Manager, Purchasing

Role Summary

The Purchasing Manager will lead the Largo purchasing function to ensure reliable material availability, disciplined supplier execution, strong purchasing process control, and achievement of service, backorder, inventory, working capital, and cost objectives. This leader will develop and coach the purchasing team, build KPI-driven management systems, strengthen supplier partnerships, and partner cross-functionally with Operations, Planning, Scheduling, Quality, Engineering, Finance, Strategic Sourcing, and Warehouse teams to translate business priorities into consistent execution.

The role requires an experienced people and process leader with strong procurement fundamentals, ERP/MRP discipline, supplier relationship management capability, operational problem solving, and the ability to influence across functions in a regulated manufacturing environment.

Key Responsibilities

People Leadership and Talent Development

• Lead, coach, and develop the purchasing team through clear expectations, structured one-on-ones, workload balancing, performance feedback, development planning, and succession readiness.
• Build a high-performance culture focused on accountability, collaboration, capability building, ethical decision-making, urgency, and continuous improvement.
• Establish role clarity, decision rights, escalation paths, and standard work for buyers and purchasing support roles to reduce rework, burnout, and dependency on informal processes.
• Partner with HR and Supply Chain leadership on talent reviews, hiring, onboarding, training, and development plans for purchasing talent.

Purchasing Operations and Service Execution

• Own day-to-day purchasing execution to support production plans, customer service levels, backorder reduction, and material availability.
• Drive disciplined MRP / ERP execution, including purchase requisitions, purchase orders, reschedule messages, master data accuracy, source data, order confirmations, and supplier delivery commitments.
• Lead escalation management for material constraints, past‑due purchase orders, line‑risk items, supplier misses, and supply continuity issues.
• Partner with Planning, Scheduling, Manufacturing, Warehouse, and Commercial teams to ensure purchasing priorities are aligned to production needs, customer commitments, and working capital goals.

Supplier Relationship Management and Supply Continuity

• Build and sustain supplier partnerships through structured performance reviews, scorecards, recovery plans, tiered escalation, and clear commitments on delivery, quality, responsiveness, and risk mitigation.
• Visit supplier facilities as needed to assess performance, resolve material issues, strengthen relationships, and align on corrective action plans.
• Represent Largo Purchasing in supplier discussions related to delivery performance, cost reduction, continuity planning, constraints, and issue resolution.
• Collaborate with Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Quality, Engineering, R&D, and Quality Management to develop, qualify, and improve suppliers in support of business needs.

Process Excellence, Standardization, and KPI Management

• Design, implement, and sustain purchasing management systems, KPIs, dashboards, tiered operating rhythms, standard work, RACIs, and escalation routines.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives that reduce non‑value‑added activity, improve purchasing productivity, standardize processes, and convert recurring firefighting into controlled processes.
• Use data and visual management to monitor supplier on‑time delivery, purchasing OTIF, backorders, MRP action message discipline, purchase order health, inventory performance, PPV, and cost‑out progress.
• Identify root causes, implement corrective actions, and sustain improvements using structured problem‑solving and Lean methodologies.

Inventory, Working Capital, and Cost Management

• Support strategic inventory and working capital objectives through disciplined purchasing parameters, supplier replenishment strategies, min/max settings, MOQ/EOQ review, ABC/XYZ segmentation, and avoidance of excess or false‑signal purchasing.
• Partner with Planning, Warehouse, Finance, and Operations to balance material availability,…