Purchasing Supervisor

Summary

Reporting to the Purchasing Manager, the Purchasing Supervisor leads, develops, and supports the purchasing team while maintaining active responsibility for key buying activities. This role ensures material availability, supplier performance, cost competitiveness, and operational excellence through effective leadership, strategic sourcing, project management, and continuous improvement initiatives. The Purchasing Supervisor plays a critical role in supporting production schedules, customer commitments, and overall business performance by securing quality materials at the best total cost.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

This list of duties and responsibilities is not all inclusive and may be expanded to include other duties and responsibilities as management may deem necessary from time to time.

• Lead, coach, and develop purchasing team members by establishing priorities, providing direction, fostering accountability, and promoting a collaborative team environment.
• Perform hands-on purchasing activities, including reviewing material requirements, sourcing suppliers, obtaining competitive quotations, issuing purchase orders, and managing orders through delivery.
• Lead purchasing-related projects from planning through implementation, coordinating stakeholders, schedules, risks, and deliverables to achieve desired outcomes.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance purchasing processes, improve supplier performance, reduce waste, and increase service levels to internal customers.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for purchasing-related issues, resolving material shortages, supplier concerns, pricing discrepancies, quality issues, and competing business priorities.
• Ensure materials are sourced and delivered on time, meet quality expectations, and support production schedules while optimizing total cost.
• Monitor supplier performance related to quality, delivery, cost, and service, implementing corrective actions and supplier development plans as needed.
• Develop, analyze, and communicate key purchasing metrics, including cost savings, supplier scorecards, on-time delivery, quality performance, inventory impacts, and other departmental KPIs.
• Analyze demand trends, forecasts, inventory levels, open orders, and market conditions to proactively identify material requirements, mitigate supply risks, and uncover cost-saving opportunities.
• Negotiate pricing, lead times, contracts, and commercial terms to secure reliable supply and maximize value for the organization.
• Partner closely with Operations, Planning, Engineering, Quality, Finance, and other stakeholders to align purchasing strategies with business objectives and customer commitments.
• Identify potential supply chain risks, develop contingency plans, and communicate potential impacts and mitigation strategies before disruptions occur.
• Maintain accurate supplier, pricing, purchasing, and purchase order data to support effective reporting, forecasting, and decision-making.
• Ensure all purchasing activities comply with company policies, contractual obligations, ethical standards, and applicable laws and regulations.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain or related field required
• Minimum of 3 years of previous Purchasing experience in a manufacturing setting preferred
• Familiarity with the Steel industry highly preferred
• Experience with Epicor preferred
• Project management skills required

Other Skills Proficient in Microsoft Office

• Advanced Excel skills preferred
• Ability to solve problems professionally and independently, in a fast-paced environment with rapidly changing priorities and competing deadlines
• Strong analytical skills
• Strong organizational, time management skills
• Attention to detail
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written)

Language Skills

Ability to read and interpret purchasing related documents such as catalogs, product-related literature, and technical books and/or manuals. Ability to prepare reports, purchase orders and correspondence related to purchasing. Ability to communicate effectively with vendors and with other employees of the organization.

Mathematical Skills

Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, proportions, percentages, and volume. Ability to apply concepts of basic algebra.

Reasoning Ability

Ability to apply commonsense understanding to carry out instruction furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and use hands to finger, handle, or touch objects, tools, or controls. The employee frequently is required to talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; reach above shoulders; climb or balance; and stoop, kneel, or crouch. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The position works in an office environment.

Steele Solutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer and participates in E-Verify. We are committed to maintaining a lawful workforce and verify employment eligibility for all newly hired employees in accordance with federal requirements.