Manager, Purchasing

Role Summary

The Purchasing Manager will lead the Largo purchasing function to ensure reliable material availability, disciplined supplier execution, strong purchasing process control, and achievement of service, backorder, inventory, working capital, and cost objectives. This leader will develop and coach the purchasing team, build KPI-driven management systems, strengthen supplier partnerships, and partner cross-functionally with Operations, Planning, Scheduling, Quality, Engineering, Finance, Strategic Sourcing, and Warehouse teams to translate business priorities into consistent execution.

The role requires an experienced people and process leader with strong procurement fundamentals, ERP/MRP discipline, supplier relationship management capability, operational problem solving, and the ability to influence across functions in a regulated manufacturing environment.

Key Responsibilities

People Leadership and Talent Development

• Lead, coach, and develop the purchasing team through clear expectations, structured one-on-ones, workload balancing, performance feedback, development planning, and succession readiness.
• Build a high-performance culture focused on accountability, collaboration, capability building, ethical decision-making, urgency, and continuous improvement.
• Establish role clarity, decision rights, escalation paths, and standard work for buyers and purchasing support roles to reduce rework, burnout, and dependency on informal processes.
• Partner with HR and Supply Chain leadership on talent reviews, hiring, onboarding, training, and development plans for purchasing talent.

Purchasing Operations and Service Execution

• Own day-to-day purchasing execution to support production plans, customer service levels, backorder reduction, and material availability.
• Drive disciplined MRP / ERP execution, including purchase requisitions, purchase orders, reschedule messages, master data accuracy, source data, order confirmations, and supplier delivery commitments.
• Lead escalation management for material constraints, past-due purchase orders, line-risk items, supplier misses, and supply continuity issues.
• Partner with Planning, Scheduling, Manufacturing, Warehouse, and Commercial teams to ensure purchasing priorities are aligned to production needs, customer commitments, and working capital goals.

Supplier Relationship Management and Supply Continuity

• Build and sustain supplier partnerships through structured performance reviews, scorecards, recovery plans, tiered escalation, and clear commitments on delivery, quality, responsiveness, and risk mitigation.
• Visit supplier facilities as needed to assess performance, resolve material issues, strengthen relationships, and align on corrective action plans.
• Represent Largo Purchasing in supplier discussions related to delivery performance, cost reduction, continuity planning, constraints, and issue resolution.
• Collaborate with Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Quality, Engineering, R&D, and Quality Management to develop, qualify, and improve suppliers in support of business needs.

Process Excellence, Standardization, and KPI Management

• Design, implement, and sustain purchasing management systems, KPIs, dashboards, tiered operating rhythms, standard work, RACIs, and escalation routines.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives that reduce non-value-added activity, improve purchasing productivity, standardize processes, and convert recurring firefighting into controlled processes.
• Use data and visual management to monitor supplier on-time delivery, purchasing OTIF, backorders, MRP action message discipline, purchase order health, inventory performance, PPV, and cost-out progress.
• Identify root causes, implement corrective actions, and sustain improvements using structured problem-solving and Lean methodologies.

Inventory, Working Capital, and Cost Management

• Support strategic inventory and working capital objectives through disciplined purchasing parameters, supplier replenishment strategies, min/max settings, MOQ/EOQ review, ABC/XYZ segmentation, and avoidance of excess or false-signal purchasing.
• Partner with Planning, Warehouse, Finance, and Operations to balance material availability, service needs, inventory turns, and working capital performance.
• Work closely with Strategic Sourcing to implement cost reduction programs, support PPV initiatives, evaluate supplier alternatives, and execute sourcing or resourcing actions that protect supply continuity.
• Recommend problem avoidance, cost reduction, and productivity improvements for existing products, services, commodities, and supplier relationships.

Cross-Functional Leadership and Change Management

• Influence and align cross-functional stakeholders across Operations, Planning, Scheduling, Quality, Engineering, Finance, Strategic Sourcing, Warehouse, and Commercial functions.
• Support S&OE / IBP operating rhythms by ensuring purchasing data, constraints, commitments, and escalation needs are accurate, actionable, and visible.
• Lead change management within Purchasing as processes, roles, dashboards, supplier expectations, and operating rhythms evolve.
• Communicate effectively with leadership and stakeholders regarding supply risks, service impacts, recovery plans, inventory tradeoffs, and required decisions.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, Engineering, Finance, or related field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in purchasing, procurement, materials, supply chain, manufacturing operations, or related field.
• 3+ years of direct or indirect people leadership experience, including coaching, performance management, workload balancing, and team development.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience managing suppliers, supplier performance, material constraints, recovery plans, purchasing KPIs, and cross-functional escalations.
• Strong understanding of ERP/MRP systems, purchase order management, action messages, source data, and materials planning concepts.
• Experience using data, metrics, dashboards, and structured operating rhythms to manage performance and accountability.
• Demonstrated ability to lead process improvement, standardization, and operational excellence efforts in a complex environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to influence across multiple functions and levels.
• Experience in medical device, life sciences, regulated manufacturing, or other quality-system-driven environment.
• Knowledge of ISO 13485, QMS expectations, supplier quality interfaces, ECO/ECN impact, and compliance-sensitive purchasing processes.
• Experience with Oracle or comparable ERP system and Power BI or similar analytics / visualization tools.
• Experience with S&OE, IBP, supplier scorecards, category strategy, risk mitigation, inventory optimization, and working capital improvement.
• Lean, Six Sigma, or structured problem-solving experience.
• Professional certification such as CPSM, CPSD, CPIM, CSCP, or CIPS/MCIPS preferred.

Critical Competencies for Selection:

Supplier Relationship Management & On-Time Delivery

Builds scorecards, recovery plans, commitments, QBRs, and escalation discipline to improve supplier delivery and protect service levels.

Category / Strategic Sourcing Orientation

Understands how to segment spend, manage risk, support sourcing strategies, and move the team beyond transactional PO activity.

Negotiation, Cost & PPV Management

Uses cost-vs-price analysis, supplier leverage, and value-based negotiation to support savings and budget commitments.

Inventory & Materials Management

Balances availability and working capital through MRP discipline, min/max, MOQ, EOQ, ABC/XYZ, and inventory signal health.

ERP/MRP Systems & Procurement Analytics

Uses ERP data, exception management, dashboards, and visual management to increase decision velocity and accountability.

Risk & Resilience Management

Anticipates supplier, material, and delivery risk, acts on early signals, and builds countermeasures before service is impacted.

People Leadership, Coaching & Talent Development

Develops the team, balances workloads, clarifies decision rights, and builds succession depth.

Process Excellence & Continuous Improvement

Sustains standard work, RACI, Lean problem solving, and CI cadence so gains hold as the organization scales.

Benefits:

CONMED offers a wide array of benefits to fit your unique needs. Visit our Benefits Page for more information.

• Competitive compensation
• Excellent healthcare including medical, dental, vision and prescription coverage
• Short & long term disability plus life insurance -- cost paid fully by CONMED
• Retirement Savings Plan (401K) -- CONMED matches your contributions dollar for dollar, with the potential for up to 7% per pay period
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan -- allows stock purchases at discounted price
• Tuition assistance for undergraduate and graduate level courses

Know someone at CONMED? Have them submit you as a referral before applying for this position to be eligible for our Employee Referral Program incentives!

CONMED is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of any legally protected status or characteristic. Protected veterans and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. The Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal Poster reaffirms this commitment.

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If you feel you need a reasonable accommodation pursuant to the ADA, you are encouraged to contact us at 800-929-7176 option #5.