Best Practices, Broadcasting, Business Operations, Calendar Management, Cargo/Freight, Communication Skills, Cost Control, Cross-Functional, Data Analysis, Data Quality, Demand Forecasting/Planning, Detail Oriented, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), Finance, Forecasting, Inventory Costs, Inventory Levels, Inventory Management, Inventory Turns, Logistics, Microsoft Excel, Multitasking, Order Delivery, Organizational Skills, Performance Analysis, Performance Metrics, Pricing, Problem Solving Skills, Process Improvement, Procurement Planning, Purchase Orders, Purchasing/Procurement, Sales, Time Management, Vendor/Supplier Evaluation, Vendor/Supplier Management
Employment Type: Full-time
Compensation: Competitive, commensurate with experience
About the Company
We are an established US importer and distributor of premium professional audio and lighting equipment, representing a portfolio of respected international manufacturers. Our products serve broadcast, live sound, recording, and entertainment lighting markets.
Job Summary
The Purchasing Planner is responsible for planning, scheduling, and executing the procurement of product and parts to support multi-brand business operations. This role balances inventory levels and supplier performance, manages purchase orders, and aligns demand requirements to ensure on-time availability of goods while controlling costs and optimizing inventory.
Key Responsibilities
- Plan and execute purchase orders based on forecasts, promo schedules, inventory levels, and sales opportunities
- Monitor inventory levels and demand trends to prevent shortages or overstock situations
- Maintain accurate purchasing data within ERP systems, including lead times, delivery timelines, pricing, and required stock quantities
- Communicate with suppliers to confirm order acknowledgments and delivery dates, and resolve delays or discrepancies
- Work closely with Logistics on delivery and freight consolidation
- Track supplier performance metrics such as on-time delivery, quality, and responsiveness
- Coordinate with Finance to resolve invoice discrepancies and goods-received-not-invoiced
- Purchase office supplies for all locations
Qualifications & Skills
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent experience
- 2–5 years of recent experience in purchasing or planning roles
- Strong understanding of ERP systems and demand-driven planning principles
- Proficient in Microsoft Excel and data analysis
- Excellent communication and supplier management skills
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities
- Detail-oriented with a problem-solving and process-improvement mindset
- Ability to work cross-functionally in a fast-paced environment
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in distribution environments
- Knowledge of inventory management best practices and lean principles
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Material availability
- Inventory turns and aged-inventory reduction
- Supplier on-time delivery and performance
- Purchase price variance and cost-savings initiatives
Same anonymization choices as before: the brand roster came out (that's the one element that points straight back to the specific distributor), the company name and website are gone, Farmingdale is generalized to Long Island, NY, the salary band is removed, and I dropped the internal-only date stamp since that's a small identifying detail you wouldn't want on an external posting anyway.
One thing worth noting, since you're running both of these for the same client: the two JDs share the identical "About the Company" paragraph, location, and reporting line, so anyone who sees both postings side by side could infer they're from the same employer. That's usually fine, but if you're trying to keep even the existence of two open roles quiet, you could vary the company blurb slightly between them.
Want a salary band added back for NY pay-transparency compliance? New York State requires a good-faith range on most job postings, so if these are going up as public listings rather than going out through you directly, you'll likely need the range on them.