JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSON SPECIFICATION
Job Title:
Buyer/Sourcing Manager
Report to:
Global Purchasing and Supply Chain Manager
Responsible for:
TBD
Location:
Mooresville, North Carolina
Work Times:
7:30 AM - 4:30 PM, Monday - Friday. A degree of flexibility will be needed during peak periods, supplier issues, inventory deadlines, or business needs.
Salary:
Full-time, Exempt
Summary and Purpose
SHD Composite Materials Inc. was incorporated in August 2018, to service the expanding American and Canadian composite industries. The North American HQ is in Mooresville, North Carolina and became a fully operational manufacturing facility in 2019.
SHD Composite Materials Inc. are manufacturers of advanced composite pre-impregnated (prepreg) materials. With a growing global presence, we can service the American prepreg market with high quality prepreg at fast turnaround times together with world class technical support.
Our core strength is the ability to supply high or low volume, with a wide range of tooling and component products throughout America and around the world.
The purpose of this role is to support and manage day-to-day purchasing activities, supplier communication, purchase order control, order tracking, inventory coordination, and practical procurement planning.
This position serves as a link between Operations, Production, Quality, Finance, Inventory, Receiving, and external suppliers to ensure materials, supplies, equipment, and services are ordered accurately, received on time, and aligned with company needs.
Person Specification
A proven Purchasing Buyer, Procurement Specialist, or a person with experience in sourcing, ERP, supplier coordination, and manufacturing support. The ideal candidate is highly organized, detail-oriented, cost-aware, quality-minded, and able to balance routine purchasing tasks with vendor coordination, quote comparison, and practical cost-control responsibilities while working in a fast-faced time-constrained environment. We are seeking an independent thinker with a data driven mind set who will be responsible for leading end-to-end purchasing while developing strategic vendor partnerships. Key functions include market analysis, supplier evaluation, and cost reduction. This is not an entry level role, we are seeking a candidate with proven sourcing, commodity, and manufacturing experience.
Key Responsibilities
- Obtain quotes from vendors and compare pricing, lead times, availability, terms, quality requirements, and practical value.
- Work with staff and department leaders to source and cost purchased items as needed.
- Maintain regular supplier forecasts where appropriate to support production planning, material availability, and inventory control.
- Review supplier scorecards with strategic suppliers to ensure best-in-class service.
- Review standard and purchase price.
- Review total cost of ownership metrics.
- Monitor commodity prices, economic conditions, and industry trends.
- Perform annual RFQs or revers auctions.
- Support sourcing of local, LCC, or alternate suppliers when current vendors are unavailable, overpriced, delayed, or unable to meet requirements.
- Assist with large equipment, service, or project-related purchasing activity as needed by collecting quotes, organizing documentation, and helping compare options.
- Communicate regularly with suppliers regarding pricing, order status, backorders, shipping updates, documentation, and invoice discrepancies.
- Maintain positive working relationships with suppliers, vendors, service providers, and internal stakeholders.
- Assist with evaluating supplier performance based on price, quality, responsiveness, delivery reliability, compliance, and service.
- Negotiate basic pricing, delivery timelines, payment terms, and supply arrangements when appropriate.
- Maintain accurate vendor records, contact information, quotes, pricing history, purchasing files, and supplier documentation.
- Monitor supplier pricing, product lead times, market factors, and recurring cost changes; report concerns or opportunities to management.
- Support onboarding and supplier development, alternate sourcing, and supply chain risk mitigation through clear communication and timely follow-up.
• Coordinate with Operations, Production, Planning, Warehouse, Receiving, and Inventory teams to support material availability and production needs.
• Help maintain inventory levels, reorder points, minimum stock levels, and raw material ordering plans while balancing cash flow and warehousing space.
• Help identify low-stock items, recurring supply needs, potential shortages, excess inventory, and material availability risks.
• Report on inventory, purchasing activity, open orders, supplier spend, and material risks as required.
• Identify opportunities to improve purchasing workflows, vendor communication, order tracking, inventory visibility, and cost control.
• Help standardize purchasing forms, approval processes, vendor lists, recurring order procedures, supplier records, and quote-comparison tools.
• Recommend practical changes that reduce delays, duplicate orders, emergency purchases, unnecessary spending, and inventory inaccuracies.
• Support cost-saving initiatives by comparing quotes, monitoring price trends, improving supplier communication, and identifying better purchasing options.
• Assist with implementation or improvement of ERP, purchasing, inventory, or reporting processes as needed.
• Ensure appropriate specifications, approved supplier requirements, and quality standards are considered when purchasing materials or services.
• Support purchasing documentation and traceability requirements related to customer, aerospace, internal quality, and company procedures.
• Assist with supplier approval documentation and internal communication when new suppliers or alternate materials require review.
• Follow all company Health and Safety procedures and applicable external compliance expectations related to purchasing, handling, and workplace safety.
• Engage with the Quality function when supplier non-conformities, documentation issues, material defects, or approval concerns arise.
Secondary Responsibilities
- Create, process, and track purchase orders for raw materials, supplies, tools, equipment, services, and other company needs while following company procedures and approval limits.
- Review purchase requests for accuracy, completeness, pricing, vendor information, specifications, and required approvals before orders are placed.
- Monitor open purchase orders, follow up on outstanding orders, and confirm delivery dates with suppliers.
- Work closely with Receiving to ensure inventory data, quantities, locations, and ERP transactions are accurate.
- Support cycle counts, inventory reviews, material usage tracking, and correction of ERP or physical inventory issues.
- Maintain inventory, stock, and purchasing records in a tidy, organized, and traceable manner
- Match purchase orders, packing slips, receipts, and invoices to support accurate payment processing and timely issue resolution.
- Coordinate with Receiving, Warehouse, and Operations to resolve quantity discrepancies, damaged goods, incorrect shipments, late deliveries, and missing paperwork.
- Communicate shipping updates, delivery timing, and material availability information to internal teams when needed.
Administrative / Financial Coordination
• Work with Finance or Accounting to resolve invoice discrepancies, missing documentation, pricing issues, and approval questions.
• Maintain organized purchasing files, records, approvals, vendor documentation, order history, and audit-support materials.
• Support compliance with purchasing policies, approval workflows, cost-control expectations, and documentation requirements.
• Provide purchasing reports, cost comparisons, supplier updates, and open-order summaries for management as requested.
Logistics / Receiving Support
• Support logistics supplier communication and shipping-rate comparisons when assigned, while escalating complex import, export, customs, or compliance matters to management.
General Office / Site Support
• Undertake and perform other purchasing, procurement, inventory-support, administrative, or operations-support duties as requested by the company and its stakeholders.
Qualifications
• Associate or bachelor degree in business, supply chain, operations, engineering, or a related field preferred.
• 2-5 years of experience in purchasing/buying, procurement, supply chain, inventory with operations support.
• Experience creating purchase orders, working with suppliers, comparing quotes
• ERP system experience is important for this role; familiarity with inventory systems, accounting software, or purchasing platforms is preferred.
• Manufacturing, distribution, warehouse, industrial, aerospace, composite materials, or advanced materials purchasing experience is preferred.
• Experience with supplier performance, inventory planning, cycle counting, basic logistics coordination, or cost-reduction activity.
Skills and Ability
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