Buyer - Planner

Position Summary

The Buyer/Planner role is responsible for ensuring the timely and cost-effective procurement of raw materials, packaging, and other production-related items. This role also manages production planning and inventory levels in a made-to-order environment. The ideal candidate will be detail-oriented, organized, and highly motivated to either grow or begin their career within the food manufacturing supply chain management. This is a new incremental role for this site and will be responsible for supporting long-term growth of this facility.

Key Responsibilities

Procurement:

• Purchase raw materials, and packaging in accordance with customer managed contracts.
• Maintain relationships with approved suppliers and onboard any new suppliers, driven by customer contract changes.
• Manage purchase orders, confirmations, and delivery schedules to ensure timely receipt of materials.
• Monitor supplier performance and resolve any issues related to quality, delivery, or pricing.

Planning & Scheduling:

• Develop and maintain the production schedule based on customer orders, production timing, and capacity constraints.
• Collaborate with production, quality, and warehouse teams to ensure seamless material flow and minimal downtime.
• Optimize plant inventory levels to balance available inventory, production needs, and site warehouse capacity.
• Track and adjust schedules to respond to changes in customer demand or supply disruptions.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Partner with operations, finance, R&D, and quality assurance teams to align procurement and planning activities.
• Support new product launches by coordinating materials and supplier readiness.
• Attend weekly customer calls to provide feedback plant performance & any procurement concerns or constraints.

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, Business, Operations, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 1-2 years of manufacturing/warehousing experience preferred.
• Knowledge of MRP/ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite).
• Base understanding of food safety and quality standards (e.g., SQF, HACCP, FDA).
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and organizational skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and data analysis tools.
• Fluency in both English and Spanish is preferred.