Purchasing Manager – Custom Residential Construction

Cottage Smith

Location: North Atlanta, GA -- Primarily home-based, with periodic travel to vendor locations and active projects throughout North Atlanta and the surrounding metro area

Turn Great Designs Into Accurate, Buildable Budgets

Cottage Smith is seeking an experienced Purchasing Manager to lead the preconstruction, bidding, subcontractor buyout, and job-cost management process for a growing portfolio of custom ADU projects. You will turn construction plans, specifications, and finish selections into clear scopes of work and accurate project budgets. You will solicit and compare bids, negotiate with subcontractors, prepare agreements, maintain compliance documentation, and develop a reliable network of qualified trade partners.

Your responsibility will continue after construction begins. You will monitor actual costs against the approved budget, maintain current job-cost information, review change orders and allowance overages, and identify financial risks before they become larger project problems. This role is ideal for someone who combines construction knowledge, estimating precision, financial discipline, and strong subcontractor relationships.

• Review plans, specifications, selections, and project requirements in detail.
• Write complete, trade-specific scopes of work for each project.
• Translate design documents into clear and biddable subcontractor packages.
• Solicit proposals from qualified subcontractors and vendors.
• Establish bid schedules and follow up to keep the buyout process moving.
• Compare bids on an apples-to-apples basis.
• Identify exclusions, allowances, scope gaps, inconsistencies, and missing costs.
• Negotiate pricing, scope, and commercial terms before awarding work.
• Compile awarded bids into organized project budgets by trade and construction phase.
• Recruit subcontractors in trades or service areas where additional capacity is needed.
• Evaluate prospective trade partners for licensing, insurance, reputation, experience, capacity, and pricing.
• Coordinate subcontractor onboarding and collect required documentation.
• Issue and maintain subcontract agreements that accurately reflect scope, price, and terms.
• Track certificates of insurance, licensing, workers' compensation documentation, and other compliance records.
• Maintain an organized library of subcontractor agreements, historical pricing, unit pricing, and vendor information.
• Build productive, long-term relationships with the company's subcontractor base.
• Monitor subcontractor performance and maintain sufficient backup coverage for critical trades.
• Track actual job costs against awarded project budgets throughout construction.
• Review cost overruns, change orders, allowances, and budget adjustments.
• Keep project budgets current as live financial documents.
• Prepare job-cost reports across the active project portfolio.
• Identify projects trending over budget and communicate potential risks early.
• Work closely with Construction Managers to resolve scope questions, procurement needs, and subcontractor performance issues.
• Coordinate with ownership and the design team to confirm that selections and pricing align with the target budget before construction begins.
• Maintain purchasing and project information in Buildertrend, Job Tread, Excel, Google Sheets, and related systems.

• At least four years of purchasing, estimating, buyout, or preconstruction experience in custom or luxury residential construction.
• General contractor or subcontractor-side estimating experience may also be considered.
• Strong ability to read residential construction plans and specifications.
• Demonstrated experience writing detailed scopes of work.
• Experience soliciting, leveling, negotiating, and awarding subcontractor bids.

• Classification:
  This position will initially be engaged as a full-time 1099 independent contractor.
• Annual contractor compensation: $85,000 - $110,000 per year, based on experience, estimating ability, and purchasing expertise.
• The company currently intends to transition this position to W-2 employment, with a target of Q4. The timing and availability of a W-2 transition are not guaranteed.
• Benefits are not provided during the 1099 contractor period. If the position transitions to W-2 employment, benefits and eligibility will be communicated based on the company's benefit plans in effect at that time.
• High level of ownership over purchasing, buyout, subcontractor development, and project-cost controls.
• Opportunity to build scalable purchasing systems for a growing custom residential company.
• Schedule:
  
  Monday-Friday, with occasional project-site or vendor visits as needed.

At Cottage Smith, the purchasing function is central to delivering beautiful projects on time and within budget. Your work will directly affect project profitability, subcontractor performance, field execution, and the promises made to every homeowner. You will join a family-owned company building custom…