Purchasing Lead (Finance)

SUMMARY Assist with managing the day-to-day purchasing operations, ensuring timely procurement of raw materials, components, and equipment to meet production schedules and support operational efficiency. The Purchasing Lead will play a key role in vendor management, inventory control, cost reduction, and ensuring compliance with quality and regulatory standards. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS Lead the team of purchasing professional, providing guidance, training and ensuring adherence to company policies and procedures. Procure Materials & Supplies: Oversee the purchasing of raw materials, components, equipment, and other supplies necessary for the manufacturing process. Vendor Management: Build and maintain strong relationships with suppliers and vendors, assist with negotiating contracts, pricing, and terms, and evaluate supplier performance. Inventory Management: Collaborate with inventory and production teams to maintain optimal inventory levels, ensuring materials are available when needed without overstocking. Cost Management: Monitor purchasing activities to ensure cost-effective buying while maintaining product quality. Identify opportunities for cost savings and implement strategies to reduce purchasing expenses. Forecasting & Planning: Work closely with the production and planning teams to understand material needs, production schedules, and forecast demand to plan purchases effectively. Quality Assurance: Ensure that all purchased materials meet the required quality standards and specifications, working closely with the quality assurance team to resolve any issues. Ensure the AS9100 standards are being followed. Process Improvement: Continuously evaluate and improve purchasing processes to drive efficiency, minimize lead times, and enhance overall purchasing operations. Compliance & Documentation: Ensure compliance with all relevant laws, regulations, and company policies. Maintain accurate records of purchases, contracts, and supplier communications. Reporting: Prepare regular reports on purchasing activities, including supplier performance, cost analysis, and inventory status, for senior management. Document cost reductions through PPV process. Review, analyze, and execute all MRP action messages regarding cancellations and reschedules in and out. Review and administrator procedures. Support Sales & Operations Planning process. Perform auditing processes to ensure procurement and recordkeeping comply with industry or governmental regulations. *Other duties as required in support of the department and the company* SUPERVISOR RESPONSIBILITIES The responsibilities of this role do not include supervising other employees. QUALIFICATIONS To succeed in this job, an individual must satisfactorily perform each essential job function. The requirements below represent the required knowledge, skill, and ability. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions. EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE Bachelor's degree and one year of supply chain experience or high school diploma and five (5) years of supply chain experience, specifically in purchasing, production control, and/or planning. Background in aerospace, defense, or cable assembly industries favored. CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS APICS/ISM/Supply Chain certification or willingness to complete the first module of the APICS Certified Production and Inventory Management (CPIM) program or equivalent within one year of employment is required. LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Conversational in any other language is a plus. JOB SKILLS Proficient in MS Office Suite and SharePoint. Knowledge of ERP systems, SAP preferred. Understand purchasing and supply chain systems. Familiarity with federal acquisition regulations. Understand purchasing laws, corporate laws, and limitations. Contract review experience and familiarity with purchasing normal terms and conditions. Demonstrates good judgment and decision-making skills. Understanding and experience in a Lean manufacturing environment are preferred. Ability to review, plan, and execute as the MRP system requires. Ability to be flexible and function comfortably in a fast-paced, constantly changing, and ambiguous environment while maintaining a positive team environment. Reliable and flexible, willing to work additional hours on short notice to complete orders and/or special projects and meet customer demands. PHYSICAL DEMAND As part of their job duties, the employee must be able to sit, stand, and walk throughout the day while frequently using their hands to handle objects and communicate verbally. Additionally, they may need to reach, stretch, push, pull, crouch, stoop, and occasionally lift objects weighing up to fifty (50) pounds. This role requires specific vision abilities, including close, distance, color, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. According to ADA regulations, reasonable accommodation will be provided to ensure that individuals with disabilities can perform the job's essential functions. WORK ENVIRONMENT Office environment: This is an air-conditioned work environment where employees have desks or cubicles and work in a fixed location. The physical environment is usually comfortable, well-lit, and equipped with the necessary facilities and hardware. The company culture is a culture of teamwork, communication, continuous improvement, business casual, strategic, and goal-oriented. The working conditions are stable, predictable, and secure. ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY Amphenol CIT is fully committed to minimizing the environmental impact of its operations, activities, and products. To achieve this, we adhere to all applicable environmental regulations and laws, prevent pollution, and continuously improve our environmental performance in all our global operations. This is possible through an Environmental Management System that provides a framework for setting and reviewing our environmental objectives and targets. We aim to identify and reduce any negative environmental impact our business activities may have. PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS ASTM F-2412-2005, ANSI Z41-1999, or ANSI Z41-1991 rated safety toe shoes in specific areas. Clear ANSI Z87.1 safety-rated glasses in specific areas. Hearing protection in specific locations. Ability to compile with JSA in specific areas. EXPORT COMPLIANCE DISCLAIMER This position includes access or potential access to ITAR and EAR (Export Administration Regulations) technical data. Therefore, candidates must qualify as US Persons, defined as US Citizens or Permanent Residents (Green Card Holders). TRAVEL Approximately 10% of travel is expected.