Head of Purchasing

Waterco; Sydney; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Waterco, based in Rydalmere, is seeking an experienced Head of Purchasing to lead its purchasing function and balance supply reliability, purchasing costs and inventory investment while building a capable, responsive team.

Based in Rydalmere, you will lead 3-5 purchasing team members distributed across Rydalmere and Scoresby and work closely with Planning, Strategic Procurement, Sales, manufacturing and logistics.

Qualifications

• Substantial purchasing and supplier management experience in manufacturing, distribution or a multi-site product business.
• Experience leading and developing a purchasing team across locations.
• Sound understanding of replenishment, seasonal demand, supplier lead times and working capital.
• Strong negotiation, analytical and problem-solving skills with focus on cost, service and supply reliability.
• Strong ERP and Excel skills; Epicor experience will be highly regarded. Use of AI tools to enhance analytics and support decision making
• Ability to build productive relationships with suppliers and colleagues across operational and commercial teams.
• Relevant qualifications in supply chain, procurement or business, or equivalent practical experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the team: Set clear priorities, coach and develop your team, and build consistent purchasing practices across locations.
• Manage purchasing and supply: Translate demand plans into purchasing decisions, coordinating orders with manufacturing and suppliers.
• Strengthen supplier performance: Manage delivery commitments, resolve shortages and delays, and address supply risks.
• Improve commercial outcomes: Work with Strategic Procurement on supplier arrangements, purchasing terms and cost-saving opportunities.
• Support inventory performance: Partner with Planning, branches and Sales to respond to seasonal demand and promos.
• Drive process improvement: Improve purchasing data, reporting and controls, and support forecasting and replenishment improvements.
• Coordinate across the business: Work with Product Managers, Import/Export, warehouses, Quality and Finance.

Skills

Leadership

Negotiation

Analytics

ERP systems

Epicor

Supplier management

Team coaching

Education

Supply chain / procurement degree

Tools

Epicor ERP

Excel

Data analytics tools

Job description

Waterco is seeking an experienced Head of Purchasing to lead its purchasing function and ensure the right products and materials are available when needed. Reporting to the Head of Operations, you will balance supply reliability, purchasing costs and inventory investment while building a capable, responsive team.

Based in Rydalmere, you will lead 3-5 purchasing team members distributed across Rydalmere and Scoresby and work closely with Planning, Strategic Procurement, Sales, manufacturing and logistics. This is a hands‑on leadership role for someone who can manage day‑to‑day supply priorities while improving systems, processes and supplier performance.

About the role

Waterco is seeking an experienced Head of Purchasing to lead its purchasing function and ensure the right products and materials are available when needed. Reporting to the Head of Operations, you will balance supply reliability, purchasing costs and inventory investment while building a capable, responsive team.

Based in Rydalmere, you will lead 3-5 purchasing team members distributed across Rydalmere and Scoresby and work closely with Planning, Strategic Procurement, Sales, manufacturing and logistics. This is a hands‑on leadership role for someone who can manage day‑to‑day supply priorities while improving systems, processes and supplier performance.

What you’ll do

• Lead the team: Set clear priorities, coach and develop your team, and build consistent purchasing practices across locations.

• Manage purchasing and supply: Translate agreed demand and supply plans into purchasing decisions, coordinating orders with Waterco’s manufacturing operation in Malaysia and local and international suppliers.

• Strengthen supplier performance: Manage delivery commitments, resolve shortages and delays, and address supply risks before they affect customers.

• Improve commercial outcomes: Work with Strategic Procurement on supplier arrangements, purchasing terms and cost‑saving opportunities, considering quality, reliability and total landed cost.

• Support inventory performance: Partner with Planning, branches and Sales to respond to seasonal demand and promotional activity, protect stock availability and reduce excess or obsolete inventory.

• Drive process improvement: Improve purchasing data, reporting and controls in Epicor, and support forecasting and replenishment improvements.

• Coordinate across the business: Work with Product Managers, Import/Export, warehouses, Quality and Finance to support product transitions, inbound deliveries and timely issue resolution.

What you’ll bring

You are a practical purchasing leader who combines commercial judgement with strong attention to detail. You are comfortable working through supply issues, using data to make decisions and bringing people together to deliver results.

• Relevant experience: Substantial purchasing and supplier management experience in manufacturing, distribution or a multi‑site product business.

• People leadership: Experience leading and developing a purchasing team, ideally across locations.

• Inventory knowledge: A sound understanding of replenishment, seasonal demand, supplier lead times and working capital.

• Commercial skills: Strong negotiation, analytical and problem‑solving skills, with a focus on cost, service and supply reliability.

• Systems capability: Strong ERP and Excel skills; Epicor experience will be highly regarded. Use of AI tools to enhance analytics and support decision making

• Collaborative approach: The ability to build productive relationships with suppliers and colleagues across operational and commercial teams.

• Qualifications: Relevant qualifications in supply chain, procurement or business, or equivalent practical experience.

Why this role?

This is an opportunity to take ownership of purchasing performance and make a tangible contribution to how Waterco serves its customers. You will work directly with the Head of Operations, develop your team and shape practical improvements across supplier management, inventory and purchasing processes.