Purchasing & Strategic Sourcing Manager

LHH; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

LHH is seeking an experienced Purchasing & Strategic Sourcing Manager to lead a purchasing team and evolve the organization toward strategic sourcing. This hands-on leader will leverage a distribution background, manage a four-person team, and strengthen supplier partnerships to improve product availability and inventory efficiency.

The ideal candidate excels in data-driven decision making, builds strong supplier relationships, negotiates favorable terms, and guides cross-functional initiatives

Qualifications

• 5+ years in purchasing, procurement, or strategic sourcing.
• Experience leading and developing a purchasing team.
• Distribution experience in a high-SKU environment (~10,000 SKUs).
• Proven success negotiating pricing, terms, lead times, and service.
• Strong inventory replenishment and product availability skills.
• Ability to build supplier relationships with internal stakeholders.
• Advanced Excel skills including pivot tables and lookups.
• Experience using ERP/inventory management systems.
• Willingness to travel for supplier relationship development.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of four purchasing professionals.
• Shift from transactional purchasing to strategic sourcing.
• Negotiate pricing, terms, lead times, and service expectations.
• Improve product availability and fill rates via forecasting and replenishment.
• Manage inventory investment balancing demand with excess stock.
• Establish supplier scorecards and monitor performance.
• Identify alternate suppliers to mitigate risk and shortages.
• Collaborate cross-functionally on new product introductions and transitions.
• Maintain accurate purchasing data and resolve discrepancies.
• Develop KPI reporting using Excel, ERP data, and BI tools.
• Translate data into actionable purchasing improvements.
• Resolve issues across departments and drive solutions.

Skills

5+ years experience

team leadership

distribution high-SKU

supplier negotiation

inventory replenishment

data-driven decisions

Excel (pivot/lookup)

ERP systems

travel for supplier development

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Professional purchasing certification

Tools

Epicor Prophet 21

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Purchasing & Strategic Sourcing Manager to lead a purchasing team and help drive the organization’s evolution from traditional purchasing toward a more strategic sourcing model.

This is a hands-on leadership opportunity for someone with a strong distribution background, high-SKU inventory experience, supplier relationship management expertise, and a data-driven approach to purchasing and sourcing.

The ideal candidate will be a strong relationship builder who can develop the existing team while strengthening supplier partnerships, improving product availability, managing inventory investment, and building a more strategic approach to sourcing.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of four purchasing professionals, establishing priorities, coaching employees, and driving accountability.
• Help lead the transition from transactional purchasing to strategic sourcing, introducing stronger sourcing strategies and supplier management practices.
• Develop and maintain strategic supplier relationships while negotiating pricing, payment terms, lead times, and service expectations.
• Improve product availability and fill rates by analyzing forecasts, replenishment practices, and minimum/maximum inventory levels.
• Manage inventory investment while balancing customer demand against excess and slow-moving inventory.
• Establish and manage supplier scorecards covering quality, delivery, availability, and overall supplier performance.
• Identify and qualify alternative suppliers to mitigate shortages, market disruptions, and supply chain risks.
• Partner cross-functionally on new product introductions, product transitions, and discontinued items.
• Maintain accurate purchasing, supplier, and product data while resolving discrepancies.
• Develop and improve KPI reporting using Excel, ERP data, and business intelligence tools.
• Translate purchasing and inventory data into actionable recommendations that improve cost, availability, supplier performance, and inventory efficiency.
• Resolve purchasing and supplier issues across departments and drive solutions through completion.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of purchasing, procurement, or strategic sourcing experience.
• Previous experience leading and developing a purchasing, procurement, or buying team.
• Distribution experience within a high-SKU environment, with a minimum of approximately 10,000 SKUs.
• Demonstrated success negotiating supplier pricing, terms, lead times, and service agreements.
• Strong experience with inventory replenishment, product availability, and inventory management.
• Proven ability to develop strong, productive relationships with suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and data-driven decision-making capabilities.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookup functions, and data analysis.
• Experience utilizing ERP and inventory management systems.
• Strong communication, organization, leadership, and follow-through.
• Ability to work onsite in Farmers Branch, TX and travel as needed for supplier relationship development.

Preferred Qualifications

• Wholesale or industrial distribution experience.
• Experience managing 20,000+ SKUs.
• Experience with Epicor Prophet 21 or a comparable distribution ERP.
• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, or a related discipline.
• Professional purchasing, procurement, or supply chain certification.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is more than an experienced buyer or purchasing manager. This individual has successfully operated in a complex, high-SKU distribution environment and understands how to evolve a purchasing function toward strategic sourcing and supplier management.

They should be comfortable leading a team, building supplier relationships, negotiating strategically, analyzing large datasets, and using KPIs to identify opportunities to improve cost, inventory, availability, and supplier performance.