Purchasing and Inventory Manager

Location: Saint Leonards-on-Sea

Our client is an established specialist in industrial controls and automation with over 40 years of industry experience. They are currently looking for a Purchasing and Inventory Manager to join their hardworking and dedicated team in St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex.

The ideal candidate will possess demonstrable experience within purchasing, have previous hands-on experience using a stock management, inventory planning or inventory optimisation system, as well as experience of managing a sizeable and varied product or SKU portfolio. You will possess strong Microsoft excel skills, have good numerical and analytical ability, possess excellent organisation skill and attention to detail as well as strong communication and relationship-building skills.

As a Purchasing and Inventory Manager you will take responsibility for purchasing and inventory management across a product portfolio of more than 6,000 SKUs, with the range continuing to grow at the business develops. You will take ownership of day-to-day purchasing, help ensure the company maintain the right levels of stock, work closely with the international suppliers and logistic partners, and produce meaningful stock and purchasing analysis to support commercial decision-making.

The ideal candidate will possess the following skills and qualities:

Demonstrable experience within purchasing

Previous hands-on experience using a stock management, inventory planning or inventory optimisation system

Experience managing a sizeable and varied product or SKU portfolio

Possess strong Microsoft excel skills

Experience producing, developing and interpreting management reports

Have good numerical and analytical ability

Possess excellent organisational skills and attention to detail

Have strong communication and relationship-building skills

Ability to deal with suppliers, including international suppliers

Have previously worked with courier, freight and logistics providers

Ability to manage multiple priorities and follow actions through to completion

Desirable

Skills and Experience:

Microsoft Dynamics 365 business central experience

Previous experience using Eazystock

(url removed) experience

Experience with in industrial automation, electrical products, engineering or a technical distribution environment

Experience purchasing or importing products from international suppliers

Experience developing, purchasing, inventory or stock management KPIs and reports

Your duties as a Purchasing and Inventory Manager would be:

Taking ownership of the day-to-day purchasing and inventory function

Managing purchasing activity across UK and international suppliers

Challenging purchasing quantities, timings, lead times, freight methods and stock requirements where appropriate

Raising and managing purchase orders accurately and within agreed parameters

Once fully established in the role, placing purchase orders independently up to agreed authority levels

Monitoring outstanding purchase orders, supplier lead times and expected delivery dates

Working closely with suppliers to resolve availability, delivery, pricing and supply issues

Developing and maintaining strong working relationships with key international manufacturing partners

Monitoring supplier performance, including lead times, service levels and delivery reliability

Liaising with courier companies, freight providers and other logistics partners

Taking ownership of inventory management across a growing portfolio of more than 6,000 SKUs

Monitoring and analysing stock availability, excess stock, slow-moving inventory, stock shortages and overall stock investment

Helping optimise the balance between customer availability and the level of cash tied up in inventory

Using the stock management software, Eazystock, to support stock planning, forecasting and purchasing decisions

Maintaining the accuracy and integrity of stock-management data

Identifying opportunities to improve stockholding and inventory efficiency

Produce and continually develop monthly stock-management reports

Using Excel extensively to analyse purchasing and inventory data

Working collaboratively with senior management to interpret reports, identify issues and agree actions

Working closely with the sales team to understand changing demand, customer requirements and future stock needs

Maintaining accurate purchasing, supplier and product information within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Maintaining associated offline supplier price lists and pricing data

Supporting the collection…