Purchasing Manager

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

The Purchasing Manager is responsible for leading all procurement, inventory planning, materials management, and production scheduling activities for the High Steel Service Center. This role ensures the timely and cost-effective acquisition of steel products, consumables, services, and transportation resources necessary to meet customer demand and operational objectives. Serving as a key member of both the Service Center leadership team and the centralized Procurement organization, the Purchasing Manager balances local operational requirements with enterprise-wide procurement strategies and supports broader corporate sourcing, sustainability, and supply chain initiatives.

EXPERIENCE, TRAINING, AND/OR EDUCATION:

• 5-8 years in procurement or related field

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Operations Management or related field preferred or equivalent experience.

• Minimum of 3 years leadership experience.

• Knowledge of general purchasing and accounting practices.

• ERP experience, SAP preferred.

• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

• Strong analytical, communication, multitasking, and organizational skills; must be detailed oriented

• Ability to travel up to 10%

LICENSE, CERTIFICATES, OR REGISTRATIONS REQUIRED:

CPSM, CPM, CSCP, or APICS certifications are preferred.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS:

This position reports to the VP of Procurement & Sustainability and serves as a member of the High Steel Service Center leadership team. Maintains close collaboration with Service Center leadership to ensure alignment of procurement, inventory, and production planning objectives.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Lead category and sourcing strategies for key steel, transportation, and operational spend categories.

• Identify and execute cost optimization, supplier consolidation, and value creation initiatives aligned with enterprise procurement objectives.

• Support enterprise-wide supplier risk management, business continuity planning, and strategic sourcing efforts.

• Develop strategic supplier partnerships, conduct periodic business reviews, establish performance improvement plans where necessary.

• Lead production scheduling and planning functions.

• Utilize Steel Service Center “Purchasing Playbook” and validate its relevance to current market conditions making any necessary changes.

• Support supplier sustainability assessments and environmental stewardship initiatives consistent with enterprise sustainability objectives.

• Assess, monitor, and mitigate supplier, market, and supply continuity risks impacting Service Center operations.

• Develop team capabilities through coaching, succession planning, performance management, and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Partner with operations leadership to align procurement, inventory, and production planning strategies with service, quality, and operational objectives.

• Collaborate with sales and customer service teams to support customer demand requirements, forecast changes, and inventory availability.

• Work closely with finance to support budgeting, working capital management, inventory performance, cost savings initiatives, and financial reporting.

• Coordinate with logistics and transportation stakeholders to ensure efficient material flow and optimize freight performance.

• Actively participate in centralized procurement initiatives, strategic sourcing projects, supplier management programs and sustainability efforts.

• Participate in enterprise procurement initiatives, strategic sourcing projects, supplier management programs, and policy deployment led by the procurement organization.

MARGINAL JOB FUNTIONS:

• Represent the company at industry conferences, supplier events, trade associations, and networking functions as needed.

• Support the development of procurement policies and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Asist with supplier issue escalation and resolution when matters extend beyond normal operational processes.

• Participate in system enhancements, ERP improvement efforts, and testing of procurement related technologies

• Support internal and external audit activities as required.

• Serve on company committees, task forces, and employee engagement initiatives as assigned

• Lead by example and support the High Philosophy – building trustworthy relationships and being innovative leaders.

• Perform other duties as assigned within the scope of the role.