Director of Inventory Management

Director of Inventory Management Reports To: VP of Supply Chain Direct Reports: Yes Status: Full-Time Salaried Division: Supply Chain Job Purpose: The Purchasing Manager is responsible for leading the purchasing and inventory planning functions to ensure the right inventory is available to support customer demand while achieving service-level, inventory investment, and financial objectives. Reporting to the Vice President of Supply Chain, this role directly manages the Buyer team and oversees purchasing, inventory planning, forecasting, budgeting, purchase order management, and supplier performance. The Purchasing Manager will translate demand forecasts and inventory requirements into actionable purchasing plans while ensuring purchases remain aligned with established budgets and inventory targets. This position requires an experienced people leader with strong analytical and financial capabilities who can balance product availability with inventory productivity and working capital. Key Job Responsibilities: Lead and manage the Buyer team, establishing clear expectations, priorities, and accountability. Oversee purchasing activities and ensure purchase orders are submitted accurately and on schedule. Manage inventory planning and replenishment to support customer demand and service-level objectives. Ensure purchasing decisions align with demand, inventory requirements, supplier lead times, order frequency, and inventory targets. Monitor inventory availability, fill rates, turns, days of supply, and overall inventory investment. Identify potential inventory shortages and excess inventory and drive corrective actions. Continuously improve purchasing and inventory planning processes, controls, and automation. Develop and manage purchasing forecasts based on projected sales, COGS, inventory requirements, seasonality, supplier lead times, and business initiatives. Manage purchasing activity against established budgets and forecasts. Translate annual and monthly inventory objectives into actionable purchasing plans for the Buyer team. Monitor actual purchases and inventory performance against budget and forecast, identify variances, and implement corrective actions. Evaluate changes in demand and sales forecasts to determine their impact on future purchasing and inventory requirements. Provide regular reporting and visibility to the Vice President of Supply Chain regarding purchasing performance, inventory investment, and forecasted requirements. Own the end-to-end purchase order management process and ensure Buyers proactively manage open orders. Monitor open and past-due purchase orders and drive resolution of supplier delays, shortages, and other exceptions. Establish and monitor supplier performance expectations, including lead time, fill rate, order accuracy, and delivery performance. Ensure supplier lead times, order frequencies, minimums, and other purchasing parameters are appropriately maintained. Partner with suppliers and internal teams to improve product availability and supply reliability. Identify opportunities to improve inventory productivity while maintaining appropriate service levels. Develop and execute strategies to reduce excess, slow-moving, obsolete, and unproductive inventory. Identify purchasing practices or planning parameters contributing to excess inventory and implement corrective actions. Partner with Merchandising and suppliers on inventory returns, cancellations, product transitions, and other inventory reduction opportunities. Ensure the Buyer team understands the financial and operational impact of purchasing decisions. Coach, develop, and manage the performance of the Buyer team. Establish and monitor Buyer KPIs, including: Distribution center in-stock and fill rate Purchasing versus budget and forecast Supplier lead times and fill rate Purchase order submission and order frequency Inventory investment and productivity Build a culture of accountability, proactive problem-solving, analytical decisi…

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