Supply Chain / Purchasing Manager

About the Opportunity

Fred’s Tents & Canopies is seeking a hands-on Supply Chain / Purchasing Manager to take ownership of purchasing, material planning, inventory, and supplier coordination for our manufacturing operation.

This role is ideal for a strong buyer, senior buyer, material planner, or supply-chain professional who is ready to broaden their responsibility and help improve how materials flow through a high-mix manufacturing environment. You will personally manage day-to-day purchasing while helping strengthen forecasting, inventory accuracy, supplier performance, and material availability for production.

Our products include standard, custom, and engineered solutions, so not every requirement is perfectly defined at the start. We are looking for someone who is comfortable working closely with Design/Engineering and Operations, adapting as requirements evolve, and communicating risks before they become production problems.

What You’ll Do

·         Create, issue, maintain, and follow up on purchase orders for materials, components, hardware, outside services, and other production requirements.

·         Ensure materials are available to support the production schedule and proactively identify potential shortages.

·         Manage supplier communication, lead times, acknowledgements, on-time delivery, quality issues, and corrective actions.

·         Use ERP/MRP, forecasts, historical usage, production requirements, and known projects to anticipate material needs.

·         Own inventory planning and accuracy activities, including reorder points, safety stock, cycle counting, physical inventory, and root-cause follow-up.

·         Work closely with Design/Engineering and Operations on new, custom, and evolving products where requirements may change during the project.

·         Coordinate with Warehouse/Receiving to resolve quantity, quality, and inventory discrepancies.

·         Manage purchasing and supplier follow-up for outside processes such as powder coating, plating, and galvanizing.

·         Monitor pricing and lead-time changes and support supplier negotiations and cost-control efforts.

·         Improve purchasing, planning, inventory, and ERP/MRP processes as the function develops.

What We’re Looking For

·         Approximately 3–7 years of experience in purchasing, procurement, material planning, inventory, or supply chain within a manufacturing environment.

·         Hands-on experience managing purchase orders, suppliers, lead times, shortages, and inventory.

·         Experience using ERP/MRP systems and strong working knowledge of Excel.

·         Experience working with a broad SKU base or high-mix manufacturing environment strongly preferred.

·         Comfort working with Design/Engineering and Operations when requirements, BOMs, or schedules are still evolving.

·         Strong organization, follow-through, communication, and problem-solving skills.

·         Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Operations, Engineering, or a related field preferred; equivalent relevant experience will be considered.

What Success Looks Like

In the first year, the focus will be on strengthening purchasing discipline, improving visibility and communication around material status, reducing material shortages, improving inventory accuracy, managing supplier lead times, and developing more effective forecasting and planning practices.

As the role develops, there will be opportunities to expand into strategic sourcing, supplier development, cost-reduction initiatives, alternate sourcing, and international supply-chain responsibilities.

The Right Fit

This is not a desk-only management role and it does not currently have direct reports. We are looking for someone who enjoys owning the work, communicating directly with suppliers and internal teams, solving material problems, and building better processes. The right candidate will be comfortable in a dynamic manufacturing environment where priorities can change and good judgment is just as important as what the system says.

Fred’s Tents & Canopies is a leading manufacturer of high-quality tent and event structures, serving customers across North America and beyond. We combine design, engineering, and manufacturing expertise to deliver custom solutions with speed, precision, and reliability.