Purchasing Director

Description

At Republic & T.F. Ehrhart, it’s our greatest Joy to take care of our customers and our team. Our third-generation business has grown to be a leading wholesale distributor of electrical energy management, heating, air conditioning, hydronic and sign support systems. Through our winning culture and one growing team working together to serve our customers; Republic and T.F. Ehrhart teams deliver the best products to our customers in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri. If you’re looking for a company that has a strong and colorful history, allows you to focus on your family and find purpose in what you do every day, join our team today and start building your career with an industry leader.

 Job Information

Reporting directly to the Vice President of Operations, the Purchasing Director is a critical leader in our organization. This leader will drive supply chain efficiency, oversee a multi-million-dollar inventory budget, and work closely with many departments. This role is responsible for aligning product availability with sales demand, managing vendor scorecards, and leading a team of buyers to optimize margins and fulfilment rates.  This position will work out of our Davenport, IA location.

Role & Responsibility

Inventory Management 

• Create, review and manage product categories, core stocking rules, branch guidelines, min/max logic, safety stock levels.
• Support dead inventory reduction through reporting and cross-functional collaboration, including offboarding strategies such as returns to vendors, promotions, transfers or liquidation. 
• Work with sales to support demand planning by reviewing critical SKUs for price increases, new products, projects, weather spikes, promotions, retiring products, etc.

Support Supplier relationships

• Create Vendor Scorecards to assess profitability, supply reliability, inventory health, and competitive advantage.
• Support supplier negotiations through reporting and pricing data. 
• Optimize freight programs through consolidated ordering, managing prepaid freight thresholds, shipment timing, transfer efficiency, and vendor freight agreements. 
• Manage lead times and track vendor on-time delivery performance. 
• Hold vendors accountable for on-time delivery, request credits, and escalate shortages or expedited delivery needs.

·

Forecasting & Demand Planning

• Define and manage demand planning at Republic. Work cross-functionally with the Sales team to understand rolling forecasts and use historical sales, seasonality, market trends, promotions and project activity to build a strong demand plan. 
• Anticipate supply chain interruptions and evaluate lead times effectively during demand planning.  

Process & System Ownership 

• This position is a champion of ERP purchasing processes and logic, workflows, and approval processes for all transactions in purchasing (POs, Receipt of Inventory, Transfers, etc). This is automated support to assist in making replenishment decisions including min/max, reorder points, safety stock, and transfer logic. 
• Provide automated support to assist in replenishment decisions, including min/max levels, reorder points, safety stock, and transfer logic
• Maintain item data integrity. Ensure vendor records, item records, product categories, and reporting remain accurate and up to date.
• Oversee vendor management, ensuring vendors are appropriately assigned to buyers and branches with clear rationale.
• Partner with ERP systems experts to develop role-based approval structures that define authority levels.
• Work with senior leaders to establish a new product/line introduction process.
• Automate system functionality and reporting wherever possible, particularly related to POs not received, acknowledgments, and exceptions.

· Department Leadership

•  Recruit, train and mentor buyers and/or other department positions.
• Work closely with Pricing department to ensure strategic initiatives are achieved. 
• Hold team members accountable to new processes, develop SOPs for the department, and establish performance expectations.
   

· Cross-Functional Leadership 

• Work closely with Pricing Work closely with Pricing department to ensure strategic initiatives are achieved. 
  •  Lead and/or participate in cross-functional processes across the organization.
  •  Partner with Sales on demand forecasting. 
  • Work with Branch Managers and the VP of Operations to solve inventory issues, as well as train, educate and empower them on issues they should and should not resolve.
  • Collaborate with Accounting and Finance to maintain inventory metrics and capital allocations within budget.
  • And other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Management, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• Experience: 10+ years in supply chain roles, including at least 2 years in a purchasing leadership role with direct reports.
• ERP experience required.
• Demonstrated understanding of inventory management systems.
• Advanced Excel skills required, including VLOOKUPs, pivot tables, and formulas.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong customer service and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to address conflict and have difficult conversations.
• Ability to lead and manage people, hold others accountable, and drive a performance-based team.
• Travel Requirement: 0-10%; minimal travel required, primarily for training or as needed    

Physical Requirements

• Ability to sit at a desk in front of computer screens for extended periods of time 
• Ability to talk on the phone, read and type emails daily
• Ability to walk in an office or warehouse environment, take stairs occasionally

Work Environment

• Work is performed in a temperature controlled, office environment

The Republic and T.F. Ehrhart teams have grown to almost 200 employees across 4 states in 10 different branch locations. Our company offers its customers products and solutions to help build stronger businesses and communities. Based in Davenport Iowa, Republic & T.F. Ehrhart Company is a first-class provider of electrical and mechanical supplies for industrial, institutional, governmental, and contracting communities and is committed to helping our customers accomplish more.  Republic & T.F. Ehrhart are committed fostering an inclusive and a diverse workforce and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, age, race, color, religion, creed, citizenship status, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, or any other status or characteristic protected by law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact us at 563-383-6033.   

Any legitimate job offer will be preceded by an official selection process.