experience in residential construction field operations.
Purchasing or procurement experience, preferably in the construction or homebuilding
Microsoft Office (all applications)
Internet Proficiency
Ability to learn SMART (Proprietary software)
Strong negotiation, communication and interpersonal skills.
Proven ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.
Knowledge of construction materials, equipment and services.
Proven ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.
Customer Orientation
Ability to think strategically

Responsibilities

Recruit, select and hire Trade Partners and oversee the internal set up process.
Manage trade partner contract to include TPBA, W9, Scope of work, Certificate of Insurance, trade partner information and trade partner bid list.
Maintain Scopes of Work for accuracy and update as needed.
Evaluate trade partner performance and address insufficiency with Trades not following plans, specifications, TPA, Scope of Work and schedule
Maintain standard trades and trade bid lists in internal systems.
Collaborate with National Purchasing Manager and Trade Relations Managers from other divisions regarding manufacturers, products, options, selections and product substitutions.
Oversee Partners in Excellence program with Trades with regular field meetings to drill down to the “crew” level to improve efficiency and look for cost savings opportunities.
Foster communication between Trades to create horizontal accountability and improve efficiency of each Trade.
Collaborate with Sales and Production Support Manager to monitor option performance and pricing.
Oversee that the Trades’ insurance is continually monitored for expiration and renewals.
Collect, negotiate and analyze Trade Partner bids. Negotiate lower pricing or mitigate requests for increases as needed.
Collaborate with Trade Partners to continuously seek opportunity to purchase materials and services in a more competitive manner.
Identify cost savings ideas, value engineering opportunities and alternatives.
Track hard cost trends to identify opportunities.
Monitor delays caused by Trade Partners and seek to mitigate future delays with Trade leadership.
Administer semi-annual reviews of Trade Partners through the Construction Managers to gauge satisfaction with trade base.
Coordinate product development process (estimating and architecture) as it relates to the division needs.
Review monthly release notes and communicate changes to sales and production teams.
Review cost books for new communities for accuracy with prices and community specific items. Review with Area Construction Manager and Construction Managers for new communities and plans, prior to the start of the model home.
Collaborate with the Director of Operations on construction schedules.
Work closely with Estimating team to track progress of PCRs.
Create and maintain site bid documents for each community (model home cleaning and maintenance, common area maintenance, etc.).
Oversee the division-level rebate programs and model home programs.
Conduct regular visits to the field to ensure trades are using specific materials, products, and performing as agreed.