Purchasing Officer

Workforce Extensions; Sydney; On-site; AUD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Workforce Extensions is seeking an experienced Senior Supply Chain Planning & Purchasing Specialist to join our Operations team in a manufacturing context.

You will coordinate production planning, purchasing and material availability to meet manufacturing requirements and customer commitments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, Engineering or related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
• 5+ years' experience in manufacturing, production planning, purchasing, supply chain or materials management.
• Strong knowledge of production planning, master scheduling, inventory management, procurement and supplier management.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including data analysis and reporting.
• Ability to troubleshoot and debug Visual Basic/VBA code within templates used in day-to-day operations.
• Experience connecting data and ERP systems or developing automated reporting solutions will be highly regarded.
• Experience using ERP/MRP systems, with SAP experience highly regarded.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate production planning and purchasing activities across the Planning and Buying team to ensure business priorities and production requirements are achieved.
• Allocate and prioritise workloads across Planners and Buyers based on production requirements, customer commitments and business priorities.
• Develop and maintain production plans and schedules that align manufacturing capacity with customer demand.
• Oversee direct and indirect material planning and purchasing activities to ensure materials are available when required.
• Monitor inventory levels and implement actions to maintain appropriate stock holdings while minimising excess and obsolete inventory.
• Work closely with suppliers to ensure on-time delivery and proactively manage supply issues and potential disruptions.
• Identify and mitigate risks that may impact production continuity or customer delivery commitments.
• Collaborate with Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Variable Configuration and Supply Chain stakeholders to resolve production, material and order-related constraints.
• Support new product introductions by ensuring planning, procurement and material readiness requirements are achieved.
• Maintain accurate planning and purchasing data within ERP/MRP systems and ensure established planning processes are followed.
• Analyse planning, purchasing, inventory and supplier performance data to identify trends, risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Provide recommendations to improve operational performance, inventory efficiency and supply chain outcomes.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives focused on planning accuracy, inventory optimisation, procurement efficiency and process standardisation.
• Act as a subject matter expert for planning and purchasing processes, providing guidance and support to team members and key stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with company procurement policies, planning procedures, quality standards and relevant regulatory requirements.

Skills

Production planning

Purchasing expertise

Cross-functional collaboration

Analytical skills

Decision making

Education

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain or related field

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Visual Basic/VBA

ERP/MRP systems

SAP

Job description

Senior Supply Chain Planning & Purchasing Specialist
About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Supply Chain Planning & Purchasing Specialist to join our Operations team within a manufacturing environment.

Reporting to the Operations Leadership Team, you will play a key role in coordinating and optimising production planning, purchasing, material availability and inventory management to ensure manufacturing requirements and customer commitments are met.

Working closely with a team of Planners and Buyers, you will help coordinate priorities, allocate workloads and ensure planning and procurement activities are executed effectively and on time.

This is not a direct people-management position. Instead, you will provide day-to-day coordination, technical guidance and subject matter expertise across production planning and purchasing activities.

You will work cross-functionally with Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Variable Configuration and Supply Chain teams to ensure materials are available when required, production schedules remain achievable and supply risks are identified and managed proactively.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate production planning and purchasing activities across the Planning and Buying team to ensure business priorities and production requirements are achieved.
• Allocate and prioritise workloads across Planners and Buyers based on production requirements, customer commitments and business priorities.
• Develop and maintain production plans and schedules that align manufacturing capacity with customer demand.
• Oversee direct and indirect material planning and purchasing activities to ensure materials are available when required.
• Monitor inventory levels and implement actions to maintain appropriate stock holdings while minimising excess and obsolete inventory.
• Work closely with suppliers to ensure on-time delivery and proactively manage supply issues and potential disruptions.
• Identify and mitigate risks that may impact production continuity or customer delivery commitments.
• Collaborate with Manufacturing, Engineering, Quality, Variable Configuration and Supply Chain stakeholders to resolve production, material and order-related constraints.
• Support new product introductions by ensuring planning, procurement and material readiness requirements are achieved.
• Maintain accurate planning and purchasing data within ERP/MRP systems and ensure established planning processes are followed.
• Analyse planning, purchasing, inventory and supplier performance data to identify trends, risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Provide recommendations to improve operational performance, inventory efficiency and supply chain outcomes.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives focused on planning accuracy, inventory optimisation, procurement efficiency and process standardisation.
• Act as a subject matter expert for planning and purchasing processes, providing guidance and support to team members and key stakeholders.
• Ensure compliance with company procurement policies, planning procedures, quality standards and relevant regulatory requirements.

About You

You are an experienced supply chain professional with strong production planning and purchasing expertise, ideally gained within a manufacturing environment.

You are highly organised, commercially aware and comfortable managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced operational environment. You can coordinate activities across a team, influence stakeholders and make sound decisions while maintaining a strong focus on production continuity, customer delivery, inventory performance and operational efficiency.

To be successful in this role, you will bring:

• A Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, Engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
• 5+ years' experience in manufacturing, production planning, purchasing, supply chain or materials management.
• Strong knowledge of production planning, master scheduling, inventory management, procurement and supplier management.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including data analysis and reporting.
• Ability to troubleshoot and debug Visual Basic/VBA code within existing templates used in day-to-day operations.
• Experience connecting data and ERP systems or developing automated reporting solutions will be highly regarded.
• Experience using ERP/MRP systems, with SAP experience highly regarded.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating planning and purchasing activities across multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
• The ability to influence, coordinate and guide team activities without having direct people-management responsibility.
• Experience managing supplier performance and material availability within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Ability to identify operational risks and implement practical solutions to maintain production continuity.
• A continuous improvement mindset, with demonstrated experience improving processes, efficiency and operational performance.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to work effectively under pressure.
• A proactive approach and the ability to take ownership of issues through to resolution.