Industrial Buyer Associate

Join Galaxy Desserts

Galaxy Desserts, also known as Brioche Pasquier – Galaxy Desserts, is part of the Brioche Pasquier family of bakers, based in France. What really sets us apart is that we do all the crafting, baking, freezing and packaging ourselves. We carry three families of products: (1) Brioche; (2) Croissants; (3) Frozen Desserts, all dedicated to excellence and quality for Retail and Food Service. Our products are either made in France or manufactured at our facility in Richmond, California. Intensely committed to quality, we try and source all of our ingredients from the best producers we can find. We endeavor to mitigate our environmental impact and support our community every day.

Our core values are based on RESPECT: Recognition, Executive, Simplicity, Passion, Equality, Closeness, and Transparency. They shape our company culture and guide our business strategy. They bring together our employees and are integrated in our everyday work practices.

Summary

We are seeking an organized, analytical, and relationship-focused Industrial Buyer Associate to support the sourcing and purchasing of goods, materials, equipment, and services used by the Company. This position assists the Finance Manager and serves as an important link between suppliers and internal departments, helping ensure that purchasing needs are met in alignment with Company cost, quality, operational, and product requirements.

The Industrial Buyer Associate works closely with Quality Assurance, Research & Development, Maintenance, Production, Finance, the parent company, suppliers, and other cross-functional partners. Key responsibilities include supporting competitive bid processes and purchasing-cost negotiations; sourcing raw materials, packaging, energy, equipment, ingredients, parts, and services; supporting new-product development; maintaining supplier and ingredient documentation; monitoring market-price trends; preparing purchasing reviews and progress reports; supporting maintenance purchasing and invoicing; and identifying cost-reduction opportunities.

FLSA: Full-Time | Non-Exempt

Location: Richmond, California

Department: Finance

Reports to: Finance Manager

Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with flexible start times based on business and operational needs

Overtime: Overtime may be required based on business needs and will be administered in accordance with applicable law

Work setting: On-site role performed primarily in an office setting within an active food-manufacturing facility, with periodic work in production, warehouse, staging, maintenance, receiving, sanitation, freezer, and other operational areas

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The duties below are considered essential functions of this position. This list is not exhaustive and may be revised to reflect legitimate business needs, consistent with applicable law.

Source, select, and purchase raw materials, packaging, energy, equipment, maintenance parts, ingredients, and other assigned goods and services to meet Company needs, standards, quality requirements, and cost objectives.

Launch and support competitive bid processes; obtain, review, compare, and communicate supplier quotations, pricing, specifications, quality information, availability, delivery information, and other purchasing-related information.

Support supplier negotiations to optimize purchasing cost, quality, service, and commercial terms; develop and maintain productive supplier relationships that support current needs and future negotiations.

Partner with the parent company and the Production Finance Manager to develop and implement purchasing strategies, methods, purchasing-related projects, and other assigned initiatives.

Serve as an intermediary between suppliers and the Company; communicate purchasing needs, orders, pricing, availability, quality, delivery, negotiations, and related issues to suppliers and appropriate internal stakeholders.

Support Quality Assurance and Research & Development with new-product development by sourcing ingredients and related materials; support Quality Assurance in obtaining, maintaining, and updating ingredient, supplier, certification, and related documentation.

Support Maintenance with ordering and invoicing parts, equipment, and related materials or services.

Forecast and communicate market-price changes, purchasing-cost trends, and other conditions that may affect Company purchasing needs; identify and recommend cost-reduction plans and purchasing-process improvements.

Prepare monthly purchasing reviews, meetings, reports, and progress updates; coordinate relevant purchasing information among the Quality Manager, Research & Development Manager, Production Finance Manager, Direction, and other appropriate departments.

Maintain accurate purchasing documentation, records, reports, communications, and electronic entries using Company-designated systems and standard business software.

Understand and apply Company philosophy, values, products, product needs, and product requirements in assigned purchasing activities; represent Brioche Pasquier | Galaxy Desserts professionally with suppliers and external partners.

Maintain effective, professional working relationships with the Production Finance Manager and employees across Quality, Research & Development, Maintenance, Production, Finance, and other Company departments.

Participate in assigned meetings, training, purchasing reviews, and continuous-improvement activities.

Wear required PPE and comply with applicable safety, food-safety, sanitation, GMP, allergen-control, and quality requirements when entering operational areas.

Perform other related duties and responsibilities as assigned by management, consistent with the nature of the position.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in purchasing or an equivalent combination of education and relevant work experience.
• Proficient purchasing and negotiation skills, including the ability to interpret and draft purchasing contracts.
• Ability to lead purchasing-related projects in a cross-functional environment.
• Strong analytical, synthesizing, listening, presentation, written, verbal, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks, prioritize work, and manage time effectively while adapting to changing priorities and Company needs.
• Ability to work independently and effectively within a team structure.
• Basic proficiency with Microsoft Word, Office 365, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to read, understand, prepare, and accurately maintain purchasing documents, specifications, supplier information, contracts, reports, correspondence, and electronic entries in English.
• Ability to communicate effectively in English with suppliers, employees, supervisors, management, and cross-functional partners.
• Ability to work the assigned schedule, including overtime, weekends, and occasional six-day workweeks based on business needs.
• Ability to wear and use required PPE and comply with applicable safety, food-safety, sanitation, GMP, allergen-control, and quality requirements when performing duties in operational areas.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in purchasing, procurement, sourcing, supplier management, industrial buying, or a comparable role in a manufacturing, food-manufacturing, bakery, frozen-food, or food-production environment.
• Experience purchasing raw materials, packaging, energy, equipment, maintenance parts, ingredients, or related goods and services.
• Experience with competitive bids, supplier negotiations, purchasing-cost optimization, purchasing strategies, cost-reduction initiatives, and new-product-development sourcing.
• Experience maintaining supplier, ingredient, certification, quality, and purchasing documentation and working with Quality Assurance, Research & Development, Maintenance, Production, Finance, and other cross-functional partners.
• Experience using purchasing, inventory, ERP, accounting, production-planning, or other plant-management systems.

Core Competencies

Knowledge of purchasing, sourcing, supplier relations, negotiation, bid processes, purchasing-cost optimization, market-price monitoring, purchasing strategy, and purchasing documentation.

Understanding of Company philosophy, values, products, product needs, and product requirements.

Ability to work independently, collaborate effectively, maintain productive supplier and internal relationships, and lead cross-functional purchasing projects.

Ability to communicate purchasing needs, supplier issues, price changes, market trends, cost-reduction opportunities, and recommended actions clearly and promptly.

Ability to remain organized, flexible, professional, and effective in a changing environment while demonstrating initiative, accountability, reliability, teamwork, and sound judgment.

Physical Demands and Essential Physical Requirements

The physical demands described below represent those that may be required to perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions, consistent with applicable law.

Sit for extended periods while performing computer-based work, communicating by telephone, preparing reports, reviewing purchasing information, and completing required documentation.

Stand, walk, and move throughout the facility as needed to communicate with employees and departments, attend meetings, support purchasing activities, and perform assigned duties.

Frequently use hands and fingers to operate a computer, keyboard, telephone, printer, scanner, and similar equipment and to handle documents, samples, small parts, and office supplies.

Occasionally bend, stoop, reach, grasp, and use repetitive hand movements while retrieving documents, handling samples, parts, or supplies, or working in office and operational areas.

Lift, carry, push, pull, and move samples, documents, small parts, materials, supplies, or equipment weighing up to 20 pounds occasionally, using safe work practices and available equipment.

Visually inspect purchasing documents, supplier information, invoices, specifications, samples, parts, equipment, and work areas, as needed.

Communicate verbally with suppliers, employees, supervisors, management, and cross-functional partners in office and operational environments and receive information through spoken communication, telephones, radios, alarms, and other workplace communications.

Use a computer, keyboard, telephone, tablet, scanner, and similar equipment to prepare, enter, review, and maintain purchasing, supplier, report, and other required records.

Work Environment and Required Safety Practices

Work is performed primarily in an office setting within an active food-manufacturing and food-production facility. The position may enter production, warehouse, staging, maintenance, receiving, sanitation, freezer, and other plant areas as part of normal duties.

Work may involve exposure to moving production equipment, conveyors, packaging machinery, forklifts or other powered industrial equipment, noise, wet or slippery surfaces, cold temperatures, cleaning and sanitation chemicals, food ingredients, allergens, food-product materials, maintenance equipment, and related workplace conditions.

The employee must comply with all Company safety practices, food-safety programs, quality standards, GMPs, sanitation procedures, allergen-control requirements, PPE requirements, and applicable site-specific safety procedures, including procedures related to chemical safety, machine guarding, ladder safety, lockout/tagout, warehouse operations, and receiving. Unsafe conditions must be reported immediately.

Compensation and Benefits

• Pay range: $25.00–$32.00 per hour
• Competitive PTO and Paid Holidays
• Medical, dental, and vision plan options, with Brioche Pasquier | Galaxy Desserts contributing 85% toward the employee-only premium for eligible employees
• Company-paid term life insurance and accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D) coverage

Company-paid short-term (STD) disability insurance

Company-paid long-term disability (LTD) insurance

• Employer-paid, confidential Employee Assistance Program (EAP) resources for personal, family, financial, and emotional well-being support
• Health Savings Account (HSA) option with Company contributions for employees enrolled in the HSA-qualified medical plan
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) for eligible health care and dependent care expenses
• 401(k) retirement plan with a Company match of up to 4% after six months of employment, subject to plan terms