Buyer/Purchasing Specialist

AppleOne Employment Services; Riverside (CA); On-site; USD 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

AppleOne Employment Services, Riverside, CA, is seeking a hands-on Buyer/Purchasing Specialist for direct hire. This role targets experienced professionals in residential homebuilding or commercial construction purchasing, ready to take on broader responsibilities and partner with construction leadership.

The position emphasizes ownership of purchasing processes, cost control, and strong vendor relationships within a collaborative, fast-paced team environment.

Qualifications

• 6 to 10 years of purchasing, construction, or homebuilding experience is desired.
• Strong Excel skills and the ability to work with homebuilding or construction software.
• Experience obtaining bids, comparing pricing, negotiating terms, and managing purchase orders.
• Working knowledge of residential construction, building plans, trade scopes, materials, and vendor coordination.
• Experience with purchasing in residential homebuilding preferred.

Responsibilities

• Obtain, review, compare, and negotiate bids from subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers for residential construction projects.
• Prepare and manage purchase orders, contracts, scopes of work, and change orders to support accurate project execution.
• Review construction plans, specifications, and trade scopes to ensure purchasing accuracy and alignment with project needs.
• Track project costs, monitor material and labor pricing, and help maintain construction budgets.
• Coordinate with Superintendents and construction teams to ensure materials, vendors, and trades are available when needed.
• Develop and maintain strong subcontractor and supplier relationships while resolving pricing, scope, material, and vendor issues.

Skills

Purchasing experience

Vendor management

Negotiation

Excel

Budgeting

Job description

Job Summary

A residential homebuilder in Riverside, CA is seeking a hands‑on Buyer/Purchasing Specialist for a direct hire opportunity. This role is ideal for an experienced Purchasing Agent with residential homebuilding or commercial construction purchasing experience, or a strong Assistant Purchasing Agent from a larger homebuilder who is ready to step into a broader role with more responsibility. This is a strong opportunity for a construction purchasing professional who wants to be directly involved in ground‑up homebuilding projects, work closely with leadership, and partner with the construction team in a collaborative, fast‑moving environment. The position offers visibility, ownership, and the ability to make a meaningful impact on project costs, vendor relationships, purchasing processes, and field support. The work environment is well‑suited for someone who enjoys being part of a smaller, hands‑on team where communication, accountability, teamwork, and problem‑solving are valued.

Key Responsibilities

• Obtain, review, compare, and negotiate bids from subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers for residential construction projects.
• Prepare and manage purchase orders, contracts, scopes of work, and change orders to support accurate project execution.
• Review construction plans, specifications, and trade scopes to ensure purchasing accuracy and alignment with project needs.
• Track project costs, monitor material and labor pricing, and help maintain construction budgets.
• Coordinate with Superintendents and construction teams to ensure materials, vendors, and trades are available when needed.
• Develop and maintain strong subcontractor and supplier relationships while resolving pricing, scope, material, and vendor issues.

Compensation and Benefits

• Direct hire opportunity.
• Assistant Purchasing role: $70,000 to $80,000 per year.
• Purchasing Agent with homebuilding or commercial construction experience: $85,000 to $95,000 per year.
• Overall salary range provided: $75,000 to $95,000 per year.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• Manage vertical purchasing for ground‑up residential construction projects.
• Support estimating, budgeting, bid evaluation, purchase orders, contracts, and change orders.
• Coordinate purchasing activities with Superintendents, construction teams, subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers.
• Track costs, resolve scope and pricing issues, and identify opportunities to control construction expenses.
• Purchasing experience within residential homebuilding is preferred.
• 6 to 10 years of relevant purchasing, construction, or homebuilding experience is desired.
• Working knowledge of residential construction, building plans, trade scopes, materials, and vendor coordination.
• Experience obtaining bids, comparing pricing, negotiating terms, and managing purchase orders.
• Strong Excel skills and the ability to work with homebuilding or construction software.
• Strong negotiation, communication, organization, and follow‑through skills.
• Comfortable working in a smaller environment where team members take ownership and wear multiple hats.
• Detail‑oriented, proactive, and able to manage multiple priorities in a deadline‑driven construction setting.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with a large production homebuilder or publicly traded homebuilder.
• Prior experience as a Purchasing Agent, Buyer, Construction Purchasing Specialist, or Assistant Purchasing Agent.
• Experience with both residential homebuilding and commercial construction purchasing.
• Familiarity with construction estimating, budgeting, cost tracking, and vendor development.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disabled / Protected Veterans

The Know Your Rights poster is available here: https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12.pdf

The pay transparency policy is available here: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ofccp/pdf/pay-transp_%20English_formattedESQA508c.pdf

AppleOne participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations as required by law. Learn more about the E-Verify program. https://e-verify.uscis.gov/web/media/resourcesContents/E-Verify_Participation_Poster_ES.pdf

We also consider for employment qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements, including, if applicable, the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. Pursuant to applicable state and municipal Fair Chance Laws and Ordinances, we will consider for employment‑qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, including, if applicable, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. For Los Angeles, CA applicants: Qualified applications with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.