Purchasing Manager
Greystone of Lincoln, Inc. - Machining Division
Department:
Purchasing / Supply Chain
Reports To:
Operations Manager / Plant Manager
FLSA Status:
Exempt
Location:
Lincoln, RI (on-site, plant floor)
Position Summary
The Purchasing Manager leads sourcing, supplier management, and material/tooling procurement for the plant, with an emphasis on engineering-informed purchasing decisions rather than transactional buying alone. This role is intended for a candidate with a formal engineering background who can evaluate a supplier quote, a material specification, or a tooling proposal on its technical merits - not just its price - and who can hold suppliers accountable to the specs, tolerances, and quality requirements that Engineering and Quality actually need. The Purchasing Manager owns supplier performance, cost and lead-time risk, and partners closely with Engineering, Quality, and Operations on make-vs-buy, tooling investment, and technical supplier qualification decisions.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead sourcing and procurement of raw material, tooling, outside services, and capital equipment, evaluating suppliers on technical capability and quality history, not price alone.
- Own supplier performance management: on-time delivery, quality reject rate, lead-time trends, and pricing history - and act on adverse trends before they become production risk.
- Investigate and explain significant price or lead-time changes from suppliers (material cost drivers, tariffs, capacity constraints) and bring engineering-grade analysis to leadership, rather than passing through vendor claims at face value.
- Qualify and onboard alternate suppliers for critical materials and tooling (e.g., carbide blanks, specialty alloys) to reduce single-source risk, working from technical specifications alongside Engineering.
- Partner with Process/Manufacturing Engineering on tooling specification, make-vs-buy decisions, and technical evaluation of new equipment or automation vendor proposals.
- Partner with Quality on supplier corrective action, incoming inspection criteria, and resolving nonconforming material or tooling issues at the source.
- Own MRP-driven purchasing in the ERP system: ensuring requirements planning reflects actual demand, BOMs, and lead times rather than manual reorder-point guessing.
- Negotiate pricing, terms, and blanket/contract purchase agreements for key materials and tooling categories.
- Manage purchasing budget and report spend, cost variance, and supplier risk to plant leadership.
- Ensure purchasing practices comply with applicable quality and regulatory requirements, including ISO 9001/AS9100 and, where applicable, ITAR and CMMC (e.g., supply chain and flow-down requirements).
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, or a related engineering discipline - this role is intended for a candidate with a technical/engineering background, not a traditional purchasing/business-only career path.
- Ability to read and evaluate engineering drawings, material specifications, and tolerances well enough to assess supplier capability and quote quality independently.
- Experience with MRP/ERP-driven purchasing, supplier scorecards, and cost/spend analysis.
- Strong negotiation skills and comfort holding suppliers accountable to technical and quality requirements, not just delivery and price.
- Working knowledge of raw material markets relevant to the plant (e.g., tungsten carbide, stainless and tool steels) and how cost/tariff pressures move through the supply chain.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience sourcing tooling or capital equipment for CNC or rotary transfer machining operations.
- Experience in a defense or aerospace manufacturing environment (ITAR, AS9100, CMMC, supply chain flow-down requirements).
- APICS/CPIM, CPSM, or equivalent supply chain certification.
- Experience qualifying alternate suppliers for single-sourced critical materials.
Work Environment & Physical Requirements
- Primarily an office environment with regular time on the plant floor to support Engineering, Quality, and Operations; safety glasses and required PPE must be worn on the floor.
- Occasional travel may be required for supplier visits and qualification audits.
