Purchasing and Materials Manager

Purchasing and Materials Manager

Join a Team That Sets the Standard for Excellence

At Bakes & Kropp Fine Cabinetry, our passion is to Set the Standard for Excellence, and our niche is to Design and Build Exceptional Cabinetry. We create luxury custom cabinetry for discerning clients across the country, and we're looking for an experienced Purchasing and Materials Manager to help ensure our operations run efficiently, our materials are available when needed, and our projects stay on schedule.

About the Role

This is a full-time, salaried position based at our Mount Clemens, Michigan manufacturing facility. The Purchasing and Materials Manager leads purchasing, procurement, inventory control, material planning, and supplier performance across the organization.

This is a process management and functional leadership position, not a traditional people management position. The role focuses on owning, improving, and creating systems and processes that ensure materials are available at the right quality, quantity, cost, and time.

Reporting to the Director of Operations and the Director of Accounting and HR, this role works closely with Engineering, Production, Design, Installation, Accounting, and Leadership to improve purchasing processes, inventory accuracy, material availability, supplier performance, and operational efficiency.

The ideal candidate will have experience in custom cabinetry, woodworking, furniture, or a related manufacturing environment. Experience in other complex, high-mix, low-volume, or engineered-to-order manufacturing environments will also be considered.

Key Responsibilities

Purchasing & Supplier Management

• Source materials, hardware, components, and manufacturing supplies.
• Build and maintain strong supplier relationships.
• Negotiate pricing, terms, freight, lead times, and supplier agreements.
• Monitor supplier performance and resolve quality, delivery, and warranty issues.
• Identify alternative suppliers and sourcing strategies to reduce supply chain risk.
• Develop supplier accountability and performance expectations.
• Monitor long lead-time materials and proactively communicate potential supply risks.
• Maintain supplier documentation, including Safety Data Sheets (SDS), product specifications, certifications, and compliance records for purchased materials.
• Partner with Engineering and Production on material substitutions, product changes, and evolving material requirements.

Inventory & Material Planning

• Maintain accurate inventory levels and valuation.
• Establish and improve inventory controls, reorder points, minimum/maximum levels, and safety stock.
• Forecast material requirements based on production schedules and changing business priorities.
• Lead cycle counts and annual physical inventories.
• Investigate inventory discrepancies and improve inventory accuracy.
• Reduce excess, obsolete, and unnecessary inventory.
• Monitor material availability and proactively identify potential shortages.
• Develop processes that balance inventory investment with production and customer requirements.
• Support Kanban and other inventory management systems where appropriate.

Operations Support

• Ensure material availability supports production and installation schedules.
• Monitor long lead-time items and communicate supply risks proactively.
• Coordinate material substitutions and alternate sourcing when needed.
• Collaborate across departments to keep production and projects on schedule.
• Prioritize material requirements when competing production needs arise.
• Partner with Engineering, Production, Accounting, and Operations to resolve material and purchasing issues.
• Provide visibility into purchasing, inventory, and supplier risks that could impact operations.

Process Management & Continuous Improvement

• Own and continuously improve purchasing, inventory, and material planning processes.
• Analyze purchasing and inventory data to identify cost-saving opportunities and process improvements.
• Improve purchasing procedures, inventory controls, workflows, and standard operating procedures.
• Develop and maintain KPIs related to inventory accuracy, inventory turns, supplier performance, material availability, purchasing costs, and shortages.
• Support Lean Manufacturing, 5S, EOS scorecards, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Identify and eliminate process inefficiencies, waste, and unnecessary inventory.
• Maintain purchasing SOPs and vendor documentation.
• Develop standardized processes and controls that support the company's continued growth.
• Partner with Accounting to ensure purchasing and inventory transactions are accurate and properly reflected in financial reporting.

Qualifications Required

• Five or more years of purchasing, procurement, inventory management, materials management, or supply chain experience.
• Manufacturing experience, preferably in custom cabinetry, woodworking, furniture, or a related industry.
• Experience working with a large number of SKUs, components, raw materials, or production materials.
• Strong understanding of inventory controls, material planning, purchasing processes, and supplier management.
• Strong negotiation, analytical, organizational, and communication skills.
• Proficiency with Work Operations systems, preferably Monday.com, QuickBooks, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Office.
• Experience with ERP or MRP systems preferred.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities with exceptional attention to detail.
• Ability to identify problems, analyze data, and develop practical process improvements.
• Ability to lead through process ownership, collaboration, and influence rather than direct people management.

Preferred

• Experience in custom cabinetry, architectural millwork, luxury furniture, woodworking, or engineered-to-order manufacturing.
• Experience managing purchasing and materials in a high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environment.
• Experience with ERP/MRP systems and material planning.
• Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement experience.
• Experience with Kanban, reorder points, safety stock, cycle counting, and inventory optimization.
• Experience developing and monitoring supplier performance metrics and KPIs.
• Experience improving purchasing and inventory processes in a growing organization.

What Success Looks Like

The ideal candidate is a proactive, detail-oriented process leader who builds strong supplier partnerships, makes data-driven decisions, solves problems effectively, and continuously improves systems and processes while collaborating across departments.

Success in this role means improving inventory accuracy, reducing material shortages and excess inventory, strengthening supplier performance, improving purchasing processes, and creating greater visibility and predictability throughout the materials and purchasing function.

This person will be successful by improving the system—not simply maintaining it.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Starting at $80,000 per year

Benefits Include:

• Healthcare, Dental, Vision & Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• 401(k) with Company Match
• Profit Sharing
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Paid Holidays

Why Bakes & Kropp?

• Join an established leader in luxury custom cabinetry.
• Make a company-wide impact on purchasing, materials, inventory, and operations.
• Work alongside a talented, collaborative team.
• Help drive continuous improvement while supporting exceptional craftsmanship.
• Work in a role where you can build and improve systems that directly impact production and customer satisfaction.
• Be part of a company committed to Communication, Design, and Craftsmanship.

If you're ready to make a meaningful impact, improve systems, strengthen our materials and purchasing processes, and help us continue to Set the Standard for Excellence, we'd love to hear from you.

Pay: From $80,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Experience:

Purchasing/Inventory/Materials Management: 5 years (Required)

Work Location:

Mount Clemens, MI, In person

Pay: From $80,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person

Salary : $80,000