Purchasing Manager
Job Purpose:
As the Country Purchasing Manager for Kysor Warren EPTA US, you will serve as a key operational and strategic leader driving manufacturing procurement excellence, supplier performance, and supply chain continuity. In this vital role, you will lead and develop the purchasing team, optimize inventory and material availability in SAP, and align local execution with broader Epta Group strategies, ensuring flawless support for production schedules, new product introductions, and sustainable growth.
Basic Requirements/Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, Procurement, Business Administration, Operations, Engineering, or a related field; an MBA or advanced supply chain degree is preferred.
- 10+ years of progressive experience in purchasing, procurement, or supply chain within a manufacturing environment, including people leadership or team-direction experience.
- Demonstrated success in supplier negotiations, shortage recovery, inventory management, and procurement process improvement.
- Strong knowledge of MRP, purchasing planning parameters, supplier lead times, open-order management, and manufacturing material flow.
- Proficiency with SAP and advanced ability to analyze purchasing, inventory, and supplier data in Microsoft Excel or Power BI.
- Excellent commercial judgment, analytical problem-solving, communication, and stakeholder-management skills.
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, international, cross-functional environment and travel to suppliers or Epta locations as business needs require.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead, coach, and develop buyers responsible for direct materials, indirect materials, components, supplies, and services.
- Ensure purchase orders are placed accurately and within supplier lead times, with clear confirmation, due-date management, and timely escalation of risks.
- Establish disciplined open-order review, shortage management, supplier follow-up, and recovery processes to protect production schedules and customer commitments.
- Partner with Strategic Sourcing and Regional Supply Chain to execute commodity strategies, supplier transitions, localization and cost-reduction initiatives.
- Monitor inventory, demand signals, safety stock, excess and obsolete exposure, and material availability; implement actions that reduce both shortages and excess inventory.
- Build supplier performance routines covering on-time delivery, lead-time adherence, quality, responsiveness, pricing compliance, capacity, and corrective actions.
- Collaborate with Planning, Operations, Engineering, Quality, Finance, Logistics, and Customer teams to support production, new product introductions, engineering changes, and business priorities.
- Develop and maintain purchasing policies, standard work, approval controls, and data accuracy in SAP or related ERP systems.
- Ensure procurement activities comply with company policies, applicable U.S. regulations, trade requirements, and Epta Group ethical and sustainability standards.
- Track and communicate purchasing KPIs, material risks, supplier recovery plans, inventory actions, and savings performance to leadership.
Don’t let a few unmet requirements chill your enthusiasm! If you’re excited about the role and believe you have the potential to excel, click “Apply” anyway. We love fresh energy and are eager to see what you bring to the table! Why work for Epta At Epta, we believe our employees are the driving force behind our success. That’s why we offer a thoughtful range of perks designed to inspire, support, and celebrate our team every step of the way.
- Join Epta in this permanent role, where you'll experience a great blend of new technologies and a modern workplace culture.
- We take development opportunities seriously! Take part in a variety of training through our Epta Academy and external training partners.
- Epta offers the opportunity for remote work whenever possible, along with providing the necessary technical equipment.
- Balance work and personal life perfectly with our flexible working hours.
- Give back more than we receive: Join our volunteering activities and help make the world a better place.
Our story We at the Epta Group are a dynamic and growing international company, delivering cutting-edge commercial refrigeration solutions that impact everyday life - from ensuring fresh food in supermarkets to keeping the perfect chill in your favorite café. Our global network includes manufacturing facilities, sales entities and service organizations - all working together to provide sustainable and innovative solutions. We support customers in their green transition and support them as a fully integrated provider, from the layout of the store to the after-sales support. With over 8,000 employees, Epta fosters an environment of continuous development. We offer career growth, extensive training, and the opportunity to thrive in a company where every challenge is a chance to create value and inspire our people. Guided by our values, we are committed to professional excellence, sustainability, and innovation in every aspect of our work. We welcome applications from all individuals, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, parental status, or social origin. At Epta, your unique perspective is what keeps us innovative and cool.
