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.