Job Description
Buyer
Job Description
Company | Triton Metal Products |
Department | Purchasing |
Reports To | Director of Business Management |
Compensation | $60,000 + annual salary based on experience, commensurate with experience and demonstrated commodity / supplier management capability. |
Position Summary
The Buyer is responsible for sourcing and purchasing commodity raw materials, hardware, outside processing, and factory supplies that keep production running safely, on time, and at the best total value. This position protects company margin by balancing cost, quality, delivery, inventory accuracy, and supplier performance while partnering closely with Production, Quality, Accounting, Customer Service, and Operations.
What Success Looks Like
- Production has the right material, hardware, services, and supplies when needed, without avoidable line stoppages or premium freight.
- Purchase decisions improve gross margin through strong pricing, disciplined order quantities, supplier negotiations, and reduced waste or obsolescence.
- Inventory records, receiving documentation, certifications, SDS records, and purchasing files stay accurate, current, and audit-ready.
- Supplier performance is actively measured and improved, reducing late deliveries, nonconforming material, and expedite activity.
- Risks tied to market movement, lead time, outside processing capacity, or shortages are identified early and escalated before they affect customers or profitability.
Core Behaviors & Personal Traits
Commercially minded: Understands that every buying decision affects margin, cash, inventory exposure, and customer delivery performance.
Detail disciplined: Catches revision, quantity, pricing, certification, and due-date issues before they become production or accounting problems.
Proactive and urgent: Acts early on shortages, supplier delays, and market changes instead of waiting for issues to escalate.
Calm under pressure: Stays organized and solution-focused when schedules change, materials tighten, or priorities shift quickly.
Relationship builder: Builds credible, professional supplier relationships while holding vendors accountable for cost, quality, and delivery.
Collaborative: Works well across departments and communicates clearly with both office and shop-floor teams.
Resourceful and curious: Looks for alternate sources, process improvements, and better buy methods that improve total cost and responsiveness.
High ownership: Follows through, closes loops, and takes pride in clean systems, dependable purchasing practices, and measurable results.
Primary Responsibilities
Direct material purchasing
- Run raw material and hardware requirements in the ERP/MRP system and validate demand against inventory, job needs, forecast, usage history, and quoted price breaks.
- Analyze requirements versus on-hand inventory and determine purchase quantities that support schedule adherence while minimizing excess, obsolescence, and cost.
- Generate RFQs, compare supplier quotes, negotiate pricing and lead times, and issue purchase orders for commodity material and hardware.
- Set up and manage blanket orders or longer-term buy agreements when they improve cost, availability, or administrative efficiency.
- Use sound buy-quantity logic, including purchase-to-job decisions and strategic quantity decisions when justified by usage and pricing.
Output: material and hardware available at the right time, right quality, and best practical total cost.
Outside processing management
- Purchase outside processing services such as plating, coating, heat treat, machining, or other subcontracted operations required to support customer and production requirements.
- Coordinate lead times, certifications, routing expectations, and turnaround commitments with outside processors.
- Monitor outside processing performance and escalate risk early when delivery, capacity, or quality threatens schedule or margin.
Output: outsourced operations stay aligned to production commitments with fewer delays, quality issues, and premium recovery actions.
Factory supplies and consumables
- Manage purchasing of factory supplies, consumables, and MRO-type items required to support daily operations.
- Run PO requests, review needs, issue POs, and support recurring consumable replenishment processes for the shop.
- Control supply spend with practical standardization, reorder discipline, and supplier consolidation where appropriate.
Output: the plant stays supplied without unnecessary stock, spend leakage, or emergency purchasing.
Receiving, documentation, and inventory integrity
- Support receiving by matching delivery documentation to requirements, ensuring certifications are scanned and attached, and maintaining traceability to the purchase order receiver.
- Generate receiving tags for material and ensure appropriate tagging and documentation flow to Accounting.
- Support accurate raw material and hardware inventories through disciplined purchasing records, receiver accuracy, and inventory audit support.
Output: inventory and receiving records are accurate, traceable, and ready for operations, quality, and accounting use.
Supplier performance and market awareness
- Participate in supplier performance reviews and quarterly vendor evaluations based on quality, delivery, responsiveness, and commercial performance.
- Monitor market fluctuations, lead-time changes, and supply risk for relevant commodities and purchased services.
- Communicate meaningful cost or supply changes to management and partner functions early enough to support pricing, scheduling, or sourcing decisions.
Output: stronger supplier performance, better sourcing decisions, and fewer surprises from market or vendor changes.
Administrative and compliance responsibilities
- Maintain purchasing files, RFQ records, vendor correspondence, and monthly credit card purchase documentation.
- Obtain and maintain Safety Data Sheets for purchased chemical products when required and keep SDS files current.
- Participate in safety, department huddles, and continuous improvement efforts; support other purchasing and plant priorities as assigned.
Output: purchasing processes remain organized, compliant, and dependable.
Experience & Qualifications
- 3+ years of purchasing, procurement, or supply chain management experience in a manufacturing environment required; 5+ years strongly preferred for candidates expected to independently manage direct and indirect spend categories.
- Experience buying one or more of the following is strongly preferred: metal commodities, hardware/fasteners, outside processing, MRO items, or factory consumables.
- Experience working in an ERP/MRP system required; experience with MIE Trak or a comparable manufacturing system preferred.
- Working knowledge of supplier quote comparison, purchase orders, blanket orders, lead times, inventory control, and supplier performance management required.
- Ability to read and interpret bills of material, basic drawings/specifications, certifications, and purchasing requirements preferred.
- Strong Excel, follow-up discipline, written communication, and analytical problem-solving skills required.
Benefits
- Performance & Attendance Bonuses
- Medical, Dental, Vision, & Life Insurance at 60 days
- Long and Short-Term disability coverage
- Critical illness, accident, hospital indemnity
- HSA and FSA opportunities
- 401(k) with company match after 60 days
- Paid Holidays & Vacation
- Personal Time
- Weekly Pay
Apply here, and we will send a link to complete the application and culture index survey.
*** This survey must be completed at the time of the application being submitted. ***
If you have any questions or issues, please call 260-488-1800.
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