Strategic Purchasing & Materials Planning Leader

Hydrotech, Inc.; Olde West Chester (OH); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Hydrotech, Inc. is seeking a Purchasing & Materials Planning Manager to lead the purchasing and materials planning functions, ensuring material availability to support customer requirements, manufacturing operations, and inventory objectives.

The role builds a disciplined, proactive, and MRP-driven approach while developing the Purchasing team and standardizing planning processes. Collaborating with Sales, Customer Service, Engineering, Project Management, Manufacturing, Logistics, and Finance,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in purchasing, procurement, materials planning, supply chain, or related operational leadership.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing purchasing or materials teams.
• Strong working knowledge of MRP principles and experience building disciplined, ERP-driven planning and purchasing processes.
• Experience managing supplier relationships, performance, supply risk, and commercial negotiations.
• Experience utilizing ERP/MRP systems in a manufacturing or industrial distribution environment; Infor M3 preferred.
• Strong analytical, communication, organizational, and cross-functional leadership skills.
• APICS/ASCM CPIM or CSCP, or ISM CPSM certification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, mentor, and develop the Purchasing team to build strong professional procurement and materials management capabilities.
• Establish clear supplier ownership, responsibilities, performance expectations, and accountability across the Purchasing team.
• Develop Buyers beyond transactional purchasing and expediting toward proactive supplier and supply management.
• Establish standard work, performance measures, and development plans that strengthen team capability and effectiveness.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and customer focus.
• Establish and continuously improve robust MRP-driven purchasing and materials planning processes.
• Own ERP planning parameters including lead times, safety stock, reorder policies, planning calendars, and inventory settings.
• Ensure MRP recommendations, exception messages, shortages, reschedules, and other planning signals are reviewed and acted upon consistently and timely.
• Partner with Sales, Engineering, Project Mgmt, and Customer Service to translate customer demand, forecasts, manufacturing requirements, and project demand into actionable supply requirements.
• Drive exception-based material management that enables proactive focus on shortages, changing demand, excess supply, and other conditions requiring action.
• Monitor material availability and inventory health while balancing customer service requirements with working-capital objectives.
• Supplier Relationship & Supply Management
• Establish clear ownership of supplier relationships and ensure Buyers actively manage assigned suppliers.
• Develop collaborative relationships with strategic suppliers to improve communication, delivery performance, responsiveness, and supply reliability.
• Ensure regular review of supplier performance, lead times, commitments, constraints, and emerging supply risks.
• Lead escalation and recovery efforts for significant supplier performance or material availability issues.
• Drive proactive supplier communication regarding forecasts, changing requirements, capacity concerns, and future business needs.
• Support sourcing, commercial negotiations, supplier agreements, and supplier-development initiatives as appropriate.
• Cross-Functional Planning & Execution
• Collaborate with Sales to understand forecasts, significant opportunities, customer demand changes, and future material requirements.
• Partner with Engineering and Project Management to anticipate material requirements for engineered systems, projects, and new product introductions.
• Work closely with Customer Service and Supply Planning to resolve shortages, establish realistic supply commitments, and support customer delivery expectations.
• Collaborate with Manufacturing to ensure purchasing and material plans support production requirements.
• Partner with Logistics to improve inventory management, replenishment, accuracy, and material flow.
• Participate in the SIOP process by providing supply, purchasing, inventory, supplier capacity, and risk information necessary for effective business planning.
• Performance Management & Continuous Improvement
• Establish and monitor KPIs for purchasing, supplier performance, material availability, inventory health, and planning effectiveness.
• Identify recurring supply, inventory, or planning issues and lead root-cause corrective actions.
• Continuously improve ERP/MRP utilization, purchasing workflows, planning processes, and data quality.
• Develop standardized purchasing and materials management procedures, responsibilities, controls, and hand-offs.
• Use data and business intelligence to identify risks, opportunities, and priorities requiring management attention.

Skills

MRP

Materials Planning

Inventory Optimization

ERP/MRP Systems

Team Leadership

Supply Risk

Data-Driven Decision Making

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Business Acumen

Customer Focus

Education

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain or related field

APICS CPIM/CSCP or ISM CPSM certification preferred

7+ years progressive experience in purchasing, procurement, or materials planning

Tools

Infor M3

Job description

Hydrotech, Inc. is seeking a Purchasing & Materials Planning Manager to lead the purchasing and materials planning functions, ensuring material availability to support customer requirements, manufacturing operations, and inventory objectives.

The role builds a disciplined, proactive, and MRP-driven approach while developing the Purchasing team and standardizing planning processes. Collaborating with Sales, Customer Service, Engineering, Project Management, Manufacturing, Logistics, and Finance,